It takes 2 hours to travel by limited express to from Tobu Nikko Station to a famous and popular power spot in Japan - Nikko Okukinu and Shichifukujin no yu. Outside the station, stop a shop with a collection of antique Meiji and Taisho kimonos. You can pick one up for 500 yen (S$ 6.5) to take home or rent. Visitors can also take a ride in a rickshaw restored in Nikko after 100 years. Have it drop you off at the Nikko Toshogu Shrine to pray for success, fortune and long life. At the back of Toshogu is another lucky spot which sits between two cedar trees.

Also visit Nikko Futarasan Shrine which promises money, business and lots of other luck to people. Within the shrine is another area where water from the Futara Reisen spring promises to give wisdom at Chie no izumi (the knowledge spring) and make one younger at the Sake no izumi (the sake spring). Some say the sweet-tasting water used to smell and taste of sake which is good for beauty and rejuvenation. For more, visit the old tea shop next door which uses the rejuvenating waterto make delicious tea.

Some also visit the shrine of Shodoshonin, the founder of Nikko. The place called Kaizando has many shogi (Japanese chess) pieces especially shogi kyosha (Lance). As the Kyosha can only move forwards, the belief is that by praying with a kyosha,a woman will have an easy birth. There is also a rock buddha at the back of the temple. Again the power spot is between two Japanese cedar trees and a cluster of six rock buddhas. Lunch at a restaurant famous for serving auspicious food such as Fuku-Yuba (Dried Bean Curd Skin) as well as fresh Okara (Soy Pulp) of Yuba.

Get on a bus to Lake Chuzenji, also called the lucky lake. On the lakeshore is a shop by an 82 year old local artisan who been carvings lucky doorplates for the past 60 years. Stay overnight at the Tsurukame Daikichi a hotel which has auspicious decorations. Apart from great mountain views in the room that costs 21150 yen (S$ 270) for one night, visitors also experience good luck after a stay at the hotel which offers a hinoki bath in the room as well as an open-air bath. Dinner at Daikichi no ma is a traditional Japanese set dinner with Tochigi beef and many local foods. The next day go to a lucky hot spring from Kinukawa osen bus station to Meotobuchi. There are 12 open-air baths and 7 lucky hot springs such as Shichifukujin no yu which can bring fortune.

Another 2 hour trip from Shinjuku by limited express brings you to Nagano. Shimosuwa Station is the stop. Walk from the station to the famous Suwa-taisha Shrine, the head shrine of Suwa-jinja and holds the god of training and the god of war. There is also a hot water spring which purifies and a huge piece of  holy wood which offers luck for sportsmen.Take home Kachikurifuda made from chestnut trees which offers good luck in sports. Nearby, there is the hot spring of Shingen Takeda and Dokusawa onsen a private hot spring of Shingen. The spring water is clear but poisonous, and was used to heal injured people since the water is rich in iron. The water can also be drunk after being boiled as it is good for those with anemia and weak digestion. Lunch consists of the lucky Karada no yorokobu inaka menu. Most food has been picked from the temple and is very simple, delicious but healthy. From the fountainhead of the hot spring make some tea which turns black when the tannin in the tea reacts with iron. The taste of the tea-leaves are stronger than normal tea and is supposedly curative.

It is a must to visit Zenkoji Temple and takes 1.5 hours to travel there by train. On the way to the temple, snack on a specialty of Shinshu – Oyaki buns. Oyaki is an auspicious food since its round shape means things can be settled. Zenkoji Temple was
founded 1400 years ago and acted as a refuge for many people so many pray there and follow the Okaidan meguri (Tour in the Pitch Dark Tunnel) where worshippers go into a dark dungeon called Kaidan. At the end, there is gokuraku no ojomae in
the shape of a lock which when touched, links you with the Amitabha Buddha of Zenkoji so you can go to Paradise.

Stay at Bessho onsen which requires travel from Ueda Station in Nagano for a one hour trip.The Rinsenro Kashiwaya Bessou hotel founded in 1911 is supposed to make people successful. Or maybe, it is because many successful people from sportsmen to Nobel Laureates have stayed at the hotel. All the rooms are Japanese-style with tatami mats. The next day try the pride of the hotel, a rock open-air bath and visit alucky spot just 5 minutes away on foot - the Kitamuki Kannon temple. There you will find a Youkan (stick) shop as worshippers found the road hard to climb. At this temple pray for your present life.

Those who want to find a suitable life-partner must make a trip around Izumoji. Start from Matsue Station and head to the tourist information centre to pick up a book of lucky matchmaking spots in Izumoji. Get on a circular bus for some sightseeing and get off at Kyobashi to catch a boat ride and travel to the castle of Matsuejo. Next, visit a matchmaking spot at Yaegaki-jinja Shrine where a god called Susano-o no Mikoto married Princess Inada. The home of the god of marriage sees many charms ready to be picked up such as special red thread to sew buttons and skirts. At the back there is the Kagami-no-ike where visitors float strips of paper on a pond to see how fast they will see a marriage proposal by the speed the paper sinks. Many spots with a flavour of Edo have remained in Matsue especially in food shops which serve food with traditional flavours such as Ochazuke (Green tea Rice). Also visit  Arakiya which was founded 220 years ago and serves Warigo Soba Noodles and Zenzai (Red Bean Dessert). A must is a trip tp Izumo-taisha Shrine, which enshrines the best matchmaking god of Japan. Izumo-taisha is different from other shrines as it needs 2 bows, 4 claps and 1 bow. You must also hold a comma-shaped bead tightly while praying to the god.