Kyoto’s Hidden Gems 🇯🇵 Day Trips from Kyoto, Lake Biwa, Shiga, Otsu, Japan Vlog 2025

Kyoto’s Hidden Gems 🇯🇵 Day Trips from Kyoto, Lake Biwa, Shiga, Otsu, Japan Vlog 2025

an odd suit. Where is Hello from the Kyoto station. We’re about to take the train to Ots Otsu. Today we’re going to a little town called Otsu. Try a slower side of Japan. We’re taking the Shinkransen, but it’s only 9 minutes away, so should be a quick and easy trip. Continue. Press the button. Finally made it to There’s a little information center. I don’t usually get guides books like these, but I feel like we don’t know much about this area. So, This whole in Omir. Mhm. And you are going to stay at Ch. So, we just checked into Hotel Kuatsu. Let’s take a little room tour. Right when you enter, you can leave your shoes over here. So, from the hallway leads to this beautiful tatami line Japanese style room. Two very cozy lux looking beds. There’s a bedside iPad that you can use to get in touch with the reception. This is the view from the bedroom. It looks out into a tatami waiting room. And beyond the waiting room, there is a view of a private garden. And of course, I love the very thoughtful details. Japanese sweets tea. Little welcome wagashi. It’s almost too pretty to eat. Has a little silver foil on it. It says that the drinks in the refrigerator are free. There’s a little carrot juice, some mandarin juice, an asah to warm up on a cold night. You know, this is the the way to open it. I think one of the most amazing things about this room is that you have your own private garden. And last but not least, we have the bathroom. How amazing is this? The mix of the green tiles, the wooden tub, and the view of the garden. Ah, come on. Yeah. Thank you. He said the original door is the one that’s still here. But this is made from white and orange. Which one is your favorite? So, it’s our first night here in Otsu. Our hotel recommended we try this restaurant called Genan. Their specialty is Omi Beef and they are serving us two wines to try that are made locally here in Chica. This is an orange wine and a white wine and they are made from the Hitomi winery wines on. Cheers to our first night in Otsu. Cheers. Wow. Well, this is really nice. You need to try this one. Well, make it differently here in Chica. The wines are kind of slapping. So, this piece is the omi beef. It’s a shank of roast beef. And they made sure to stress that you need to chew it 30 times. So, I wonder what this is going to taste like. It’s going to taste wonderful. And then they also have a pate made with Japanese peppers or scho and a steamed chicken with mushroom cream sauce to give you an idea of what the beef is like. It’s cooked very rare. It’s like um having like a a really thick hamon. It’s similar to hamon. Yeah. The texture is really different. It’s very smooth. It’s almost like a piece of sashimi. And there’s kind of a floral flavor to it, too. I don’t know if you taste the same thing as me. Almost tastes Spanish. Okay. So this is a platter of four kinds of charcoal grilled meat, mostly omi beef and seasonal roasted vegetables from the Chiga Prefecture. This is number one. This is number two. Let me see in Japanese. Number four. Today’s roasted vegetables we have yugi, red turnip, purple daon, broccoli, cauliflower, colorful carrot, golden beet, sun choke, onion. Cheers to steaks on the vlog. Oh me, oh my. Omi beef tendon curry with rice. Looks really spice filled. Kind of tastes Indian. Very good. Oh, there’s a spice to it. And the beef itself is very soft. I think the beef tendon is a perfect part to uh make into a curry. I like curry. So, by default, I should like this. Thank you. from Hotel Co. As you can see, we’ve changed into our PJs, Otsu style pajamas. So, for this trip, we’ve partnered with Hotel Co. in Otsu for our stay. They’ve let us stay in this beautiful renovated matcha. This one in particular used to be a tea house. It’s so beautiful. I don’t think we’ve ever stayed in a place where the view from the bedroom leads straight into a Japanese garden. It’s one of the most relaxing stays we’ve had. A really nice break from Kyoto, which was a little overstimulating. We’re staying in Atsu for 2 days. We’re going to be exploring the neighborhoods. This house in particular is located on the old Tokaido Road, which used to connect Tokyo to Kyoto. It was traditionally the last stop on People’s Journey. It’s located right by Lake Biwa. Otsu used to be like this port city. We had that in mind that we sort of wanted to revisit that old style Japan that we had our eyes on for a few years now. We sort of wanted to reenact that old traveler itinerary. Like you said, we’re sort of recreating the way that people used to travel with little stopovers in small towns that are more relaxing. Just a way to refresh yourself before you move on to another big town. After this, we’ll be going back to Osaka, bigger cities, a lot going on. So, for us, this is a really welldeserved break and helping us realign ourselves, and we’re so thankful to Hotel Co. for letting us stay here. It’s been such an amazing experience, and I can’t wait to explore the rest of this town. One of the best views here, if any hotel we’ve stayed in, it’s the most ninja I’ve felt, to be honest. You just have to watch your height. So, from our building, we’re walking over to the main building to have breakfast. Today, we’re having breakfast at Hotel Co., a beautiful set breakfast for us, made with fresh ingredients from Biwa. So, you’re supposed to start off your meal with some veggie juices. Organic carrots and apple juice. The first set of side dishes has yuba and cognac. So, beautifully prepared. This is called a sukudani and it’s made with eel, cucumber, shiso, and ginger. Everything has been simmerred in soy sauce, sugar, and sweetened sake. Put everything on top of the rice. Comforting way to start your day here in Otsu. Since we’re going on a tour this morning, going to have some coffee before we leave. I’m Yoko from the concert from hotel coakucho and I’m doing a tour for the guest. It’s nice to meet you. Period. The government made the five big street in Japan and number one is a Tokaido street and point A it’s Kyoto and Ou is here point B and so Tokaido street connect Tokyo and Kyoto this is a Tokaido street in front of the building you stayed last night and between Tokyo to Kyoto there were 53 stops and also was the last station before Kyoto and now Otu is not very popular city because I think Kyoto is too popular. Otu is only 9 minutes from Kyoto station. I think it osu is too close from Kyoto but in Edo period there mainly tourists from all over the Japan because we had the Tokaido street. A lot of people walk down the Tokaido street to get to Kyoto. People travel with horses. It’s a long way. So people got dirty. So before they go to Kyoto, people changing their dress completely here in Osu. And you pronounce it. Co. Yes. A is usually used. Yeah. Like in the Philippines, you would say and we say co. Does it mean something cool? Oh yeah. The co means you know people gathered the one place it means coing of the castle and it stand in the lake on Saturday hikyama stops at the houses and people play the musical instrument on the top of the hikyama. This is very old in our Japanese sweet shop. It goes with coffee very well. Oh, you have a favorite? Yeah, I love pistachio. Oh, this one. Yeah. What’s your favorite strawberry? This one is so chewy. What do you think is nice? Oh, I like You want to buy one for the big And we carry the moi to other houses. We use it. It’s like a base backpack. Yes, it is made shells. So, it is very expensive. We use it only for the special occasion. Thank you. Thank you. Imagine when people stopped over here, they would grab some snacks. Yes, that’s right. They didn’t have a pistachio moji. We have a lot of Japanese sweet moi in this area. Oh, this is a very old teapot just to for people to smell it. smells good. Yes. Yeah. E means good. Yes. This some people taste this tea. Someone said it’s peeled salty but another people say it’s very sweet. So this you know tea is very complicating taste. It looks so good for baby. Yes. Yeah, I think so. Do people usually have it with tea? Yeah. 1858. As for tea, Kyoto is a very famous especially uji is a very famous place but uji and asamia where is a very popular place. We can have the finest tea leaves is the same mountain and the K side we call it Uji and Chia prefecture side we call it asamia the good soil that’s why we can grow up the good tea leaves I need it. design. Very good. So you can fry in there. We look at the far. This one looks more nice. Thank you very much. Juba. Heat. Square Red. protein. Grab him. Green. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. N. pickled stuff. Baby. Is this your favorite favorite? Wow. Oh, you Heat. Heat. I like the Sushi. Sushi. Ralph and Sam as ducks. She got fish. Eat it. Eat it. Oh, she’s so Wow. Hello. Hello. Please. Got a red wine and sake from Biwa. It’s a perfect night cap. I might I might this be wo cider. What did you want? Good morning from Otsu. We are checking out finally. We’ve really enjoyed staying at this beautiful renovated Machia. Do you have any thoughts about our Utsu stay? I don’t think I’ve ever slept better than our past two nights here. past few days it was it was really relaxed. You he mentioned renovated matcha. We basically did a renovated matcha tour of the city cuz a lot of these matchas scattered around the city have transformed into restaurants isakayas. You know you guys love because of that feel. We tried the best. Omi beef steak at a renovated match house. We stayed at the renovated match. Dined in a renovated match. We had drinks in a renovated match. We went full circle here. Amazing to see a transformation of the city slowly by slowly. Ralph the Rambler. What was your favorite thing that we did here in Otsu? Definitely staying at this hotel. You know, smelling the wood, sleeping in an allwood room with a tatami floors. I didn’t realize I enjoyed tatami so much. It’s so cool because there’s three layers from the garden all the way to the bedroom and it gets gradually darker as you close it off. It’s been such a nice experience. You really get a feel of old Japan in this town. I think they really preserved that feeling. It used to be a very popular destination. I hope more people give it a chance from the both of us. And I guess see you in a saka. Staying till the very last minute cuz we really liked our stay. Put it down. All the bagel and the cream cheese and the Japanese straws jump. And yeah. Wow. Yeah, this one is so good. So good. It looks very nice. And they’re freshly made. Yeah. This is my spinach and mushroom sandwich. Has my packa mushrooms and some other Japanese mushrooms. M. Why don’t you take a bite? Sichua. What’ you classic tuna salad? this beautiful cruiser. Good job. Oh, this is great. I’m too. Hello. Thank you. You can read their fortunes. It’s him. Yeah. The salon with pottery. Hey, hey, hey. Hey, I finally found a Pokémon one. Double Gyardos. What are you going to do? Heat up here. Heat. Hey, Heat. You know, you never Push your thumb. That’s what happens.

Looking for underrated places to visit in Japan away from the crowds? Step off the beaten path and explore Otsu, a charming city in Shiga Prefecture—just a 9 minute train ride from Kyoto.

Join us as we explore one of Japan’s best-kept secrets. From ancient temples to scenic lake views, and charming local spots that most tourists miss. Whether you’re planning your next Japan travel adventure or just love exploring new places to visit, this Kyoto hidden gem should be on your list!

#kyotohiddengem #lakebiwa #otsu

Thank you to Hotel Koo for sponsoring our stay!
Book your stay at Hotel Koo here: https://hotel-koo.com/en/

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Music: 🎷
Mark Generous – A Large Yellow Crane – https://thmatc.co/?l=B3C04D47
Mark Generous – Blue Jeans – https://thmatc.co/?l=3B9C84D6

Chapters:
00:00 Introduction
00:22 Kyoto to Otsu
01:27 Otsu City
02:19 Best Hotel in Otsu
06:06 Best Omi Beef
10:35 Morning in Otsu
13:01 Japanese Breakfast
14:21 History of Otsu Japan
16:19 Otsu Mochi Shop
17:32 160 Year Old Tea Shop
20:26 Lake Biwa Pearl Jewelry
21:37 Traditional Japanese Lunch
23:40 Old School Photo Shop and Snacks
24:45 Otsu Shotengai Walk
25:17 Imperial Family Pickle Shop
26:46 Nagara Shrine
27:40 Rabbit Shrine
28:18 Mii-dera Shrine
29:05 Exploring Otsu
29:50 Siiji Izakaya
31:30 Lake Biwa at Night
32:57 Japanese Machiya Breakfast
35:52 Otsu Morning Walk
36:23 Dry River Bakery
38:51 James Western Clothing
40:22 Cafe
41:03 Curry Shop
42:14 Lake Biwa
43:13 Marlet Cafe