Wanderlust UK – September 2019

(Axel Boer) #1

126 wanderlust.co.uk September 2019


Lessthantwohoursnorthof
Himejionthetrain,Iwasinthe
greenvalleyofToyooka:home
totherareOrientalwhitestork,
orkounotori,whichstandsa
metrehighwithatwo-metre
wingspan.Thisistheonlyplace
inJapanwheresuchbirds
reside,reintroducedintothe
wildbyToyookacityafterfacing
nearextinction.

Toyookaismadeupofseveral
smallertowns,includingthehot
springtownofKinosaki,which
Ilaterstrolledinabrightpink
yukata(Japaneserobe),dipping
intothesevenhotspring
bathhouses.Beforeheading
therethough,Ivisitedtheold
castletownofIzushi,where
atunnelofnearly 40 rubyred
toriigatesascendtowardsthe
castleruins.Theylookidentical
toKyoto’sfamed‘Fushimiinari’
redgates,butheretherewasn’t
asingleotherpersonwalking
throughthem.

TOYOOKA
NOODLES IN
THE FOREST

Izushi actually describes itself
as ‘little Kyoto’ – easy to see why
when you stroll its quiet streets
of wooden houses. It’s even
home to one of Japan’s oldest
theatre buildings, Eirakukan


  • built in 1901 – as well as over
    50 soba (buckwheat noodle)
    restaurants, where a traditional
    local lunch consists of five small
    plates of cold soba. The town
    holds an annual soba festival
    at their Morosugi Jinja shrine

  • this year, someone set a
    record for eating 132 plates
    of soba in ten minutes.


Ocean to mountain
(clockwise from this)
Mt. Kuruhi's sea of
clouds in Toyooka;
Kyoto's singing Kotohiki
beach; taking a boat
ride in the town of Ine,
wearing yukatas
around Kinosaki

Alamy, Shutterstock, Olivia Lee
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