Here is Part 2 of a three part series of our trip to Aizu-Tajima, north of Tokyo. I hope these videos encourage everyone to take a trip out of the city with their babies and enjoy the beautiful countryside Japan has to offer!
Trip to the Countryside of Japan
Part 2 – Catching the Tobu local train to Aizu-Tajima
After catching the Tobu Express train to Kinugawa Onsen, we transferred to the Tobu Kinugawa local train to Aizu-Tajima, our final destination. The train trip took 1 hour from Kinugawa Onsen, and the views of the mountains and villages were even more beautiful as we went further and further north into the mountain ranges. As we went in Golden Week, the cherry blossoms were in bloom which made it even more picturesque (cherry blossoms bloom nearly a month later than Tokyo, so a great chance to see them if you missed it in Tokyo).
Click here to see Part 1 and Part 3.
Important things to know:
- The train separates on the way, so make sure you are in the correct carriage! The announcements are all in Japanese (no English), so many tourists from overseas miss this and sit in the wrong carriage and find themselves hours later in a completely different spot to where they were heading. Make sure you ask the train conductor and confirm which carriage you should be sitting in. On the train, the front carriage goes to Aizu-Tajima.
- The train conductor will come and check your tickets on the train. If you didn’t have time to buy your ticket or made a mistake, you can buy the ticket on the train.
- There are no reserved seats on this train, so if you are going in a busy period make sure you get on the train early to ensure you get a seat.
- Time taken from Kinugawa Onsen to Aizu-Tajima: about 1 hour.
- Cost from Kinugawa Onsen to Aizu-Tajima: 1780yen.
- If you want to continue on to Aizu-Wakamatsu, which is a much larger station and has more options for hotels, sightseeing, and skiing in winter, continue on from Aizu-Tajima on the Aizu-Tetsudou-Line to Aizu-Wakamatsu. From Kinugawa Onsen to Aizu-Wakamatsu it takes just over 2 hours and costs 3,180yen. If you’d like to go directly to Aizu-Wakamatsu (not via Kinugawa-Onsen or Aizu-Tajima), there is an express train from Tokyo.
