JJapan Photos

Weekend in Fukui. The 2nd least visited prefecture is a direct shinkansen ride from Tokyo

  • November 28, 2025

One of the great pleasures of Japan is visiting a new prefecture I've never been to. No tourists. Wildly different cultures and foods to partake in. Do give places outside Tokyo, Osaka, and Kyoto a chance!

by No-Dig-3406

11 comments

  1. Love the pics! What a great place. Did you need to hire a car to get around? I’m looking for new and off the beaten track places to explore on my next trip, but don’t have a full license yet.

  2. Pictures 1, 2: Eihei-ji, one of two head temples in Soto Zen. Founded in 1244 and still an active monastery today. Got to see lots of monks going about their business but didn’t take any pics of them for their privacy.

    3: Lodging in an old house in Eiheijiguchi

    4: Echizen crab, a Fukui delicacy and the only crab variety served to the royal family.

    5: Ichijōdani Asakura ruins. The old home of a samurai clan dating back to 1471.

    6, 8: Ono City. Home to the “castle in the sky” but I was more interested in the 500-year old merchant street selling yokan (red bean jelly) and which had a sake brewery that has supplied the Prime Minister’s office and their visitors for about 100 years. Supposedly has the best water of any city in Japan.

    9-15: Heisenji Hakusan Shrine. An old shrine founded in 717 famous for its moss carpets. Came across some freshwater sawagani crabs walking about the forest floor – they are apparently indicative of super clean water.

    16, 17: Dinosaur museum. Quite cool. Bring your kids.

  3. Good shout mate. I’ve been to Fukui a couple of times myself (including several of the places mentioned above); to this list I’d add Tōjinbō for interesting natural scenery.

    https://ittekuru.com/2016/05/05/field-report-a-cliffside-walk-at-tojinbo-fukui-prefecture-japan-29-june-2015/

    Having been to all 47 prefectures, I certainly agree that it’s worth venturing off the main tourist trail once in a while. Am typing this comment on a train to Tsuruga right now – my 31st holiday in Japan – and I’ll assert that one can never run out of things to see!

    Cheers.

  4. The dino museum alone is worth the trip. When you add in Fukui crab, Katsuyama-jo and Echizen Daibutsu I have a hard time wondering why more people don’t go

  5. On my list for my next visit to Japan. Just returned and visited Kanazawa and Takayama and was kicking myself to not visit Fukui since it was nearby and I really wanted to see the dinosaur museum. Will be sure to visit next time!

  7. Just went myself. A lovely place, no reason not to go if someone’s already on the west coast.  

  9. Fukui is great!

    More things to add to your list: the Sabae Megane Museum if you wear glasses (the shop is great too), and for food Echizen Soba and the Taniguchiya Age.

  10. What is the no. 1 least visited prefecture, I wonder? Do you have a list? 

    Anyway, nice pics. Fukui is great. I also really like the Wakasa region, near Lake Biwa, near the border with Kyoto and Shiga Prefectures. It’s a weird appendix to Fukui Prefecture and almost feels like it shouldn’t be a part of it. Easy to get to from Kyoto, with nice old streets in Kumagawa and Obama, and beautiful temples like Myōtsū-ji. And Uriwari Falls is really scenic. 

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