Ginzan Onsen: Japan’s Winter Paradise | Complete Guide and Tips π―π΅
Japan has been a top destination for many years, not only because of the attractions, but also because of its unique culture, including anime. There is one place you must visit, especially during winter. Ginsen Onen. If you’re familiar with Japanese movies, I’m sure you’ve heard of Gibli Studio, one of the most famous Japanese animation studios most known for their iconic movie Spirited Away. But did you know that the village in Spirited Away was inspired by Ginsen onen? Today we will explore this beautiful onsen and show you exactly what it looks like and what to do there. Now let’s start with how to get [Music] there. Good morning from Yamagata in Japan. Today we’re visiting the famous Gins Onsen and I’m so excited because we’ve always wanted to go here but we never had the time and it’s quite far from Tokyo. So I’m going to tell you a little bit. You have to stay in Yamagata to get here. And this morning we walked to the train station and we need to go to another station called Oida station and from there take a bus to Ginsan onen Yamala station. Got our deer pass. [Music] 10:20 to Singinj. Look how snowy the track is. And even our train is so snowy. You actually have to open the door yourself because it’s cold inside. [Music] So, we arrived at Oshida station and our bus will come in 40 minutes. So right now we’re just buying things to take up to Ginsan onen because we’re a bit hungry. And as you can see the sign there’s there’s no convenience store up there. So you can buy anything you want here. And this is right in front of the station. There is no convenience store in Ginsan on. Please buy what you need at our store. Let’s buy some hot drink. A royal milk tea. Let’s try this. We’re going to find some food. I think only grease will be good. This one is salmon. I bet this one chicken. I don’t know what is this. I going to get the chicken. And also there’s a burger. Should we get one? Let’s [Music] go. It is very very snowy as you can see. Wait, let us cross the street first. The snow is like twice as tall as me. Like look at that. This is Oshi Oshida station, the train station. And you turn left and then you walk there towards the bus station that can take you to Ginsan onset. Okay. There’s also a luggage storage here if you need to car your luggage. And be keep in mind that there’s no locker in Ginsan. They write everything here. [Music] [Music] So right now we are lining up for the bus. So our bus is at 12:35 and uh it advisable that you lining up from 30 minutes before the bus come. Yes. Uh 20 or 30 minutes before your bus come because the seats are limited. Yeah. Yes. And prepare cash. There’s no IC card for this bus. You have to pay 1,000 per person and you have to be really fast. Yeah. The price is 1,000. Yes. It’s for one way. It’s a for one way ticket and one person. Yes. [Music] Hey. [Music] We made it to Ginsen Onsen. The bus ride takes around 40 minutes. And it’s right guys, you have to queue because after a while, the queue becomes very long. And some people don’t even get to ride on the bus. They have to wait for the next one or if you’re uh behind on the line, you have to stand up for 40 minutes, which is I think it’s going to be quite tiring. [Music] So we have a few things on our list to do in Ginsan onen. Number one is to see the amazing waterfall. Number two is to see the silver mine. And number three is the foot path. And last is to wait out and see Ginsan Onsen when the sun goes down because people say it will look so beautiful. It will look something like a Giblly movie. So I’m so looking forward to that. [Music] Okay, turns out the foot bed is just by the entrance and we found them. Ta. It’s these small little boxes and you can really smell the sulfur when you walk pass by. But we’re probably doing it in the last. Let me just tell you, this town looks surreal. It looks like it’s from like a fairy tale movie or something because of the architecture and the snow. The snow plays a big part. That’s why Ginsan onen is very popular during winter time. There’s a lot of people on the roof. And turns out they’re just cleaning the roof from the snow. And the snow here can be so thick. We see a lot of snow that are like twice as tall as me. That’s probably like 3 m. [Music] [Applause] [Music] We’re walking over to the waterfall and at some point the track is just gone covered in a very very thick snow. I’m pretty sure the track is probably only should be like very low, but because of the snow, you will feel like you’re on top of like another level. Yeah. I don’t know if that makes sense, but the snow here is thick. Like [Music] thick cuz there’s no stairs to go down. You literally have to slide your way down there and it’s so [Music] slippery. I’m going to [Music] [Applause] slowly waterfall. [Music] Somebody built a snowman. [Music] This store sells a lot of dessert and they’re very small, very cute and tiny. There’s so many dauku and the flavors are all so unique. This one is a watermelon. [Music] Okay. [Music] Yes. So, we bought a few things. Uh there’s a curry bread and then there’s a a mano. Well, how do you say? Like a baked bread. This is the baked bread. And then uh one dessert. Actually, I’m not sure if this is dessert, but everyone keeps taking it. And it’s small and it’s it’s like fried. Okay, let’s try the curry bread because apparently that’s what’s famous in this store. And we we have taken the last [Music] one. There’s the snow. Let me just tell you, this smells [Music] amazing. It’s really good. Uh, we ordered the spicy one, but I don’t think it’s that spicy. And inside there’s curry and also some chunks of meat. [Music] Okay, towards the end it gets spicier. So, pretty good. I’m going to give this a 9 out of 10. Second thing to try. I have no idea what this is, but everyone keeps taking it. And uh they say this is freshly [Music] made. Ooh. Oh, it’s red bean inside. So, yeah. I Is it dessert? Is it sweet? [Music] How you mix the other layer is kind of like fried. Yeah, like like chips. Yeah, like biscuit. Like some a little bit of biscuit and chips. M it’s salt salty. But inside it’s sweet. Yeah, it’s red bean. Like the crisp is salty and inside the red bean is quite sweet. It’s good though. I like it. It’s good. What What is this called? I have no idea if some of u if you guys are Japanese or you know what this thing is. It’s so good. I want to try it somewhere else. This is the name snacking were not enough for us. The cold from the snow made us even hungrier than usual. So we decided to find a restaurant to eat in Ginsan onen. But there’s not much restaurant around Ginsan Onsen. But we managed to find one even though we need to wait 1 hour for it to open. So, we decided to have a meal and the restaurant open hours here is a bit unique. So, they will close around 1 or 2:00 p.m. and then they will open again around 3:30. So, because we came we arrived around like 1:30 or 2. So, we couldn’t have lunch. So, we waited out until this restaurant opens. [Music] Our food are here. I ordered the beef hamburg and it comes with this vegetable. It looks like a dim sum place. I think it’s super cute. And also a miso soup and rice. Uh and you know, he ordered a the Yamagata beef curry. I think the price here is not that expensive. It’s slightly more expensive than the food in the city, but I think it’s still affordable. For mine is 2,500 for the whole set and Linardo is 1,600 for for the whole set. So, let’s dig [Music] it. Ooh, look at how thick the hamburger looks like. They say this is made from Yamagata beef, which is just the city here. Let’s try. M. Oh, yeah. It’s good. It’s so tender. And somehow it does taste different than the hamburg that we ate in [Music] Tokyo. I would say the food here is pretty decent. The portion as well. Let’s try Dinardo’s beef curry. I’m going to steal your food. Okay. This is the beef. It’s so huge. M. That’s really good beef. It’s so tender. The curry is a bit more thick and rich. Like it’s not like the runny ones. Pretty decent. I [Music] think we finished our lunch/ dinner. And one thing I want to tell you guys, because it was snowing very heavily, the path to the old mining, the silver mining was closed. So, we cannot go there today. Yeah. So sad. But to our final thing in our list is to see Ginsan Onsen at night. Now we’re walking over to the main attraction. It’s a bit slippery here, so be careful when you walk here. And if you have like uh some boots that is anti-slippery, they will be great. [Music] It’s getting super crowded at night and I bet everyone’s here to enjoy the beauty of it in the night time. As you can see, everything lit up and it it looks so so surreal. [Music] There’s a group of photographers in this line if you see and they’re taking photo of Ginsan onen at night. It kind of feels like you’re in this n or discovery documentary cuz everyone’s so professional with their flash and they have been there for I don’t know for a very long time. [Music] [Music] Before we leave, there’s one more thing that we have to do, which is the food on sand. And now’s getting ready. It’s very hot. He said it’s too hot for me. Let’s try one more. Okay, one more time. Go, go, go. [Music] After the food bath, it was getting dark and we need to catch the last bus back to the city. There’s a long line for this bus and we are not sure if we will get a seat. And now we’re at the back of the line. Not sure if we’re going to get a spot or we can sit down in the in the [Music] bus. We still got a seat. What a long day. We made it back to Oshida station, but we still need to take the sinkansen back to Yamagata City. It has been such a long day, but the experience here was amazing. We cannot believe we finally visited Ginsen Onsen and can take it off our bucket list. If you enjoyed this video, don’t forget to give us a like and subscribe and we’ll see you in the next one. Bye. [Music]
Welcome to Ginzan Onsen, often called the most beautiful village in Japan and known by many as the real-life Spirited Away village! In this vlog, Linardo and I will be taking you on a magical day trip to Ginzan Onsen, a charming hot spring town located in the snowy mountains of Yamagata.
If youβve ever dreamed of stepping into a Ghibli movie, this is the place. Covered in snow, Ginzan Onsen in winter looks like a scene straight out of a fairytaleβand itβs a must visit in Japan, especially during the colder months.
Weβll show you how to visit Ginzan Onsen, whether youβre coming from Yamagata to Ginzan Onsen or planning a winter escape from Tokyo. Youβll also get a glimpse of what to do in Ginzan Onsen, from strolling the historic streets to relaxing in a traditional ryokan.
Enjoy this peaceful and scenic Japan travel vlog, and let us know if this little hidden gem made it onto your bucket list!
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2 Comments
You're voice in French is nice π
The quality of the image is great, which camera do you use ?
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