Use a rental car to travel around Okumikawa with ease!
Experience making your own mosaic art key holder or brooch at Kamomilla with the help of a friendly Japanese-Italian couple. Drive to Kyukamura Chausuyama-Kogen where you can stay overnight and enjoy watching the stars or going on a night safari. On the second day, take in the beautiful mountain scenery while hiking at Chausuyama Highlands. Shop for unique souvenirs in Toei Town, followed by one last stop at Roadside Station Mokkulu Shinshiro to pick up fresh vegetables or taste some of the local food.
Course Contents
Day 1
- Shinshiro I.C. on Shin Tomei Expressway
Rental car
Shitara-Town
- Roadside Station Shitara
- Address: Nakada 17-7, Kiyosaki, Shitara Town
Meet with Kamomilla's Elena Hashimoto and travel to next destination.
Walk approx. 5 min.
Visit Point No.1
- Mosaic Art Experience at Mosaic Art HASHIMOTO and Kamomilla
- Mosaic art, a traditional craft that has continued since 3000 BCE, is a decorative art technique where various colored stones, marble, and pieces of cut glass are arranged to create images or patterns.
In Western Europe, mosaic art is widely used in public facilities, churches, home décor, signs, and various other places. Living with mosaic art is sure to produce feelings of happiness.
(Quoted from the official website)
Experience Fee: 1,500-3,000 yen※
Time Required: 90 minutes
Capacity: Consultation required
Season: All year round
※ If you would like Elena Hashimoto to act as a tour guide on a walk around the area, an additional fee of 5,000 yen is required.
■ Reserve an Experience
For mosaic art experiences or to request Elena Hashimoto as a guide, please make a reservation 14 days in advance by email (in English).
Email Address: 3kamomilla@gmail.com
Official Site: https://horaimosaico.wixsite.com/hashimoto
Overview
Walk approx. 5 min.
- Roadside Station Shitara
Travel to accommodation by rental car
Visit Point No.2
- Kyukamura Chausuyama-Kogen
- Kyukamura Chausuyama-Kogen is a resort situated on Mt. Chausu, the highest peak in Aichi. With a hotel, cottages, and a camping ground, the resort offers different styles of stay for you to choose from. The hotel serves Japanese cuisine and buffets made with plenty of delicious, local, in-season ingredients, and the food is raved about by guests. The resort also offers a whole array of activities. Here, you can enjoy interaction with people as well as nature.
● Camping Ground
Rental tools and ingredients can also be prepared in advance. (Reservations required.)
Everyone from beginners to experts can have fun cooking with a gas stove or using a barbecue grill and dining in front of their tent.
Those who want to take a bath can use the large public bath at the hotel. (15:00-21:00 [※ Final admission at 20:00]) (500 yen)
● Cottages
Located in the area between the hotel and the forest are individual cottages (each with two rooms, a dining and kitchen area, and a carport). There are ten cottages total, two of which allow you to stay with your pet (limited to medium-sized dogs or smaller).
Appreciate the sound of the wind, the chirping of the birds, or the serene silence.
Around 12,000 yen for 1 night and 2 meals.
At night, enjoy star-gazing events or a Night Safari.
Overview
Day 2
Visit Point No.3
- Hiking at Chausuyama Highlands
- The highlands at the foot of Mt. Chausu—the tallest mountain in Aichi—is home to the only ski resort in the prefecture. But the highlands do not only attract visitors in the winter. Many people look forward with much excitement to the spring—mid-May to early June to be exact—when the Shibazakura Festival is held. With shibazakura (moss phlox) painting the highlands pink as far as the eyes can see, the scenery will surely take your breath away. You can also take a walk around the illuminated garden at night. You'll surely get a great shot to remember the visit. What's more, from July to August, you can try many exciting activities like fish-catching, hiking, and canoeing. At night, you might get to see shooting stars and wild deer! Great nature awaits you throughout the year.
Overview
The following places to visit are divided into two options.
Please choose from plans ① or ②.
Visit Point No.4
- ① Toei Onsen Hanamatsuri no Yu
- All the locals that visit this spring agree that the best thing about it is its spring quality. This sodium-calcium-chloride spring is one of the few natural therapeutic springs in Japan. Gentle on the skin, the water warms you from the core, relieving fatigue and leaving you feeling refreshed. Behind the facility runs a waterfall called the "Niagara Falls of Okumikawa" (or Tsuta no Fuchi). Kick back, relax, and enjoy the sound of the waterfall.
Overview
Visit Point No.5
- ② maru-kai
- In front of Toei Station on the JR Iida Line is maru-kai, a store that offers an outstanding mix of goods produced in Toei Town. Large numbers of charming handmade works are for sale such as a traditional flower handicraft called mayu-bana that uses silk cocoons, herb tea made with a blend of herbs grown in Toei Town, and chainsaw art sculptures carved with an actual chainsaw. Assistance is also available in English.
Overview
Rental car
Visit Point No.6
- Roadside Station Mokkulu Shinshiro
- Roadside Station Mokkulu Shinshiro is located close to the Shin-Tomei Expressway Shinshiro Interchange.
Eat up this "Japanese sword!" At Mokkulu Shinshiro, there's a traditional Japanese food that's just like a Japanese sword. The name of that food is the giant gohei-mochi. Gohei-mochi is rice put on a wooden stick, slathered with sauce, and baked to ready-to-eat perfection. The average size is approximately 120 grams, but this giant gohei-mochi is a whopping 1,600 grams. You can take on the challenge of trying to eat it all by yourself, or it's perfect to share with family and friends. It's a special treat that will surely make your trip memorable. Mokkulu Station has other enticing wares that you won't see anywhere else, like 50-centimeter-long roll cakes, and 65-centimeter-long giant melon bread.
With a farmers' market that sells local vegetables and produce, a tourist information center, a footbath run with Yuya Onsen hot spring water, and a host of other things to enjoy, Mokkulu Station bustles with crowds just like an expressway service area.
① From Toei Onsen Hanamatsuri no Yu to Roadside Station Mokkulu Shinshiro
② From maru-kai to Roadside Station Mokkulu Shinshiro
Overview
