Solo Travelling Japan’s Most Overlooked Area (right next to Tokyo!)

It’s so crazy how close all these spots are to the busiest city in the world… yet they were all completely empty. Honestly, MOST of Japan is like this – unique, interesting, and absolutely beautiful but they’re just a little harder to find. Thank you to Chiba Tourism for sponsoring this lovely trip! Go follow them on instagram to find out more places to add to your list: https://www.instagram.com/visit_chiba_japan/

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Visiting Japan and want to experience something different? You’ll love my travel guide – Beyond The Tourist Trail. A comprehensive e-book filled with 120+ hidden gems in Japan between Tokyo and Osaka. Available now on my website: https://geni.us/beyondthetouristtrail

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0:00 – Intro
0:32 – Best rest stop ever
1:24 – Hiking Mt Nokogiri
5:30 – Cutest cafe you’ll ever see
6:19 – Unique observation deck
7:07 – Giant deity statue
9:19 – Naritasan Shopping Street
10:59 – Temple grounds and garden
13:38 – Mushroom picking(!!)
18:25 – Longest suspended monorail
19:45 – Treehouse Cafe
21:07 – How to visit

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Hello everyone, welcome back to another  travel vlog. Just as the title says,   I’ve got the next 3 days traveling around  Chiba Prefecture, which is, in my opinion,   it’s kind of like a really overlooked  prefecture because of its big, loud,  

Popular neighbor, which is Tokyo. So yeah, just  going to be traveling around Chiba for a bit,   seeing what there is to see. This isn’t  my itinerary because this is sponsored   by the Chiba Tourism, so this is the  stuff that they recommended to me.

So, the first stop, like right now, I’m kind of  in the middle of Tokyo Bay, which is crazy. I’m   at a place called Umihotaru Parking Area. So, it’s  essentially like a rest stop, like a Michi-no-Eki,   but it’s the exact point where the tunnel goes  into the ocean. On one side of the structure,  

You can see the highways coming in, and then  on the other side, you look out and it just   feels like I’m on a cruise ship, but it’s still  technically land, I guess. Incredibly beautiful   clear day today, you can see Mount Fuji, which  is amazing. So yeah, I’m looking forward to it.

There was like three monkeys  running through there. Oh my gosh So I’m at Nokogiriyama, which I’ve  actually already been to before on this channel   even, but this is like a different trail than I  went last time. I’m just learning now that the  

Reason that this is cut in such unique square cuts  out of the mountain is because back in the day,   this used to be, I don’t know if the word is like  farm or mine, for the stone because the stone was  

Apparently earthquake-resistant and fire-resistant  and that kind of thing, so it was really valuable   stone. So they would come here, yeah, carve  these huge chunks out of the mountain, basically,   which is why this mountain, you’ll see in a bit,  it’s got a really unique structure. The word “nokogiri”  

Means saw, but it was actually already called  that before they started carving chunks out of it,   but now it looks even more like a saw, which is  crazy. There’s nobody else here, it’s dead quiet. This is so big, holy crap. It makes you feel really tiny.

So when they were mining the stone out of this mountain,   apparently they would load them up onto  these big carts and it was mostly women,   actually, back in the day that would carry  these carts all the way down like that whole  

Hiking trail that we just went up, they  would carry them all the way down and then   carry the carts all the way back up again.  And they’d do that like three times a day,   which is wild because it’s pretty hard. It’s just  so impressive how big these walls are. Sorry,  

Just quietly, this blows Mount Takao out of the  water in terms of good hiking close to Tokyo,   completely out of the water, so much better.  Oh, hello. Oh my gosh, it’s so beautiful. Oh my Gosh my leg! I tried to do  a smooth shot and my leg…  

My leg’s got the shakes. Calm down, calm down! Wild. Absolutely huge Buddha statue, so apparently  this is also the largest *sitting Buddha statue in Japan. Crazy. Man, this little cafe is so freaking  cute, just around the corner from Nojima,  

And it’s right on the water. It’s got some of  the best lighting imaginable. She’s been doing   this for like 50 years or something. I don’t  know, it’s got the kind of vibe. I feel like   this is wabi-sabi. I don’t really know what that  is, but it’s got like full of memories, photos,  

And just like so much character. So much character  and history in there, and the lady who runs it   is so sweet as well. Definitely check out this  spot if you’re coming to Nokogiri, it’s so, so cute! That is massive. So the first stop for today  is a spot called Tokyo Wan Kannon. “Kannon”

“To-kyo Wan Kan-non” It’s really hard to say, actually.  It’s basically a statue of the goddess of mercy,   and I looked it up, it’s 56 meters high,  which is honestly surprising because it   looks a lot bigger than 56 meters. But yeah,  they’ve got stairs inside that you can go all  

The way to the top, so I’m gonna go  do that now. It’s really impressive. Crazy. So I just, like, on a poster at the  very bottom that it’s essentially 20 floors high,   and they got the floors written here. I’m only at  48. I feel like I’ve been walking for ages, but  

Anyway, in the center of the building, it’s pretty  impressive. They’ve got, like, there’s, like,   seven different gods on the way up, I guess, that  you can pray to, and they even have the English   writing saying, like, what they are a god of, what  their specialty skill is, I guess, like this one,  

Hotai God. For Profit and Improving Fortune. I don’t even… I don’t think we’re even, like, I think   maybe we’re, like, two-thirds of the way up or  something, but the view is already, like, amazing. So cool. This is actually,   such a crazy view. It’s so  beautiful. It’s freezing cold, though.

So I’m now in the northern part of Chiba in an  area called Naritasan, which you’ve probably heard   of because of the name Narita. It’s really close  to the airport. I just had lunch at a really,   really nice vegetarian cafe that’s just, like,  one step away from here, which is cool. And we’re  

Heading to a spot called Naritasan Omotesando,  which is kind of like a little shopping district,   but it’s really… It’s really quite cool.  Like, a lot of the buildings are the older   style buildings. It’s got kind of like a “post  town” “Nakasendo Town” kind of vibe. And there’s  

Some beautiful temples at the end. So I haven’t  seen too much coverage of this area before,   but it’s actually very interesting considering  how close it is to Tokyo and the airport   that everybody’s coming in and out of. It’s  surprising that people don’t talk about it. Oh my gosh, oh my gosh!

It’s so cute! Looks just like Mochi! I need to stop, I’m going to cry. I didn’t expect  to get emotional in the souvenir store. Oh,   Look at my eyes. They’re watering. I’m  on the edge, guys. I’m on the edge. So this is the first senbei on  a stick I’ve ever seen before.  

Let’s give it a go. I don’t even know  if it’s going to be crunchy. Oh, oh,   it’s way more wet than I thought it would be.  That’s really good. It’s like sweet, salty,   a little bit spicy. I highly recommend  that. That’s amazing. 200 yen! How good!

You can do it! I believe in you!  Oh come on, last step last one! I really thought it would stay ontop. So, like, if you just keep going  around the outside of the temple,   there’s like this beautiful little walk through  nature, and there’s really not many people here,  

You know, like one or two odd people like  that, but it’s really quiet and so peaceful   right next to this busy, bustling Shopping  Town. I came here actually in summer last   year and it was beautiful, really green  and lush, very surprising.

There’s like a little store that you go and buy the fish  food from just over there. If I can open it… Wow, they are huge, their mouths are so big. What the heck are you doing here? Get out of here. I found a cat. Oh, denied! Let me love you!

Oh my God, my gosh, this is the coolest  experience. I’m sure you’ve heard of   strawberry picking or, you know, in Japan, they’ve  got grape picking and all kinds of fruit picking,   but have you ever heard of mushroom picking? So  this is basically like a farm experience that you  

Can come to and you get 30 minutes in here for  660 Yen, and then you just get a little basket   and you can cut as many mushrooms as you want, and  then it’s 250 Yen per 100 G. And then afterwards,  

There’s like a barbecue experience as  well, so you get to actually chop it   and cook it on the day. So cool, so cool, so  exciting. Yeah! One-handed, babyyy! Oh, that was very easy. I was expecting to,   like, saw away, no, that was very  easy. How cute, my first mushroom.

So there’s like actually a number  of different mushrooms here and I guess it   changes depending on the season. So this time  there’s like two different kinds of shiitake   mushrooms and then this, which is like a king  oyster mushroom. They said there’s not a whole  

Lot of them at the moment and most of them are  quite small. And also apparently, like a lot of   the mushrooms sell out really early in the day.  So a tip if you’re going to come here, try and   come earlier in the day. I’m having so much fun. I  love mushrooms.

So, then, these ones are also shiitake,  but they’re like a slightly different   variety. I think these are the more than  ordinary shiitake and the other ones were   the more specialty variety. So cool! It’s so tiny! Next to my thumb. Holy crap, so good. Wow, wow. That’s really good.

It’s so, yeah, I don’t know, I guess   “meaty” is the word and juicy. It’s just like this  is like the definition of umami. I think when I   think of umami, I think of this. I will compare  it. This is just one of the regular shiitake,   so see how different it is.

Interesting, very  different. This one is nowhere near as chewy,   like it’s like easy, like way easier to  just bite into. The flavor is not as strong,   it’s just kind of like airy-er. Interesting.  Wow, I didn’t really know that there were   multiple varieties of shiitake mushrooms,  so this is all very surprising for me.

There it is. This SP has been on my list for  a while, actually. I had it in my train video,   This spot has been on my list for  a while, actually. I had it in my train video,   yeah. It’s a suspending monorail. It’s actually  the longest suspended monorail in the world,  

Which is pretty cool. Yeah, it goes for like 15 km  or something through the city. There should be one   leaving here soon. Very exciting. It’s so trippy to watch because normally there’s  always like that train track underneath but then  

It just feels like you’re kind of  flying over the top of people and pedestrians   and cars and stuff like that. And they’ve  even got these little windows in the floor. So if you catch the monorail and then  you get off at Chiba Koen station,  

Like Chiba Park which is right next to me,   there’s a cafe here called the Tree House that  I’m heading to right now. It looks awesome. Well, that’s adorable. Well, this has been lovely actually.  I’ve been very, very, very surprised  

At the variety of things that I’ve seen  and just how lovely they’ve all been. Yes,   this is the end of my trip around Chiba.  I think that this is like a very, it’s an overlooked area that’s very close to  Tokyo and it’s all very accessible with public  

Transport or without. Future Hannah is going  to tell you a bit more about that in a second. Yeah, I’ve been very pleasantly surprised  by all the places that we’ve been to,   especially like the mushroom farm today.  I’ve never seen that anywhere like  

This. The monorail is super unique. Even  this cafe is really cute. I don’t know,   I don’t hear much from Tokyo’s neighbors, I think  because Tokyo is just so loud and obvious that   yeah, it’s nice to see something a little bit  different. But anyway, enough rambling from me,  

Future Hannah is now going to tell us how  you can also get there and any other helpful   information you might need to know. Take it away,  Future Hannah. Hello, Hannah from the future   here with brown hair.

So yeah, here’s how you can visit all of  the places that I went to using just public   transport alone. They are really accessible;  some of them are a little bit complicated, but   I’m here to explain it all to you. So, starting  with number one, which is Umi Hotaru Rest Stop,  

This is accessible with a bus that leaves  from Kisarazu station on the Chiba side and   goes through to Kawasaki station on the Tokyo  side, or you could do it vice versa. Not every   bus will stop at the rest stop, so make sure  to check the timetable in the description down  

Below. All of the links to everything are in the  description below. There’s a bus that leaves every   hour and will allow you about 14 minutes on the  viewing platform. But if you want to stay for  

A bit longer, you could catch the next bus,  so that will be like an hour and 14 minutes. The next one is Mount Nokogiri. To get here,  catch the train to Hamakanaya station and then   from there, it’s a 20-minute walk to the trailhead  for the Sharikimichi trail, which is the one there  

And I took this time. It didn’t take too long,  maybe I want to say like an hour if you’re just   walking at regular pace. But if you don’t want  to do that, you can just walk 10 minutes to the  

Ropeway to get to the music and coffee shop, which  is that little cafe that was really adorable. I   wish I had more footage of that, actually, but  anyway, that was only an 18-minute walk away   from the ropeway. So you might want to hike up,  catch the ropeway down, walk to the coffee shop,  

Get a cute little coffee, and cake or  something, and then go back to the station. The next one is Tokyo Wan Kannon, and that was that  big white statue. A little bit awkward to get to   with public transport but technically possible  with a 30-minute walk from Sanukimachi station,  

Naritasan Omotesando, and the temples nearby. Extremely  accessible, 5-minute walk from Narita station.   The Sakura mushroom farm is another one  that’s a little bit awkward to get to,   but trust me when I say that it’s worth it. There  are kind of like three ways to get there, the  

First one being catch a train to Monoi station and  then catch a bus 3 minutes to Nishimikado station,   and then it’s like a 20-minute walk to the  farm. Or you can just walk 36 minutes from   Monoi station or you can catch a taxi 10 minutes  from Monoi station. So where there’s a will,  

There’s a way. It’s worth it, a little bit  awkward to get to but is technically possible. The final location being that Treehouse Cafe that  I went to at the end. It’s called Tsubaki Mori Komuna,   and this is just a 4-minute walk from the Chiba  Koen station, which is accessible via  

The Chiba monorail. And yeah, that’s all of the  places that we went to. I really hope you liked   this video. If you did, please give a big thumbs  up and subscribe. Again, thank you so much for   Chiba tourism for sponsoring this trip. I had a  really, really wonderful time. I was pleasantly  

Surprised by all the little things that we got  to do. I especially really liked Nokogiri. I think   if you’re in Tokyo and you want to do like a  day hike somewhere, everybody tends to go to   Mount Takao and Mount Mitake because they’re  technically still in Tokyo and they’re nice,  

Don’t get me wrong, but they’re very busy because  it’s in Tokyo. Really not even that far away from   Tokyo is Nokogiri, and I think it’s just an amazing  hike considering how close it is to Tokyo. So   I can highly recommend that. It’s got a lot of  really interesting things there. And of course,  

The mushroom farm, definitely my favorite.  The monorail was sick. Honestly, everything,   it was all really good, a really great trip. If  you liked this one, you might enjoy my video where   I went to the Oki Islands. This one’s way more  off the beaten track. Definitely, it’s quite a  

Bit away from the city but so amazing. There were  wild horses living on this like beautiful green   rolling hills and massive cliffs and all of that.  So yeah, I hope you enjoyed that video and yep,   that’s all. Thank you so much for watching  and I’ll see you guys next time. Bye.