Toyama Prefecture day trip! Riding the Berumonta scenic train & mountain town visit in Japan – 観光列車

Toyama Prefecture day trip! Riding the Berumonta scenic train & mountain town visit in Japan – 観光列車

[Music] it’s a snowy morning here in kazala and we’re headed to toy to take the scenic bar mon train I’ll see you there but before we board the scenic bar mon train in Johanna first I’ll tell you how we got to Johanna there he is there he is we live just outside kazawa the capital of Ishikawa prefecture so that’s the station where we started we got tickets to Johanna on the Ishikawa Railway line which would take us to takaoka first we would then change to the Jr Johanna line and ride that until the end if you have the Japan Rail Pass you can take the Hoku rushin Consin to Shin takaoka first we took the isikawa railway since that pass isn’t available to Residents so this was the cheaper option for us without a pass the bar Monto scenic train itself is also a Jr train the week before I had reserved seats by talking to Jr staff at the ticket counter we picked up some drinks to enjoy on our journey Ishikawa prefecture also has its own Nick train the Han noin however this one hasn’t opened after the earthquake but I would love to ride it in the future this train would take us to takaoka you can also get tickets to board the bared train from takaoka but there were no more window seats in that direction so that’s why I booked us tickets on the cic train coming back from Johanna it was a comfortable ride and a pretty quick train over the mountains into toyoma prefecture once in takaoka we walked down to the Johanna line to make our connection I hadn’t expected the local train taking us to Johanna to also be such a cute and retro train this is the Train on the Jr Johanna line a diesel train part of the kiha 40 series introduced in Japan in 1977 it’s the same train type as the baram Monta but with a standard interior the inside had photos of Toyama prefecture’s mountain range and it wasn’t that crowded so we had a whole seat Booth to ourselves they were also advertising the opening of the new Shing conin extension from kazawa to fukui prefecture on March 16th which Ze and I also got tickets for so I’ll actually have a video here soon about taking that new bullet train line it took us about 45 minutes to get to Johanna this local train uses the same tracks that the bamont uses since it was Saturday we’d be getting on the mountain service bamont train and returning from Johanna but on Sundays you can ride the ocean view direction that takes you to or from HEI it got more and more snowy as we reached the little mountain town of Johanna this town is in the N region of Toyama prefecture in the corner that borders Ishikawa and gifu it’s at the foot of the world heritage site Mount kyama famous for its Sil production made it to Johanna 9,000 people live here and in early may they host the Johanna hiyama Festival which is a religious Festival where brightly colored floats are paraded from the shin Shrine through downtown we had a couple of hours to enjoy Johanna before the bont train at 2 [Applause] [Music] p.m. [Music] sorry about the glare here but I thought the silkworm children on this town map were really cute our first stop would be zenui Temple walking around snowy Johanna we’re going to get a snack before we go see the temple though we got our snacks so I’ve got one of those flake Breads and I got the yeah I got some buttery likey crust yeah if today’s train travel day has you dreaming about touring Japan by train yourself I wanted to tell you about how this video sponsor cluke can help the b m to train happens to be a Jr train so if you’re visiting with the Jr pass all of these trains will be included in that while there are multiple vendors you could purchase the Jr pass from cluke has a really convenient mobile app and discount system if train travel in Japan seems intimidating this is a flexible way to take all the complexity out of Japanese ticket purchases the Jr pass for whole Japan lets visitors ride unlimited trains at any time throughout the country plus some fairies and buses it’s a convenient option to consider if you don’t want to spend time planning individual ticket purchases and would rather have the freedom and spontaneity of an all you can ride option I think the best reason to get the Jr pass through cluke is because you’ll get points from the purchase which collect to give you travel discounts all in your own language and currency you can put these points towards your hotels or booking experiences in the same app check out cluke using the link below the snow is kind of melting but it’s very pretty the zuchi temple is over 500 years old wow and we spent so long admiring all of the intricate wood carvings decorating the front gate this is a major Temple of the Otani sect of pure land Buddhism it was under protection of the kaga domain when the MAA family was in power [Music] [Music] here we walked from the temple to get some lunch I still think it’s so interesting that there are cigarette vending machines in Japan this was a street lined with historic storehouses and this building is a former public bath it’s no longer in use but they kept the Retro look of the outside and we saw an eel restaurant on the map so we’re going to go see if the eel restaurant is open this restaurant was recommended on the town map at the station and had an inviting Folk House feel to it with tall wood beams and a t that floor trying to warm my little BS up I know she one it’s warm unagi is a freshwater river eel in Japan I actually didn’t know until I was researching this afterwards but unagi was added to the list of endangered species in 2014 because of over fishing since Ela is a staple of Japanese food I didn’t realize however the ethics of eating e are something I’ll be aware of for the future by seeking out ano instead we experience was very memorable though because the lunch set had H simbe literally bone crackers made from deep frying spine bones I was surprised since I probably wouldn’t have ordered Bones on purpose but once I tried them I realized how crispy and tasty they were unagi numbers have been recovering over the past decade since a permit system was introduced to eel Farmers reducing the volume of catches allowed however first I’ll think of anagi more as a rare delicacy rather than just another fish on the menu how was that a little eel meal an eel meal really good that’s true it was really good now for the fun part finally the scenic train oh this whole thing hasn’t been fun I shouldn’t say that now for the main event there were some signs of spring as we walked back to the train station and a few early cherry blossoms were already starting to peek out [Music] this is the Yamada River and if you kept going on this road you would get to goyama with the gash zukuri style houses finally it was time to board the ber mon train we have our tickets there he is there he is there were lots of people on the platform like us excitedly taking photos the green color of the train is really pretty I’m so excited I had reserved these seats for us ahead of time in kazawa but you could get them at any Jr station ticket counter everyone waved as we left the station though it was the same style of train that regularly runs on this line the inside was more stylish and elegant with Decor that highlighted local Specialties in the area this included decorations with takoa copper and enami wood carvings probably the coolest part about this train is that there’s a sushi chef on board you can buy snacks and other local treats and also order sushi plates that will be delivered to your seat another thing that sets this train apart is the tour guide that shares facts about the train in the area during the ride since we had already eaten lunch earlier I ordered a glass of local sake which was fun and delicious one side of the train has individual seats that face the window which is really cool we had the booth seat side which would be fun if you were traveling as a family since you could share a whole booth and table you get a cute stamp booklet that also holds your ticket for commemorating the ride I was surprised by how many people there were just out waving at the trains and flying green bont flags from their neighborhoods there seem to be a lot of local Pride around the [Music] train in tonami they were promoting the Tulip Fair which is coming up soon in the spring the ride flew by and about 45 minutes later we were pulling into the final station again it was such a cozy day enjoying Johanna and riding some cute trains what a fun cute train we switched platforms to head back to kazawa thanks for joining [Music] us

Today we’re riding the scenic “Berumonta” (short for Belles Montagnes et Mer) sightseeing train in Toyama Prefecture (富山県)! We took a day trip to board the train in the mountain town of Johana (城端), so we’ll also spend a fun afternoon there before returning to Kanazawa.

🎙️ Want to keep up with the rest of our adventures? We have a podcast! : https://www.ramblingramsbothams.com

Jump to:
00:41- train route we took to Johana
1:46 – local line from Takaoka
2:35 – Berumonta scenic train routes
3:01 – arriving in Johana
5:24 – Zentokuji Temple
8:13 – boarding the Berumonta

This video is sponsored by Klook, an experiences booking platform! Want to get the JR Pass for unlimited train travel while visiting Japan? You can purchase the “JR Pass for Whole Japan” through Klook using my affiliate link: https://shorturl.at/mnAW1

More Info About The Area:
English Info about Berumonta – https://www.westjr.co.jp/global/en/train/berumonta/
Official Berumonta Site – http://www.berumonta.jp/
Berumonta Details: https://www.jr-odekake.net/railroad/kankoutrain/area_hokuriku/berumonta/
Town of Johana – https://www.tabi-nanto.jp/en/about/area02
Johana is a “Little Kyoto” – https://shokyoto.jp/ml/en/sub/toyama_johana
Zentokuji Temple – http://www.zentokuji.jp/
Tourism in Toyama – https://toyama.visit-town.com/ & https://visit-toyama-japan.com/en

🇯🇵 More videos about Japan here:
Watching the F1 Race at Suzuka Circuit: https://youtu.be/y6IfZwFB63s
Week-long Bike Tour Kanazawa to Matsumoto: https://youtu.be/OOgtL6N20mY
Noto Peninsula Cycling Tour: https://youtu.be/AtgQuM1PLaI

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