Travel Japan: Tonomine Highlands

砥峰高原(Tonomine Highlands, Kamikawa, Hyogo)

So I went to the Tonomine highlands (where the movie Norwegian Wood was filmed, based on Murakami Haruki’s famous book) for a moon viewing party. There was dancing, and taiko (two of the performers were JETs) food, etc. Good times basically! Here are a few pictures.

There is also a spring festival held on the first Saturday in March where they burn all the grassland for the new harvest. This also looked pretty cool, with singing and dancing while the fires burn away. Another festival takes place in mid-October to celebrate the silver grass found on the highlands (ススキ祭り)

It’s possible to access the area via public transport

– buses run from 寺前駅(Teramae)and 長谷駅(Hase), both on the Bantan line (according to Wikipedia at least ><).