River Tubing in Otsuki City

Float down the river and enjoy a water gun battle with your friends and family!

Yamanashi is a prefecture often praised for its beautiful nature, welcoming residents, and delicious fruit and wine. To get there from Tokyo, all you need to do is take the JR Limited Express train from Shinjuku and get off at Otsuki Station.

As the rainy season comes to an end and temperatures go up, how about taking a dip in the cool waters of Otsuki’s rivers?

▲EDDY Tubing Tours

There is something about summer in Japan that can really drain you. Walking through the concrete jungles of skyscrapers, in search of that next patch of shade can feel like an ill-prepared venture through a desert. As you continue on, this seemingly endless 9-minute journey from point A to point B causes more sweat to dampen your face mask and your eyes seem to lose that spark they had when you were standing in the air-conditioned train cart just three minutes ago. You then start thinking, “Should I stop in a convenience store for some air conditioning? Maybe pretend to buy something for a few minutes…?” But if you did, you would be late for work, so you begrudgingly carry on hoping for an end to these hot summer days.

We all need an escape from the hot city streets to the cool mountain paths, and what better way than floating down the rivers of Otsuki to wash your tiredness away?

Unlike other tubing experiences, where you are often just handed a tube to float freely, EDDY Tubing Tours provides a more controlled and safer environment that is great for families and first-timers.

There are start times to choose from and helmet and life jackets available for rental. Don’t forget to grab your weapon of choice for the water gun battle with your friends afterwards!

Once you are equipped with everything you need, you will take a short drive to the river area. There, you will receive information from the guides about general safety, the area, and your course for the day.

The course for the day may change depending on the previous day's weather and other factors.

Our course began with a short walk upstream to enjoy an all-natural slide-like area.

After that, we went back to the starting point and began our tubing experience. Taking turns, we rode from Point A to Point B, with staff members helping each step of the way. I found this especially helpful because I have always had trouble getting in and out of the tubes. 

Our next fun activity on the river was putting one person into a giant hamster ball (don’t worry, it's well-ventilated) while someone else help the rope attached to it. Then, it was an all-out battle between the two as one tries their best not to fall over while the other does everything in their power to make them slip up… and you thought monopoly was a friendship breaker! 

Soon after, another battled ensued. With water guns splashing everywhere, the summer heat was now a problem of the past! 

On the car ride home, I remembered that feeling I had often as a kid on the way home from a trip to the shore. Even though my body was steady, I still feel the gentle rocking of the flowing water against my skin.

This was how our tubing tour in Otsuki went, but yours might be a bit different. Just be sure to bring a bathing suit, a towel, a change of clothes, and water shoes (as stepping on the rocks can be quite painful, so nothing open-toed).

More Info

EDDY River Tubing website:
http://eddiffusion.com/