I was a bit hesitant to choose Obuse as our final stop to end our 3-day trip. But when we got there, it changed my mind. I was glad we were able to roam around the town before going back to Tokyo.
Have you heard about Obuse? Probably not. Even when I live in Japan for more than 6 years now, it was only recently that I've heard of this town. There are probably more towns like this that I haven't heard of, which I think it's only natural.
Which is why I'm featuring this town today!
Welcome to the smallest town in Nagano prefecture - Obuse! Even with its area only 19.12 km², it's not to be missed! In this small town, chestnuts reign supreme.. or is it? 😅 They have many chestnuts here - dried chestnuts, chestnuts ice cream, chestnuts desserts and even chestnuts over rice! Art is also famous in this town and I just wished we had more time to explore more about all kinds of art in this town. (Witty loves art for 2024? Why not! LOL)
So what does this small town look like?
We arrived around noon time and our first order of business was to go to the tourism information center. We don't usually go there in our trips but we figured it's best to let them do the talking and helping us guide our route so we could fully use our time in the town.
That's not our car, we arrived by train LOL
The ladies at the tourism center were so approachable and fun to talk to. They told us about Obuse and which way to go. And even recommended us 2 restaurants where we could enjoy our late lunch.
Our destination was the museum which was a 15~20 minute walk from the train station.
It snowed heavy the other day so there were still a few snow on the street left. I actually thought we would be seeing Obuse completely covered in snow since this town is located northeast of Nagano city but I was wrong.
As we were walking, following the route the old lady from the tourism center gave us, we passed by a shrine.
There's a small park on the side where kids could play. @appleeatingapple healing her inner child went to the play area and did the slide. Me being a great supporting friend, encouraged her more and even took a video of her. I wonder if she would share it to everyone. 😂 It was funny she did the obstacles first before getting to the slide. A kid at heart indeed!
There were elementary kids who were on their bicycles that time, probably thinking these adults were so childlike. While the rest of us were filming (yes, we were but not the professional kind!), it seems like the kids wanted to talk to us.
Then later, they courageously did.
They greeted us and spoke to us in English. Elementary students learn English at school these days, but I think they don't have a lot of opportunity to converse in the language. So when they talked to us, I was a bit glad because that means they have the interest to use and learn more about English.
After our brief conversation, they bid us farewell and we continued to check on the shrine but we didn't go into the depths.
So we wondered how come there were kids there in the shrine grounds at that time. The town was a bit quiet and we were pondering on why they've decided to gather around this shrine.
When we crossed the street, we got the answer to our question.
The gate to the elementary school was opened so we could freely see what's inside - only in this area though. We saw they have a Japanese garden near the entrance! It's a nice aesthetic to the school grounds!
We continued on our way. The town was really calm and peaceful.
This is a police box. It's so different from the police box we've seen in the city because this one in Obuse has a historic vibe in it. And don't worry, we only passed by and we didn't go there.
We're nearing the museum and the structures here were so Japanized. It looks like they preserved the history of this place.
We're finally here in our destination! Can you guess what this place is?
It's the Hokusai museum, but that will be another story for another day.
After the museum, it's time to eat. I was still leading the way since I had the map with me, and I wanted to do a bit of an exploration so we entered the narrow alley, checking what's there and also going back to the restaurant we found earlier.
This small alley is called Chestnut Alley. It was said the tiles here were made of chestnut wood. Around this alley, we passed by a restaurant, a garden and another museum. Too bad we didn't have much time and money to check out another museum.
We had our lunch here on this restaurant on the right side of the photo.
After our late lunch, we headed back to the train station to catch the train back to Nagano city. On the way back, I couldn't help but be amazed of this town. It has that Japanese historical vibe but a bit modern.
There were lots of restaurants and shops of many kinds including souvenir shops. I guess Obuse is attracting tourists with this approach of being an old Japanese town but with a modern touch.
We're now back at the train station, which I think is the only one in this small town.
Recalling what I said in the first part, I was glad we were able to have a stopover in this small town. It was only a few hours but I truly enjoyed and got enchanted by the charms of Obuse. I wouldn't mind coming back here but I wonder when would that be.
Don't forget to checkout the #WednesdayWalk initiative by @tattoodjay.
Thanks for reading!
See you around! じゃあ、またね！
With love,
All photos are taken using my phone unless stated otherwise.