Nowaza Onsen

Hi there,

Its interesting that you mention Togari-Nozawa-Onsen. This is the old station people used to go to Nozowa Onsen before the opening of the Hokuriku Shinkansen back in 2015 (possible you read an old forum post?).

These days the best way to Nozawa Onsen is to take a Shinkansen from Tokyo to Iiyama station and use the bus from there to Nozawa Onsen (700yen/one way).

The Shinkansen is covered by the JR Pass but the bus not.

From Nozawa Onsen, take the bus back to Iiyama. Then you have two options. One is take the Shinkansen to Kanawaza and use the Thunderbird express from there to Kyoto, or use the Shinkansen back to Tokyo and from there take an another Shinkansen to Kyoto. I recommend the first option as it is a bit more scenic. The best travel time depends on the time of departure.

Between Tokyo and Kyoto, you can use a Hikari Shinkansen service directly.

Hope this helps,
Daniel