Otawara, JP. Any info?

[Kailene]

Sooo, after my week of sightseeing, I'll be settling down in Otawara (about 2 hours north of Tokyo). I was a little bit disappointed that it wasn't closer to any big cities, but what can you do, haha? I just found out that if I want to take the train to Tokyo, it costs like $80 one way. Yikes! Maybe I'll make friends with someone with a car... or a big wallet.

Can anybody tell me anything of interest about this place???

[AJBryant]

O*DA*wara, maybe?

[fuzzycuffs]

O*DA*wara, maybe?

There's also an Otawara.

小田原 Odawara
大田原 Otawara

Odawara I've been too, Otawara I have not. There are some nice onsen in and around Odawara, and also the castle. It's nearish to Hakone too, so you can see the lake.

[keatonatron]

There are some nice onsen in and around Odawara, and also the castle. It's nearish to Hakone too, so you can see the lake.

And it's only $8 from Tokyo.　

[AJBryant]

Ah, I didn't know of the other one. I'm a castle junkie, so Odawara was the one on my radar.


Tony

[keatonatron]

I thought the same thing when I read the thread title, but once I saw "2 hours north of Tokyo" I knew it must be some small non-Odawara town.

[Yudan Taiteki]

Is this Otawara in Tochigi-ken? I don't know anything about it, but it shouldn't cost $80 to get to Tokyo unless you take the Shinkansen.

Utsunomiya is a lot closer; it's not as big as Tokyo but it might suffice for some purposes.

[AJBryant]

You know, I totally missed that directional bit. Sigh.

[keatonatron]

Is this Otawara in Tochigi-ken? I don't know anything about it, but it shouldn't cost $80 to get to Tokyo unless you take the Shinkansen.

It takes 3 hours and $25 by my calculations...

Not at all bad if you were to come for the weekend. You probably wouldn't want to do any day trips though.

[DynamicBison]

I live near Houshakuji station (two stations after Utsunomiya), and it's 2,210 yen for me to go to Tokyo and back, so I would imagine it would be less from Utsunomiya. Going to Tokyo is usually a breeze. I usually take the Shonan Shinjuku Line, and it takes me less than 3 hours to get to Tokyo (less than 2 when I go to Itabashi); however, coming back usually takes 3 hours or so.

[Yudan Taiteki]

Hey, someone else living in Tochigi. I lived in Tochigi-shi for two years.

[keatonatron]

Going to Tokyo is usually a breeze... it takes me less than 3 hours to get to Tokyo

So that's considered "a breeze" in Tochigi-time, huh? I can't imagine what "takes a while" must be like

[two_heads_talking]

Going to Tokyo is usually a breeze... it takes me less than 3 hours to get to Tokyo

So that's considered "a breeze" in Tochigi-time, huh? I can't imagine what "takes a while" must be like

Take the train from Sendai to Aomori.. that's a while..

[DynamicBison]

So that's considered "a breeze" in Tochigi-time, huh? I can't imagine what "takes a while" must be like

For someone who's not used to traveling that far, I suppose that wouldn't be a breeze, lol. I forgot to take that into account. I used to travel for about that long to go to work in NY, so I'm used to that traveling time; but everyone does not have that experience.

Hey, someone else living in Tochigi. I lived in Tochigi-shi for two years.

Whoa, that's pretty cool. I live in Takanezawa-machi and work in Haga-machi. I haven't driven to Tochigi-shi yet. Are there any sight seeing places there?

[Yudan Taiteki]

Hey, someone else living in Tochigi. I lived in Tochigi-shi for two years.

Whoa, that's pretty cool. I live in Takanezawa-machi and work in Haga-machi. I haven't driven to Tochigi-shi yet. Are there any sight seeing places there?

No.

(There are some OK places if you live there and don't have to go very far, but nothing that it would be worth driving all the way out there to see.)