Fukui recently got a characteristic delivery of heavy snow. Over a three day period, some areas of the prefecture got 80 cm (about 30 inches). We didn't get so much in Echizen City. I felt like I'd been screwed out of the deal I'd been promised.
The good thing about where we live is even if the snow is lackluster or too quick to melt, we can take a 25 minute to 1 hour drive through some mountains and get our fix. Such was our intention when we set off for Ono City in the eastern central part of the prefecture.
While not nearly as famous as its dinosaur-bedazzled neighbor to the north Katsuyama, Ono City is well-known for its castle. It sits on a small mountain in the center of the region. You can understand why the castle was built there by taking a quick hike to the top. There is a 360-degree panoramic view of the farming fields and mountains. One can easily imagine armies of the past encroaching on the area in vain as arrows blanket them from above.
It's famous as a historical landmark, but it's also often called the Laputa of Fukui. If you've seen the Studio Ghibli film "Castle in the Sky," you'll be familiar with Laputa, the floating castle in the sky. Likely as a result of Ono itself sitting within a bowl of mountains, the area is at times blanketed in clouds with only the castle sitting high enough to appear as though it's floating in the sky. It's unfortunately something I've yet to experience myself, but I would encourage those interested to consult Google Sensei.
You can check out more shots from this trip to Ono over on Instagram.
The historical architecture always feels magical to me.