Hiking to the Echizen Ono Castle Lookout

If you’re visiting Japan and are looking for an “off the beaten path” adventure, this is a fun one for ya 

Nestled between a moody mountain range sits the sleepy city of Ōno, home to a stunning 1580’s Japanese castle. Echizen Ono Castle is famous for being known as the “castle in the sky”. In early mornings when the fog hangs low, you can see the castle appear to float above the clouds. However, this phenomenon only occurs about 10 times a year and most likely in the month of November.

We still had overly ambitious dreams of catching this rare sight. We were ready for the 4am wake up call to get to the mountain, but it rained heavily each morning we were there. We were still determined to get to the lookout point and see the castle, so we set off one morning after it finished raining to go hike it.

For anyone visiting Japan in early January, I just want to warn you, it’s cold. Coming from hot and humid Bangkok, this was a shocking change for my body. You’d think I’d be used to it being from Upstate New York/Boston, but it’s funny how fast your body adapts to living in another climate for a few months!

We actually didn’t stay in Ono, we stayed at beautiful Japanese style hotel in Ichinamachi just a few train strops away from Ono. The hotel is called Mirakurute, it’s nestled deep in the forest. We opted for the private onsen since we have tattoos and would not be allowed in the public onsen. This ended up being a great choice, our onsen was half indoors and half outdoors, and faced the forest. We spent an afternoon sitting in our onsen, eating pocky, drinking sake, and enjoying the smell of the pine and the quiet of the forest. A nice change from big city Tokyo.

Getting to Ono from Ichinamachi was fairly easy, it’s just one train line. However, if you decide to take the line to Ono, be diligent about checking the time schedule! We ended up getting stuck in Ono for a few more hours than we wanted to because we read the train schedule wrong  The view from the train station is absolutely beautiful. The clouds hang low in the valleys, and the trees and mountains pose for moody portraits.

You’ll get off at Echizen Ono Station on the JR line. From there, there are a few ways you can get to the look out point:

We took the first trail to the viewpoint, and it was about a 400m to 500m climb. The trail was wet and muddy, so if you’re going to do this, I would do it in proper hiking boots! You can do it in regular sneakers, but John slipped and fell in the mud a few times on his way down 

We got dropped off by taxi here, and then we walked straight towards the tunnel but to the left of the tunnel there’s a path up to the trail.

From there, the path will give you markers of how many meters you have left to climb.

Although it’s only a 400m/500m climb, I will mention that it’s very steep! We were huffing and puffing all the way up. 

When you get to the top, you’ll get this great little sign that identifies the nearby mountains. You’ll also see what it’s supposed to look like with the early morning fog.

The view was still spectacular and the climb was great!

It only took us about 20 minutes to get up to the view point. There’s a little bench there, so we sat and admired the view for a bit and took pictures. I had an old McDonald’s breakfast sandwich stowed away in my backpack from earlier that morning, so I took the opportunity to enjoy it there. If that isn’t a sign of globalization, I don’t know what is  How the heck did McDonald’s finagle it’s way to the little ol’ traditional town of Ono?! After eating inari sushi for a week straight, McDonald’s was a welcome sight. Being vegetarian in Japan can be rough, but that’s another story 

After we were done at the castle viewpoint, we hiked down and then walked to the city center. Ono has a popular walking street with little shops and restaurants.

One of the things I loved about Japan was the remarkable attention to detail while being minimalist. Art is weaved into architecture, and even into public works! This drain cover looks like something I’d happily hang up on my wall!

I bought sake from this sake distillery  You can ask to taste the different kinds, but I got too shy. I actually still have the sake sitting in my cupboard, waiting to be enjoyed!

Probably the coolest thing we did on the walking street was go into the soy sauce factory. There was a little storefront in the soy sauce factory and the smell was incredible. Later that day, we enjoyed cold soba noodles with the local soy sauce, and it tasted so different than the other highly processed soy sauces. I feel like processed soy sauce just tastes like pure salt, while this soy sauce has a nice tang and deeper flavor profile rather just tasting like just pure salt. Homemade soy sauce? Check  Definitely a once in a lifetime opportunity.

We took the train back to our traditional style Japanese hotel for the night. There are no pictures of our hotel SADLY because when we got back we just crashed. We were so exhausted from hiking and walking all day that I threw my camera down and passed out. Well, kind of. To be honest traditional Japanese style beds aren’t too comfortable, they’re pretty much equivalent to sleeping on the floor. Good for your back, right?  I think that’s just a myth.

We woke up early the next morning to catch the train to Kyoto. It was rainy and cold, the mountain mist crawled through the mountains as if there were something sinister about to happen. Ichinami was so silent, no sounds of trains, cars, planes, just the town and the mountains. After living in big city Bangkok for 8 months, silence like this would kill me. As the lone train cart rolled to our stop, I felt relieved to head back to to the hustle and bustle again.

Thanks for reading!