The little Kyotos of Hokuriku北陸の小京都

Jōhana (城端, about 9,000 people) is the one Hokuriku town on the committee's list, as the "little Kyoto of Etchū" (越中の小京都). It grew as a temple town around Zentoku-ji (善徳寺), which moved here from nearby Fukumitsu in the late Muromachi period, and prospered on silk weaving under the Maeda lords. The temple is a 10-minute walk from Jōhana Station.

The Kyoto link is the Hikiyama festival on 4–5 May: six gilded floats, each led by an an-yatai musicians' wagon modelled on a Kyoto teahouse. In 2026 the evening procession ran 18:00–22:00 on 4 May and the main day 10:00–22:00 on 5 May. It is part of the UNESCO listing of Japanese float festivals. Outside May, the Hikiyama Kaikan shows the floats all year (a small entry fee, closed 29 December to 3 January). Tonami and the Johana Line.

Echizen-Ōno (越前大野) is often called the little Kyoto of Echizen. Its claim is geometry: Kanamori Nagachika laid out the grid in 1576, with a street of temples along the east side, five numbered streets running west, and spring water in the streets. It is not on the committee's list now. Nagachika went on to plan Takayama, so the two towns share a planner.

The Shichiken morning market runs about 07:00–11:00 to 31 December, and from October to April the castle on Kameyama floats above a sea of cloud on still mornings. What it lacks next to Kyoto is any sense of density: the sights are a walk apart and the evenings are quiet. Echizen-Ōno guide.

Obama (小浜, about 28,000 people) is the little Kyoto of Wakasa (若狭の小京都). The tie to Kyoto is documented: it was the start of the Mackerel Road (鯖街道), about 72 km on foot to Kyoto, which carried salted fish to the capital. The town calls itself "Nara by the sea" for its temples, and Myōtsū-ji has a main hall and a pagoda that are both National Treasures (¥500).

Its old quarter, Nishigumi (小浜西組, about 19 hectares), is a national Important Preservation District of merchant houses and former teahouses, designated in 2008. The committee's page marks Obama as removed in 2019. Many sights close on a Wednesday, so avoid it. Obama guide and Kumagawa-juku, on the Mackerel Road.

Iiyama (飯山) is called the little Kyoto of the snow country (雪国の小京都), a phrase credited to the novelist Shimazaki Tōson, who drew on the town's Shinshūji temple for his novel Hakai. It grew as a castle town, and more than 20 temples and shrines stand around the castle site, linked by a stone-paved walking route. The easy course joins six in 1 to 2 hours, and Shōjuan, a thatched Zen hermitage, is free to enter.

The committee's page marks Iiyama as removed in 2022. The Kyoto resemblance is temples under snow, not a grid or teahouses, and it is at its best between 22 January and 28 February 2027, when the snow-hut village is open. Iiyama guide; for the bus on to Nozawa, Nozawa Onsen.

Takayama (高山) is the little Kyoto of Hida (飛騨の小京都). Kanamori Nagachika, the lord who planned Ōno, built the castle town in the 1580s on the Kyoto model, and its merchant streets (Sanmachi) and sake shops are what visitors come for. It is not on the committee's list now.

It is the best known and the busiest here: crowded from 10:00 to 16:00 and nearly empty in the evening. Stay a night and see the two morning markets (from 6:00 or 7:00) before the day visitors arrive. Takayama from Kanazawa or Toyama and Kanazawa or Takayama?

Day 1: Thunderbird to Tsuruga and the Obama Line to Obama (about 2h 30m from Kyoto); Myōtsū-ji and Nishigumi, and sleep in Obama. Day 2: back to Tsuruga, Shinkansen to Fukui, then the Etsumi-Hoku Line to Ōno (56–58 min) for the evening and the morning market. Day 3: the castle at dawn, then Fukui and on to Kanazawa or back to Kyoto.

Day 1: Zuiryū-ji and the Daibutsu in Takaoka, then the Johana Line (55–60 min) to Jōhana for Zentoku-ji and the Hikiyama Kaikan. Day 2: on to Kanazawa by Shin-Takaoka. In May, time it for the 4–5 May Hikiyama festival and book Takaoka or Toyama rooms early.

Walk the temple route from Iiyama Station (Shōjuan is free), then the snow-hut village for lunch or dinner (booked in advance; open 22 January to 28 February 2027). Or carry on to Nozawa Onsen, 25 minutes by bus.