Strangers on a Sushi Train: Relaxing in Hakone

Hakone is roughly two hours from Tokyo and is the place the city folk visit for weekend breaks... famous for their amazing Onsen (Hot Springs). There are loads of different types of Hotels and Ryokans (traditional Japanese Hotel) to choose from. We chose ours as Nobutaka can get a discount there... My only request was that Shota and I had a traditional Japanese style room, so a tatami floor. Which we got.

This is where they store the bedding for our futons...

We arrived at our Hotel on a hill around 5:30pm, the time is seemed, that everyone in Hakone was visiting an Onsen. How did I know this? Oh thats because everyone in their "Yukata's" were walking around outsided, headed towards the onsen. A Yukata looks like a Kimono crossed with a dressing gown and is worn in Japanese Hotels and Ryokans. The Japanese wear the Yukata to the onsen, as you have to be naked when bathing in the hot spring. They are of course single sex onsen...

The Yukata; I thought I looked "very Japanesy" when Shota kindly pointed out that Japanese don't hold their hands like that in a "pray" postion... Thats Indians apparently! Ooops!

When it came to dinner time I was ready to put on a new outfit I had purchased at H&M a few weeks ago, but it wasn't to be. Apparently when staying in Japanese Hotels and Ryokans, and you have dinner included in your package, you dress in your Yukata to Dinner! I was very surprised and (naturally didn't believe Shota) so I popped over to his parents room to check. It was confirmed, so we put on our Hotel slippers, the preferred footwear for the evening. and shuffled off (very geisha like to the Dining Room). Indeed Yukata was chosen outfit by everyone in the Hotel, which felt like very causal attire to wear to Dinner, but it was explained to me, that everyone had already had their bath (in the onsen) so it was perfectly acceptable to wear the Yukata... in public!

Can you see everyone wearing their Yukata??

Dinner was already waiting for us on our table, lot's of tiny portions of Japanese and Western cuisine. All very tasty. Dessert was a piece of orange and pineapple. So healthy too!

Having already visited a few Private Onsen with Shota, but previously being to shy for a public bath. I decided as we were paying so much to stay in the Hotel, it was rude not to try their "communal" onsen. Also they Hotel was famous for their amazing outside baths... there were FOUR to chose from. Chisa had convinced me that it was rather dimly lit and that you could see the stars whilst enjoying the hot spring. It sounded lovely, so at 8:30pm, Shota's Mother and I headed off for a bath.

Getting ready for my Onsen experience;

Now as we were both wearing the Yukata and slippers and shuffling around the Hotel, up stairs, outside, winding around corners... I really did feel like a Geisha heading off for appointment! :) Anyway you start by leaivng your belongs (Yukata) in a locker, wearing just your small "wash" cloth as a cover for your body, we headed off to the "shower room". The showers are divided by partitions, for privacy, it is here you soap up, wash your hair, basically get clean! Once clean you are allowed to enter the onsen, there was one inside, but I didn't like the look of that, so we headed into the freezing cold of the outside... keep in mind there was still snow on the ground! There were four baths to chose from, Chisa and I chose one that contained no one else, we chatted for a bit about the stars then she headed off for a sauna.. yes there are sauna's there as well! The water felt so wonderful on my skin and I loved watching the steam rise from the water... after a while I was pretty hot, so rested on the rocks surrounding the bath.

We stayed at the onsen for about thirty minutes, by then I was feeling slightly light headed and needed water. So it was back to the locker/changing room to dry off and then head back to the Hotel room. I was soooo unbelievably relaxed! My skin was super soft and I was so warm! Definitely an awesome experience that I hope to do again next time we are here.

The following day we dressed, in the Yukata again, and enjoyed a traditional Japanese Breakfast. I wasn't keen on the breakfast, as I have a hard time digesting dried fish, rice, miso soup and nato at 7:30am. Oh and green tea... no coffee :(
Basically the Hotel/Ryokan experience was like a retreat for me, as it was all about relaxing, with all your meals prepared for you.

A wonderful experience, that allows me to fully understand why so many Japanese visit places like Hakone every weekend.

We also visited the Open Air Museum in Gora, the Gyoza centre for lunch we drove up an active volcano, famous for the gases it produces, which is also opposite Mt Fuji, and stopped at a temple by the lake in Hakone.

Open Air Museum;