Day 13 - Kyoto

Today I almost didn't post anything here because we really spent most of it travelling from Kanazawa to Kyoto. But then something happened tonight that made it worth this little post.

We didn't travel on a Shinkansen this time but a more sedate express train called "Thunderbird 18"! What a great name!

Nearer to Kyoto we see this massive lake with mountains visible on the other side



It was raining by the time we got to Kyoto. Our apartment here (compliments of Airbnb) is the largest we've experienced on this trip and is very comfortable on the 11th floor near the Manga Museum and Castle which we can partially see from our balcony.

Tonight we were settling in and we heard a loud explosion. India saw a flash of light too through the window. We went out onto the balcony to see if we could see anything and then saw another flash of light, sparks and another large explosion as a power transformer on the side street next to our building had a "moment". It didn't take long for several fire engines to turn up and then the power company. We went down for a look and saw them working on repairing the issue and restoring power to the nearby buildings. Fortunately we were not impacted (eleven stories of stairs is not appealing).

Day 11 & 12 - Kanazawa

This is one of the other ryokans in Shibu Onsen, taken on our last night there. The next photo shows part of the village festival where the guys in blue were playing instruments and following the tiny ute with the snow monkey effigy.



Yesterday we left Shibu Onsen and attended Church at Nagano branch . Wonderful people and Harumi Matsuhashi was kind enough to drop us at Nagano train station with plenty of time to catch our second Shinkansen to Kanazawa.


Kanazawa is the largest producer of gold leaf in the world. They make it only one micron thick. Or thin.  That's thin. We bought a one day bus pass and caught the bus to two of the major attractions, Kanazawa Castle and Kenrokuen Garden. Both are considered national treasures, with the garden "designated as a cultural property and national site of special scenic beauty".

Both were absolutely gorgeous so I'll let the pictures do the talking.

Quite an impressive structure given most of it was built around the 17th Century.















The below pine tree was planted in the 13th Century by Lord Nariyasu. A lot of the trees in this garden we hundreds of years old.












And here is a craftsman working with gold leaf which is still in process of being made thinner.




And to conclude, a water clock from near Kanazawa train station. The little water jets change with messages and the time. Brilliant.

Day 10 - Jigokudani Yaenkoen (the Snow Monkey Park)

This morning India and I visited Jigokudani Yaenkoen or the Snow Monkey Park where Japanese Macau monkeys roam and bathe in the natural hot water springs. No snow this time of year but lots of babies provided an enchanting view into the lives of these beautiful animals.

Here are just a few of the photos.  The surrounding forests and mountains, accompanied by whisps of steam from thermal springs and sulphuric scents created an amazing atmosphere.








I managed to visit all nine special onsens in the village.  Tonight the village festival was on where a cart with lanterns and drummers was pushed around the streets accompanied by other musical instruments playing traditional songs.  Occasionally they would stop and hand out gifts like Yakult (!) and chopsticks and traditional candy.

Tomorrow morning we depart for Kanazawa via Nagano.

Day 9 - Nagano and Shibu Onsen

Today we bade farewell to Tokyo and caught a Shinkansen to Nagano. This train was something else; quiet and smooth with tons of leg room, power points to charge your devices and a lady selling food from a trolley. All while doing 270km/h. The train discretely tilted when cornering so it could keep up the pace plus more comfort for the passengers.



At Nagano we changed trains to get to Yudanaka. We passed through small towns and farming communities as we headed into the mountains.



This station was on the way to Yudanaka.

We then walked to Shibu Onsen, a small onsen village about 30 minutes walk from the station.





Here is the ryokan we are staying in. India is dressed in the robe and wooden sandals (correct Japanese terms will be inserted here later) which all guests are given.

Let me explain what is so special about this place. All over Japan there are thousands of naturally occurring hot springs. In towns such as this one there are dozens, and most have been tapped so they create an "onsen". This is a bath (split male and female) where you go in and relax in the hot spring water which is continuously flowing through the onsen. Plus, each spring has hot water of different mineral properties, some of which are claimed to be medicinal.

Normally these Japanese robes are for indoor use only but in this onsen town, guests are welcome to wear them as they go from onsen to onsen. Guests at the ryokans are given keys to the ten onsens in this village.



Below is a picture of Onsen number 8, you can see one entry for men and one for women. We tried this one. The water temperature was over 50 degrees C (HOT!!) so there is a cold water tap which you can run into the onsen to drop the temperature to more tolerable levels. In each onsen there is a large wooden basin in one corner where the natural spring enters, and then a small channel the water follows into the onsen (large bath). There is a piece of wood which you can use to block the channel partially or completely to control the temperature too.

This place would have to be on anyone's "Must See" list for Japan. But note if you have any tattoos you cannot use any onsens according to the rules listed inside.



Below is a picture of my footware for this occasion. It really is something else to bath in these natural hot springs which have been popular here for thousands of years. I have only been to two onsens thus far and they are most relaxing. Pity I couldn't stick my head under the water to remove the wrinkles, as the rest of my skin feels smooth as a peach.



Here and there along the street there are also little areas where you can sit on a bench and bathe your feet in the fresh hot spring water. Below is a photo showing a hot spring boiling eggs.



The accommodation at this ryokan ain't cheap (two nights is costing as much as two WEEKS for the rest of our trip) but it does include genuine traditional Japanese meals. Here is dinner, before consumption. The two pots of water partially visible at the top of the photo have a flame underneath, once the water was boiling we placed all the meat, vegetables (including muchrooms) into the water until cooked. Delicious!

Just after this photo was taken we each received what looked like a tea pot. We had already explained that we don't drink tea, coffee, sake but it was explained the pots contained mushroom soup. So you pour the soup into a little cup and it was something else! When the soup was finished you took off the lid and ate the mushrooms.



Tomorrow morning we have breakfast at 8am then off to see the snow monkeys a few km up the road. Although there is no snow here currently there are baby snow monkeys.

Day 8 - Imperial Palace, Tokyo

Another beautiful sunny day in Tokyo, in fact we may now be a little sunburnt but a wonderful opportunity to go into central Tokyo and visit the Kokyogaien National Gardens.  That's the official name of the beautiful gardens attached to the Imperial Palace, residence of the Emperor of Japan.

Also a chance for us to take the JR line subway to Tokyo station and find out where the shinkansen train will depart for Nagano tomorrow morning.  It was easy to find, and just as we conclude our time in Tokyo we now feel familiar enough with the various subway systems to travel wherever needed.

This is the historic main train station in Tokyo:


The Imperial Palace and gardens are surrounded by large moats and the Japanese black pine trees around the moats are beautiful in its own right.



After walking to the main entrance, we then retraced our steps and went to the Ote-mon Gate where the public can enter the East Garden of Imperial Palace.


This is the Mt Fuji-View Keep or Yagura which is a building for both storage and defense.  This is the oldest remaining building in the Imperial Palace complex.  Once Mt Fuji could be seen from it and it was used by the shogun to enjoy views of fireworks at Ryogoku and Tokyo Bay.  It dates from 1657.

We then headed back to Akihabara to re-visit the electronics and anime district because heading back to Shinjuku to have our last meal in Tokyo and final packing for our departure in the morning.


Tokyo certainly is a well organised city considering more people live in this city than all of Australia!  As we walked around the Imperial Palace gardens in the centre of Tokyo today, India mentioned the contrast to when we walked around Central Park in New York City . . . a city that seems so chaotic and disorganised from our experience.Note I have no idea what internet access will be like between today and Sunday as we're heading up into the onsen town of Shibu Onsen to stay in a traditional ryokan in the mountains near Nagano.  Sunday afternoon we arrive in the coastal town of Kanazawa which we expect will have better internet.