TOYOOKA
The rare buddha is revealed for the first time in 33 years!!
It is a special year this year because the full display of the 2.13 meters tall eleven-headed Kannon Buddha can be seen at Onsenji temple in Kinosaki. It is only once every 33 years for a period of three years!
Zazen & Matcha + Private Nursery School Tour (with English guide)
First, you'll meet your local English-speaking guide at Kinosaki Onsen Station. Then you'll set out on a guided walking tour through Japan's famous resort town, Kinosaki Onsen.
After a thoughtful stroll through the hot spring resort area, you'll visit Gokurakuji Temple. This temple is famous for its beautiful traditional Japanese rock garden, zen meditation practice, a friendly Buddhist priest, and a child daycare center next door.
Through this activity, experience seated zen meditation in a local temple while gazing outside at the tranquil rock garden. Afterwards, with the help of your guide, you can chat with the Buddhist priest while sipping on matcha and eating Japanese sweets.
Then take a step into modern Japan right next door by visiting a Japanese child daycare. You'll see cheerful children are having fun playing and learning. Take a glimpse into both traditional and contemporary Japanese life and culture through this tour. The tour will help clear your mind and warm your heart.
Straw Craft Activity and Craftsman Workshop Tour (with English guide)
It is said that in mid-Edo era (around 1720 AD), a craftsman named Hanhichi from the Inshuu area (what is now Tottori Prefecture) came to stay in Kinosaki Onsen. To make money to pay for his lodging expenses, Hanhichi sold bamboo flutes and spinning tops decorated with colored straw. After this, the straw craft was also used to decorate chests, boxes, and wooden prayer plaques. After the Meiji period began, famous artists visited Kinosaki and drew sketches for the straw craft’s designs, and thus straw craft gained popularity as an expensive, popular, and unparalleled handicraft. Today, the straw is flattened, dyed, and placed on small boxes, colored paper, spinning tops, and clay bells. Kinosaki Onsen is proud to be the only place in Japan which continues the traditional production of straw craft while preserving the original skills and techniques of the past.
Oriental White Stork Observation Tour (with private English guide)
The once-extinct Oriental White Storks were last seen flying in the skies of Japan right here in Toyooka City. To save the Oriental White Stork from complete extinction, the city first had to capture the last remaining ones and raise them in captivity before releasing them back into the wild. Due to these efforts, now over 140 storks fly freely in Japan's skies.
Through this tour, learn about the ecology of the storks and the city's commitment to fulfilling their promise of returning the Oriental White Storks to Japan's skies. Visit environmental agriculture sites that aim to create a rich natural environment where storks can live. You will also get to try organic rice and vegetables that positively impact the ecosystem.
Kannabe Highlands Cycling with Local Picnic
Cycle along vast rice fields, cultivated farmlands, and villages in between broad-leaved trees, together with a guide who has extensive knowledge on the Kannabe Highlands. While cycling, harvest and collect ingredients grown in the rich nature of the Kannabe Highlands and sold in various local shops. Afterwards, enjoy cooking your ingredients at Rin-en Farm, a spacious area with vegetables that you will pick for your meal! Refresh the body and mind when stopping by the Hattan Falls, a waterfall created naturally by a group of volcanoes, as well as a cave which exhales cool wind from its opening.