A WEEKEND DRIVE AWAY FROM OSAKA

From Osaka, I took a weekend trip to the North with some friends. You could easily take the train to go up there, but I especially love renting a car and driving in Japan. The roads are well constructed, the views are always stunning, and it’s easier access to smaller villages.
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Of course the more popular option from Osaka are the touristy Kyoto and Nara, but I had done that in a previous trip, and if there is one thing I’ve learned from my trips to Japan thus far, it’s that the smaller, less popular attractions are more my thing. Renting a car in Osaka is pretty straightforward, and I picked mine up right in the city center using BooBoo car rental service. Some cash for the toll, some snacks from Family Mart, and off we went.

1. Ine
From Osaka, a three-hour slow drive up North will take you to a small fishing village called Ine. Strategically located in a bay, it’s a narrow little magical village sandwiched between the sea and the hills. The first word I though of as I stepped out of the car into the gusty wind was ‘quiet’. There were people around for sure, tourists even, but the village evokes a quiet charm. The sound of the sea and the breeze seemed to drown out most others, and the first thing I noticed was the seagulls, flying above, swaying in the wind against the blue sky. 

​The neighbourhood, presumably owned by the local fishermen, are mostly made of dark brown wood, so close to the coast that the waves crash onto the walls. Fishing boats bob along the jetty, and on good-weather days there is a boat tour for tourists to have a better view of the sea. Despite it being a ‘village’, the facilities are as one would expect in Japan – top notch roads, pristine public toilets, beautiful cafes overlooking the sea, well groomed little parks for everyone to enjoy. 

​There truly aren’t much to do here except enjoy the sea breeze, indulge in the cafes and restaurants or go for boat rides, which is to say, a perfect place if you’re looking to really detach and relax.

2. Kinosaki
About and hour west from Ine, there is another village, an onsen village to be exact, called Kinosaki village. An onsen village really just means a inhabited small town/village that is centered around its hot springs, which in Japanese fashion would be turned into public bath houses for the public to enjoy.
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But of course you don’t need to be a person who enjoys bathing in public in your birthday suit in order to enjoy this place. From the get-go, Kinosaki has a charm like a village out of a fairy tale. A long, peaceful stream runs across the town, and along it are small charming ryokans (traditional Japanese hotels), little restaurants, cafes and shops, and connecting them all are cute stone bridges adorned with willow trees.

​At night the streets light up and the ryokans and bath houses feel even more ethereal. It’s like taking a time machine to Old Japan. That is, of course, until you step into one of their stunning restaurants that serve delicious seafood (we’re by the sea, after all). I had dinner at a restaurant called Ichigyoichie and I couldn’t recommend it enough – I had a stunning plate of sashimi assortment, sea bream soup and a large bowl of snow crabs and shrimps, something I’ll remember for a long time.

​As for the bath houses (this part of the article will only entice the public bathers, I’m afraid), there are about six bath houses all unique in their own way scattered around the village. There are clean, wonderful, peaceful and discreet. I loved going to them both during the day and night, each time of the day evoking a different experience. You can get a day pass of about 1500 yen and this allows you an unlimited number of onsens for the entire way. Worth the marathon, in my opinion.