魚沼市への行き方 （Uonuma-shi & how to get there）

Uonuma-shi（魚沼市）, lying 230km north -west of Tokyo, is a nice & easy going town known for its best quality rice and rice wine(Sake). In the center of the town runs a beautiful river "Uonogawa", where locals are fishing with straw hats on.  It is a mountainous region caters to all levels of trekkers, skiiers, snowboarders and various sorts of  mountain lovers.  The region has unique festivals which should not be missed. I personally think, however, what is really great here is that Uonuma is not very touristy!

What to do in Uonuma?

 In spring, cherry blossoms while there is a lot of snow left in the mountains. You can actually ski until May at Okutadami ski resort! In summer, it is a great fun to hike in the mountains. Locals and tourists slurp buckwheat noodles(Soba) laid on a shallow wood container called Hegi,  a local delicacy. In autumn, the leaves of the mountains change their colors into reds and yellows. You can bathe in a onsen watching the leaves falling from the trees. In winter, skiing and snowboarding is very popular. It feels really great to soak in a onsen after skiing.

Where is it? 

View Larger Map

How to get to Uonuma-shi? :Uonuma-shi is best reached by Shinkansen(Bullet Train) from Tokyo. It takes only 90minutes and costs around 8000yen. If you have time and want to cut some expenses, getting on local trains would be fun, but you need to change trains a few times along the way. Please ask at the JR line for detailes. http://jreast.eki-net.com/ It takes five hours at least on local trains.  Another alternative is to take a bus, but it is difficult to book tickets because the system is run only in Japanese! Seibu Bus runs the route to Uonuma-shi(Koide station) from Ikebukuro in Tokyo.

You can click on the map above "to here" and follow the directions.

From Tokyo;

1.Shinkansen: Start from Ueno（上野） or Tokyo（東京） station(JR line)by Shinkansen→Urasa station（浦佐）, from Urasa transfer to local line →Koide station（小出）; it  costs around 8000yen and takes about 2hours.

2.Local line: Ueno（上野） station(JR line)→Takasaki（高崎）→Minakami（水上）→Koide（小出）; it costs about 4000yen and takes about 5hours

3.By Seibu Bus: make sure to book tickets well in advance; For reservations (in Japanese): http://www.j-bus.co.jp/new_module/index.html