Ten days into the Japan leg of the trip we have already experienced different ways of life in this magnificent country. So far, we have stayed in everything from luxury hotels, to little farmhouses that were choked with bugs, spiders, and frogs.
Now, we are going to talk about an experience we had that fell somewhere in between: The ryokan (pronounced “yokan”) that we stayed at in the middle of nowhere, in the Yamanaka valley. If you didn’t know already, a ryokan is a traditional Japanese inn, and if you like public baths, extraordinary Japanese cuisine, and (in our case) the nicest room attendant that you ever laid eyes on, then this is the place to be.
The public bath is called an “onsen” and is very comfortable. It is warm, about 113 degrees, maybe more, and feels really nice, as it is pure mineral water from a hot spring.
One of the many things that we like about it is that you have to take a shower beforehand, so you are clean before you enter, and you are assured that others are as well. The Japanese take this very seriously.
When the mineral water is in the bath, it has gone through no heaters, just a pipe, directly from the hot springs, which are nearby. We also had a private mini onsen (kazoku buro) in our room, but it was much smaller than the public bath.
Onsens are actually really important culturally in Japan. A lot of Japanese people take three fifteen-minute onsens a day! Some people think that the minerals in the water have healing properties. Therefore, onsens and people in them are really interested in keeping the onsen clean and in great condition, as well as just having a good time.
We know that one of us (Connor) has already written a blog post focused on food, but the meal that we had at the ryokan really stands out. We had so many really interesting dishes. The menu was pretty much this: Vegetable surprise, exotic fish sashimi, miso soup, and a whole fish. No butchering needed. You just rip the head off of the body with your teeth and eat it, eyeballs and all. So, yeah. Japanese cuisine can be really weird sometimes. But the craziest thing about that meal was the fact that we both liked it! Really and truly. Of course we kind of had to favor a parent with that decision, because dad was all for it, but mom thought it was a bit icky.
Another thing we liked about the ryokan was the sleeping situation. While we were at dinner, our room attendant came and made four beds, called futons, each about half of a foot above the ground, and really comfy. We slept for about twelve hours when we were in those beds. The comforter was warm and fluffy, the mattress was the prefect mix of soft but firm, and the pillows were large and inviting. It was an awesome bedroom to be able to sleep in.
The one thing that really rounded out the experience for us was our amazing room attendant, Aki. She is probably the nicest person we have seen on this trip. She taught us how to wear our kimonos, gave us tops to spin so we could pass the time when we were bored, and just showed amazing overall kindness toward us and the rest of the family.
Another enjoyable part about the ryokan was the beautiful hiking trail that was only 200 yards away. The path winds through the Japanese countryside along a river, which was beautiful.
The trail then deposits you in the middle of a really nice shopping district. From there, you can either hop in a taxi, or walk though the town back to the start of the original trail. When we were in the shopping part of town, Elliot and I had a really interesting wood lathing experience where we got to make beautiful wooden boxes with the real machines. You could say the ryokan’s location is pretty much prime-time.
I have to say that we were really sad when we left our digs. It might very well be our best lodging place in Japan. It certainly topped all of the inns that we have gone to before.
Fanatical Sabbatical 