Feel-good Walking Excursion around Lake Yogo in the Best Season

 

余吴湖畔最佳季节之旅

The whole circumference distance of Lake Yogo is about 7 km, which is impeccable for a daily walking. The traffic of the road is usually low, and the air flowing from the surrounding mountain is always fresh. So, after my retirement, I’ve made it a rule to make a walking exercise almost everyday in order to keep fit. Views around the lake is always changing. People never get tired of enjoying its everyday landscape. Since many colorful spots, such as historical heritages, sites of old legends, and unique fisherman’s devisal can be seen here and there from the hiking road, so sightseers, especially from abroad must be satisfied with the genuine countryside culture of Japan and interesting chats with the local people there.

Map of Lake Yogo

 

Overview

  • Shiga
  • 13,000 JPY
  • 5 Hours
  • 1 ~ 5 people
 

Itinerary

  • Meeting Point

    JR Yogo Station
  • The Visitor Center & the Fishing Pier
  • The Local Restaurant
  • Rambling along the Small Hamlet of KAWANAMI (川並), visiting 2 local temples and Seeing the Inhabitants' Daily Lives
  • Shimaura (島浦), One of the Seven Best Spots around the Lake
  • Koyasu (子安)Temple Hall Enshrining the Deity of Mercy (地蔵菩薩)
  • The Stone of the Big Snake’s Eye and the Pillow Stone (枕石)
  • The Monument of Haiku Poem by Rotsu (路通), a Disciple of the Famous Haiku Poet Basho (芭蕉)
  • Blue Lake Yogo with a Background of Snow-covered Yokoyama-dake Mountain (横山岳; 1,132 meters)
  • Sites and Ruins Associated with Shizugatake Battle (賤ケ岳の戦い) in 1583
  • Ending Point

    JR Yogo Station

What to Expect

  1. To be able to see and learn actual sites of old Japanese legend and history
  2. To be able to enjoy everyday changing landscape of Lake Yogo throughout the four seasons
  3. To be able to touch genuine Japanese culture through chatting with the local people here
  4. To be able to enjoy local cuisines

Inclusions & Exclusions

[Inclusions]

Guide Fee

[Exclusions]

1) Lunch and/or Dinner (For Tourists): Less than 1,500 (One Thousand and Five Hundred) JPY Each at a Maximum.

2) Any Unexpected Cost (For Tourists): Less than 1,000 (One Thousand) JPY Each at a Maximum.

   

Important Information

1) The tour consists of 5 hours walking excursion, basically starting from 11:00 AM to 16:00 (4:00 PM), including 1 hour lunch.

2) Meeting & “Good-bye” Place:

  • 11:00 AM at JR Yogo Station (Tour start)
  • 4:00 PM at JR Yogo Station (Tour end)

3) Lunch: A Set Menu of Local Foods from 12:00 AM to 1:00 PM

4) Peak Season: The destination spots may slightly change due to seasonal situation, after getting an approval from the guests

5) Longer or shorter Excursion time and other specific regions are available, on your request.

Remark

[Cancellation Policy]
1) Free cancellation – 10 days prior to meeting time
2) 50% Refund – 9 to 3 days prior to meeting time
3) No Refund – Within 2 day(s) prior to meeting time

Book Now!  

Reviews

 by Mitch on KOHOKU Tour
Thank you very much, Yoshi!

Thank you very much for taking all those beautiful photos and for sending them to me. I already looked at them, and they are excellent. And I’m also very grateful you were my tour guide! I very much appreciate how you always did your best to make sure I had an excellent tour. You totally succeeded in making it great for me! And even when you lost your phone, you stayed as calm and focused as a samurai warrior!!! Very impressive! I would have lost my mind. I’ll be sure to download the photos to my computer before Dec 10. Thanks again Yoshi!!! Wish you the best always, Mitch.
Kasuga Grand Shrine

https://1drv.ms/i/s!Ah-pI_GRbL6byUwSIzrBatVrAnZ-?e=iitak5

 

 

Good day, Mitch san. I thank you very much for selecting me as a tour guide for the 2 ancient capitals (Nara & Kyoto).Though I'm a very amateurish and awkward tour guide, I tried my best to serve the nice guy who came all the way from NY.(I committed that TERRIBLE mistake of losing my mobile phone on the very first moment on the first day, though...(^-^; ;;;; ) I strongly hope that all of your days in Japan this time will be unforgettable good memories.I was so glad to be able to share the same time with you, Mit san. I'll never forget the handsome therapist in NY.From YoshiNov., 22 (Wed.), 2023

 by Linda & Mike on KOHOKU Tour
Yoshi was awesome!

Yoshi was very informative, knowledgeable, time conscious, kind, humble, and considerate. We asked a lot of questions because we truly wanted to understand the Japanese culture, and he -answered them with honesty. We are 69 years old, and he often asked us: can you walk 15 minutes to a certain location, or can you walk up the stairs? He seemed to be very sensitive about our health mobility. Although he is about our age, he has great wisdom and much more energy than we did. We would highly recommend him.
The Golden Pavilion
Thank you Memo from the Client

https://1drv.ms/i/s!Ah-pI_GRbL6b0G7HnyxwKbSCqlrH?e=zBryLy

Re: Summary of 4 Days’ Tour Guiding around Kyoto & Nara in Nov. (11月に行った4日間の京都・奈良観光ガイドのまとめ)

Dear Linda san, and Mike san I was so happy to be able to share the time with you on the 18th. Thank you for your lavish words to this amateurish tour guide. I was glad to know that both of you were listening in earnest, when I explained about the histories and the related episodes, with what little knowledge I have. I already sent my "Homeworks" to your e-mail address, and will send all the photos in a week, as I promised. Again, I was really lucky to get acquainted with the nice couple from Louisiana. From Yoshi

 by Subramaniam Sundar on KOHOKU Tour
Thank you, Yoshi!

Hello, Yoshi. Reached home safely.
Thank you for the lovely photographs. I was able to download them. You may want to use some of the photographs, if you wish to. Thanks again for your help. Subramanium

Sanjyusangendo Temple

Re: Tour Guide around Kyoto and Nara for the 5 Wonderful Families from US - KOHOKU Tour

Dear Subramaniam sanGood evening. (It's 9:40 PM on Apr. 22 (Sat.) in Japan.)I'm so relieved to hear that you were able to download the photos.I was so lucky and happy to happen to serve for the wonderful Sundar family. And I have to say to all of you, "I'm so sorry for my amateurish guidingfor your memorable tour to the Far Eastern Country".Your normal activities will start again from the day after tomorrow. Please continue working on staying healthy, such as walking exercise, ..."Exerciseis a real Polypill!", which is my favorite word.Thank you, Subramaniam san, Vijaya san, Sheikh san and Sumitha san.Thank you, and you have a nice weekend, please!!from YoshiApr., 22 (Sat.), 2023

 by Haruka. N on KOHOKU Tour
"Massively Wonderful Research Tour around KOHOKU" with Yoshi, a Licensed Tour Guide

[In English]

"Massively Wonderful Research Tour around KOHOKU" with Yoshi, a Licensed Tour Guide

Hi, Yoshi
The "research tour" conducted by your guide was perfectly fruitful.
Since I have had an interest in Lake Yogo and its surrounding hamlets, I've been eager to make the on-the-spot research there. That's why I asked your help, since you were born and grown at a small village of Kawanami (the north-west of Lake Yogo) and have abundant knowledge about KOHOKU.
My "research tour" was 2days. On the 1st day, you kindly showed me every spot in your home-village of Kawanami and around the Lake, spending no less than 5 hours. I thought afresh Kawanami was wonderful, walking round the fantastic hamlet and seeing its beautiful landscape. And I felt happy enough to be able to have a good chance to exchange greetings with many village people there. And I was lucky to hear very interesting stories as well about their lives and scenes of olden days from a nice old man who has lived there all his life. On the 2nd day, you guided me around the nearby town of Kinomoto, which used to be a post-station town with a long history, didn't you? You brought me to that historically famous old battlefield, Shizugatake, the amazing view from which I'll never forget. And when we walked around the area along the Niu river, I was impressed a lot, imagining about the days of old hamlets that have already disappeared from a map, due to a dam construction schedule. All the spots that you guided were so colorful and informative. Thank you, Yoshi.
And you've been very kind to take actively a proper care of incorporating additional spots that I wanted to visit, even after the initial itinerary. If I had no help of your guide and did it myself, I definitely couldn't visit such wonderful places. I was fully satisfied with your nice guiding around KOHOKU. Thank you, again, Yoshi!

At the Top of Mt. Shizugatake

[In Japanese]

Yoshiさん、こんにちは。
今回は、とても充実した調査ツアーになりました。
私は余呉湖および余呉湖周辺の集落について興味があり、ぜひ現地調査をしたいと考えていました。
そこで、余呉湖の北西に位置する川並で生まれ育ち、湖北地方について十分な知識をお持ちであるYoshiさんにこの地域を案内していただくことになりました。
調査は2日間行いましたが、1日目は川並および余呉湖の湖周を一日かけてじっくりと案内していただきました。
川並はとても良い場所で、その美しい町並みと風景、歴史をめぐりながら、昔から村に住んでいらっしゃる人々と挨拶を交わし、とても興味深い昔の川並の風景や生活についてお話を聞くことができました。
2日目は川並から少し離れて、宿場町の歴史を持つ木之本、かつて激しい戦があった賤ヶ岳、ダム計画により地図から消えた村の跡地、など余呉湖周辺の歴史を巡る調査となりました。
どのポイントも非常に興味深く、とても勉強になるツアーでした。
また、最初にツアー日程の提案をいただいてからも、私の見学したい場所の希望を積極的に取り入れてくれました。
一人で調査していたら、行くことのできなかった場所、巡りあえなかった場所に訪れることができて大変満足しております。
Yoshiさん、誠にありがとうございました!

Haruka. N

https://kohokutour.com/2022/10/15/re-the-1st-guest-of-kohoku-tour-%e7%a7%81%e3%81%ae%e3%83%84%e3%82%a2%e3%83%bc%e3%81%ae%e7%ac%ac%ef%bc%91%e5%8f%b7%e9%a1%a7%e5%ae%a2%e3%80%80/

Haruka san, the "Research Tour" with you around KOHOKU was so pleasant and a good lesson for me, too. I was honored to be with a hard-working student like you. Thank you, From YoshiOct., 28 (Fri.), 2022

 by Julie Y on KOHOKU Tour
Excellent guide!

Yoshi is an excellent guide! He is a hard-working and wonderful ambassador for his country. Yoshi takes his work seriously and is scrupulously prepared. His care for his clients really shows. He went above and beyond for us. Yoshi is very well-informed about so much, including Japanese history, current Japanese affairs, and the flowers and trees of Japan. He is interesting, energetic, kind, and hospitable. Our only wish was that we had more time with Yoshi! We are grateful we met him.

Dear Julie san and Ron san. Thank you very much for your nice feedback. As our mission as a tour guide is, of course, to insure our customers' satisfaction, I've believed (as a former Quality Engineer) that we have to do our maximum effort, sacrificing our short lunch and rest time. I'm so glad to know that you kindly felt a touch of it. Again, I was extremely happy to be able to have an opportunity to go around the best spots with you and Ron san yesterday. Thank you, PS: I will try not to be a "Crybaby" any more. From Yoshi Apr., 19 (Fri.), 2019; 22:23

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