Japan Spring 2024 - Part 10 Nikko

Shinkyou Bridge in Nikko

There are many day trip options when you are staying in Tokyo. This time, we decided to do one to Nikko for several reasons. The Tochigi prefecture where Nikko is, is famous for their strawberries. With a little strawberry lover in our group, we just had to go strawberry picking in Tochigi! The second reason was that we’ve never been to Nikko. And, last but not least, we wanted to experience riding the new Spacia X train!

When we were going to Nikko, we couldn’t get tickets for the Spacia X train, but we did go on an old Spacia train. It was good for comparison :) However on the way back to Tokyo we got regular seats on the Spacia X. We would have paid more to be on one of the special seats, but they all sold out. The Spacia X trains have fancy special seats with a little extra fee. Do check it out if you are heading that way.

On the Spacia train

When we got off the train station, we took taxis to Nikko Strawberry Park. They couldn’t find our information even though I have made reservations in advance on the website. Regardless, we were able to get in. Each adult pays 2,100 yen to pick and have all-you-can-eat strawberries for 30 minutes. They gave us a tray with a bit of condensed milk to dip our strawberries in. Even thought this particular park grows 4 strawberry varieties, not all of them are available all the time. We only got to try one type during our visit. The strawberries were so fragrant and sweet, I’m embarrassed to even try to compare it with the ones we have back home in Indonesia. I picked and ate as much as I could chew and swallow, and to be honest I liked it better without the condensed milk. Our little strawberry expert was under 3 years old so she didn’t have to pay to enter and eat, but I am pretty sure she ate more strawberries than any of us within that half hour! :D

Strawberries and condensed milk

After we were done picking and eating strawberries, we took taxis again and asked to be dropped off at the iconic Shinkyou Bridge. It turned out to be farther than I expected thus more expensive. It was okay though, it saved us time and some walking. Plus it was drizzling at that moment.

The Shinkyou Bridge is a red-lacquered wooden bridge that is iconic to Nikko. The current bridge standing there is almost 400 years old, but apparently there was another bridge prior to this one that was much, much older. It’s not used for public crossing anymore but you can pay a fee to go on the bridge if you like.

Shinkyou Bridge

Nikko is famous for its historical significance. It’s a UNESCO heritage site, and it has famous temples and shrines. It was a cold, windy, and wet day when we were there. I was glad I had my trusty winter jacket with me. It wasn’t too cold for DH and Miss Kiki, though…

The entrance to Nikko National Park where a lot of the points of interest are involved some stair-climbing. It wasn’t too bad though, I think it would be do-able for most healthy people. The path going up was very pretty, with majestic trees and moss-covered walls surrounding it.

Entrance to Nikko National Park

We walked, passed the Rinno-ji temple, and finally we reached the Toshogu shrine. It has a large wooden Toori gate right at the entrance, and we bought one of the best tasting mochi ever on the side shop. We took some pictures there but we didn’t go inside.

From the famous shrine we circled back down through a very quiet yet well maintained road. The cool air made it very pleasant to walk and it already stopped raining.

Best sesame mochi!

The path that we took brought us to a side street where there are snacks and souvenir shops. Miss Kiki was aiming for Dorayaki this trip and the shop that I had marked for dorayaki, the Nikko Dorabata-san was actually at the strip where we came out!

Nikko Dorabata-san Shop

Strawberry Dorayaki

There are a few dishes that Nikko is famous for, one of them is Yuba, which is considered a delicacy in Japan. It turned out to be beancurd skin, something that we Chinese descents are very familiar with and have it pretty often. In Nikko though, we had it with soba so that is new in that respect. Other than yuba soba, you can also try yuba musubi; an onigiri wrapped in yuba instead of nori. Another famous yuba product is the Yuba manju that you can buy near the Nikko Station. We liked the manju, but the musubi was just so-so. We then walked back on the main road towards the Shinkyou bridge.

Yuba Soba

Souvenir Shop

The main road in Nikko from Shinkyou bridge towards Nikko Station is very walkable and is filled with food shops, restaurants, boutiques, and more. We slowly walked towards the station taking side trips and stops. One of the interesting spots we saw was a temple uphill from a side street. There was no one else around, and Miss Kiki saw a snake on the way up on the side of the street. She told me to go on ahead because she wanted to look at the snake closer. So I did. When I looked back, that girl was holding a stick and is poking the snake! Can you just imagine how freaked out I was!

Along the way, we stopped and bought a few snacks to try. The first one was a menchi. If I’m not mistaken there is yuba inside that menchi. Then Miss Kiki wanted some Takoyaki. No, Nikko is not famous for it’s takoyaki but they had a shop and she wanted some.

Bought menchi

Menchi

Takoyaki

Then we went into a shop and we bought the most delicious strawberry daifuku. We actually bought several other daifukus after this one but none of them came close.

Strawberry Daifuku

The shop selling the best daifuku

The Nikko Purin-Tei or Pudding Tei is another famous shop in Nikko, with a wide selection of purin served in very cute bottles. I bought a few to share and they were really good!