Nikko

Nikko spreads from the shrine town at the mouth of the Daiya River up to Lake Chuzenji and the Yumoto hot springs, and the city also takes in Kinugawa and Kawaji to the east. The shrines and temples of Nikko sit together in a wooded precinct a short walk up from the Shinkyo bridge. Tobu trains reach Tobu Nikko station from Asakusa in under two hours, and JR's Nikko Line runs up from Utsunomiya in about 45 minutes.

Above town the two Irohazaka roads carry you up about 440 m to Chuzenji, one road for going up and one for coming down. Kegon Falls drops about 97 m out of the lake a few minutes' walk from the Chuzenji Onsen bus stop. The city's tourism office warns that on autumn holidays the queue up the hill has run to six hours.

Food here leans on yuba, the skin lifted off simmering soy milk, which Nikko writes with its own characters and folds double. Up at Yumoto a small ski park run by Tobu Kogyo opens late in December for families and school groups, and Edelweiss Ski Resort sits on the Kawaji side of the city.