The Best Castle Town You Haven't Heard Of: Izushi

Izushi is a true hidden gem of Japan nestled in a valley near Kinosaki. Its a former castle town complete with an impressive castle complex overlooking the town, accessed by an amazing Inari Shrine similar to the Kyoto Fushimi Inari Shrine. But the best part? It comes WITHOUT all the tourists! Also, Izushi is known as the birthplace of the soba noodle in Japan. With over 40 SOBA RESTAURANTS, the town of Izushi is unique in Japan and is THE place to get your soba fix! Tokyo has great restaurants, but this town has the corner on the market for cold soba. You can indulge in the “all you can eat” restaurants and watch the noodles being made by hand. But there’s far more here than soba. Enjoy the blocks of pedestrian friendly streets lined with samurai houses, sake breweries, a kabuki theater, the castle ruins and and iconic Buddhist temples. Best of all, it's not overrun with foreign tourists! WHO ARE WE? We’re John and Josephine Haynes and we have an extensive knowledge and experience traveling throughout Japan with a different perspective. Josephine is the fourth generation of her American family to have been born and raised in Japan. Her family dates back to 1861 and they’re all “gaijin” or foreigners, yet have engrained themselves in Japanese culture and history unlike any other American family. We therefore have a unique take on all things Japanese and are here to help you make the most of your Japan travels. Since Youtube pays peanuts, if you enjoy our videos, please help us continue making more videos by "buying us a cup of coffee". We can't do this for free forever, so click here to make a contribution of any amount: https://coff.ee/unchartedjapantravel And THANK YOU! Send us an email with your questions or comments to [email protected]. We've love to help you out with travel ideas for Japan! Links: Uncharted Japan: https://unchartedjapan.net/ Izushi Town: https://visitkinosaki.com/in-the-area... Sukyoji Temple: https://sukyoji.com/ Soba Restaurants: https://www.izushi.co.jp/en/sobamap_en/ Credits: Maps: Google Maps Soundtrack: Epidemic Sound #travel #Japan #japaneseculture #asiantravel #history #culture #cultureheritage #language #tokyo #kyoto #Izushi #sobanoodles #discoverjapan #bestplacestotravelinjapan #hiddengems #artmuseum #mural #japaneselanguage #japanheritage #japantrip #visitjapan #anime #museum #traveling #unique #bestplaces #bestof #uniqueplaces #uniquejapan #offthebeatenpath #japanrail #japanrailpass