Saturday, April 30, 2016

DAY 3 - TOKYO JAPAN (From Tokyo to Nikko)

DAY 3 is all about EDO.  Edo is the former name of Tokyo and the seat of power from 1603  to 1868.  To me it is the old mystical Japan ~ the world of Ninjas, Geishas and Samurai. 

We travelled 160 kilometers from Tokyo to Nikko-Shi to visit EDO WONDERLAND.  A theme park dedicated to the Edo period and living.  

We left the condo at about 7am, to catch an early 8am express train ride via the Tobu Railway. 

We bought the Kinugawa Theme park Pass at the Tobu Sightseeing  Service Center (opens at 730am). The Kinugawa Themepark is a discount all-in pass for tourists. Park entrance fees, round trip train ride and bus ride.

The pass gives you the option of 1 or 2 theme parks (Tobu World and Edo Wonderland).  We just got the Edo Wonderland, since my boys would probably be too tired playing ninjas, to try squeeze in a trip to Tobu World.  

The pass cost Y6180/adult and Y3090/children.  You need to pay extra to board an express train.


Here is the link for the detailed location - Tobu Sightseeing Service Center

 

Ride onboard the express train is smooth as expected.  The train is clean and well maintained. There are also rest rooms and  meals you can buy and eat onboard.

We arrived at Kinugawa Onsen Station after 2 1/2 hours.  From the train station, we walked our way to the bus station (#5) which stops at Edo Wonderland. 

TIP: Be sure to ask for a bus schedule from the Tobu Sightseeing Service Center.  There were bus schedules posted at the bus stops, but they were in Japanese (lol).

The first column is the hour, while the second column is the minutes during spring-summer and third column is the minutes during autumn and winter.

We visited in spring time. We arrived at around 1030 and missed the 1025 bus.  So we had to wait for the next one at 1045.  Easy right (NOT)?

After a 15 minutes bus ride...

Welcome to Edo Wonderland!




You have to exchange you Kinugawa Themepark Pass for Edo Wonderland entrance tickets at the admission.  A pretty lady in kimono warmly welcomed us (yes transactions, all in Japanese and HAND gestures).



These gates transport guests to Old Tokyo.

The Edo Wonderland park is magnificent and we are glad we've included it our itinerary.  It may seem a bit too much Yen, but the experience is one, we will always remember.

Here are some of the pictures we have taken.

 




The park runs multiple shows, parades and Edo period activities for the family to enjoy.

Samurai show.

The Geisha show was so fun to watch.  

There were two other ninja shows we have seen (really breathtaking, I so admire the actors commitment to their work, unfortunately cameras were not allowed inside the theaters).

One of the activities we enjoyed is this Ninja maze.  We got lost and took the easiest way out, but what the heck, we had so much fun. 


Literally LOST in JAPAN :P


Papa trying his skills with Shuriken...







There is no lack of food in the Edo Period.  We entered a Japanese restaurant and was given an English menu.  I think we were a bit hungry, from all the Ninja stunts we've seen earlier and ordered three of this hefty meal. There were cheaper more affordable options, but we were really hungry!




We left Edo Wonderland at 4pm and traced the road back to the bus stop (which was just outside the park) and the Kinugawa Onsen Station to take a train back to Asakusa.

For more information about Edo Wonderland, please check out their webpage -


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19 comments:

  1. Hahaha natawa ko dito "yes transactions, all in Japanese and HAND gestures". I can totally relate, we survived our Tokyo trip sa sign languages. Sa Tokyo Disney lang talaga may nag-English during our trip.

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    1. Hi Mitchi, Tokyo was easy since you are bound to come across someone who understands a bit of English. Nikko is somewhat rural. Everythings was in Japanese. For a good 1 hour from the time we arrived at the Nikko station, we were so scared of getting lost.

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  2. Awww..Japan. This is one of the places to go to in my bucket lists. =)

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  3. Wow another Japan trip post. Haaayy! Soon sana makatravel din kami. Liit pa kasi baby ko.

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  4. I still dream of Japan as I have never been there. But from stories and pictures of a friend of mine plus yours, indeed, Japan is a place I should visit someday.

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  5. Japan is an interesting place to visit. Your family is blessed to go around that country. It's also nice to document your itinerary through your blog. It could help you go back to it in the future.

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  6. Wow, Japan is on our travel bucket list, wish we could visit someday :) Looks like you had a lot of fun! Seems very family friendly

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  7. Everyone's turning Japanese! It seems to be everyone's latest favorite destination. Thanks for sharing your IT. Good reference when we decide to go too! : )

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  8. I love the phrase "there is no lack of food." Can I just say, ideal place?! Haha! I would really love to go to Japan someday - hopefully soon!

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  9. Japan is also on our family's travel bucket list! More than the sights, it's really admirable how the Japanese keep and value their traditions. Oh, and of course the food!

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  10. Japan is a dream destination for us. Now that we got our passports, we hope to visit it, too, in the near future. -- Maria Teresa Figuerres

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  11. This reminds me of a place we went to in Japan. It's like a ninja village where we got to watch ninja shows too. There was also a house maze which made us really dizzy inside. I have to search my records for the name of the place in my records. Maybe it's the same as this one. Haha

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  12. Oh dear I'm not sure how I would hand gesture my way in specially because i don't know any Japanese terms! Kidding aside though the edo park looks interesting and this is the first time I've heard of it.

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  13. We haven't been to Japan yet.. but hopefully I'll visit that country soon. Thank you for sharing your travel experience. :)

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  14. I'm inggit! Huhu! Hopefully someday makapag-travel din kami ng family ko sa Japan! :)

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  15. Super nice trip, this is in our bucket list to visit Japan

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  16. I love Japan of all countries I visited. I personally like Osaka because of their food. But really, I think the reason why I'd love coming back to this place is because of its rich culture and because of the people. :)

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    1. We have not been to Osaka, but I heard it is a different kind of Japan in there. We are planning another Japan visit by next year and we are targeting Kansai region (Osaka, Kyoto and Nara) this time.

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  17. Your trip to Edo Wonderland looks like a lot of fun! I hope to visit Japan one of these days.

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