2025-11-20

This was one of two big domestic travel days for our trip. We started early with a commuter rail trip to Tokyo Station, then boarded the Nozomi Shinkansen to Nagano.

The day was clear, so we got an excellent view of Mt. Fuji on our way.

Travel by Shinkansen is still one of the greatest modes of modern transportation. It’s the speed of air travel, with the legroom and amenities of business class, for a fraction of the cost. You don’t have to take your shoes off or be subjected to constant biometric verification, and trains run every 15 minutes to most urban destinations.

Next was the Hida Wideview up to Takayama, which we took a chance on without much information other than “snow” and “historic village” many years ago when our accommodations in Tokyo unexpectedly fell through. The experience was good enough that we decided to chance it and drag the kids all the way up the mountain.

Something I didn’t expect: there’s a strong solarpunk vibe going on in these Alpine villages. Houses with traditional tiled roofs, surrounded by household-sized rice paddies and neighborhood-sized solar power arrays. Like most rural parts of Japan, the houses are small and detached, rather than side-by-side or built up, and there are wild bamboo forests all over the rocky hillsides and riverbanks.