Kinugawa Onsen Adventure

This time we're visiting Kinugawa Onsen in Tochigi Prefecture.

To get there the first thing we have to do is go to Asakusa in Tokyo. The long skinny building in the center of the picture is the Tobu line train station.

This is the front entrance. This building also has many shops and restaurants inside. 

Inside the station heading for the train platforms.

This is the track where our train will be arriving.

Hear it comes! We're riding on a new limited express train called SPACIA X

Internet site for SPACIA X is "here"

After the arriving passengers leave the train and a clean-up crew goes through making things nice the platform attendant announces that we can board the train.

We have arrived at Kinugawa Onsen. The town is named after the Kinugawa river and all the hotels are built on both sides of the river. 

This is a huge pedestrian bridge that crosses the river giving people easy access to hotels on both sides.

We are here! We're staying at the Plaza Hotel on the left side of the river across from the number 15 on the map. Hotel website

Plaza hotel front desk.

Walking around the hotel lobby.

This hotel is really nice.

Yes, it's me wearing the Yukata that is provided by the hotel.

A yukata is a casual version of a kimono.

The main onsen hot spring baths in the hotel are separated by male and female. However there is a special bathing area where couples can bathe together. These baths must be reserved in advance and of course that's what we did. 

It's a short walk from the hotel to the reserved bathing facility. This is the entrance.

An attendant at the entrance gave us towels and a key to our assigned bath. This is the covered walkway to the bath.

It didn't take Emi long to get in! 

Next morning and we decided to eat our breakfast out here where we have a nice view of the river.

The view from where we ate breakfast.

Life is good!

After breakfast Emi went by train to visit "Tobu World Square"  and I went exploring along the Kinugawa river.

The first interesting thing I discovered along the Kinugawa river was this free hot spring foot bath.

By the entrance to the foot bath was this statue of a devil. These little devils are the town mascot and they're are everywhere (no two are alike).

Looking inside the foot bath, there was a young woman already there enjoying a nice hot spring water soak of her feet.

This is the view of the river from the foot bath.

Another devil! Like I said, they are everywhere.

Further down the river I discovered the Kinu Tateiwa Suspension Bridge

Per the internet: 

    The Kinu Tateiwa Suspension Bridge is a 140-meter-long suspension bridge located on the south side of Kinugawa Onsen town. From the top of the bridge, which is 40 meters high, you can see the fierce current of the Kinugawa River and the mountains full of greenery. Take a deep breath and bask in the natural fragrance of nature around.

    The bridge may sway a little, but it is rather thrilling and enjoyable. In autumn, the mountains turn red with the changing colors of the leaves, giving you a taste of Japan’s vibrant seasons. 

Yep, another devil.

Guess where I'm going next.

If you guessed that I was going to walk the Otaki Riverside Promenade you'd be correct. How could I resist when I saw such nice views like this. 

When I started the walk I saw two people. After passing them I didn't see anyone; I was all alone.

As I walked along the Otaki Riverside Promenade I started to think about what I would do if I encountered a bear. I didn't have a good plan. Actually I didn't have any plan. Fortunately I didn't encounter a bear.

What I did encounter was some nice scenery.

After my riverside nature walk I started heading back to town. I walked along a main road that ran parallel to the local train line.

 Passing by a small hotel that Emi and I stayed at over 20 years ago. I was surprised that they were still in business.

I didn't want to eat lunch in a restaurant so I was happy to find a convenience store. I bought some sandwiches and drinks and took them back to the hotel room... life is good!

The Kinugawa Onsen Adventure will continue - part 2 is coming soon!

Thanks for stopping by!

Mike

Visiting Hakodate City - Hokkaido, Japan (part 3)

On this day we visited Onuma Quasi National Park. The park is 20 Kilometers north of Hakodate city. To get there we'll take a "One-Man" train. One-Man trains are trains that go out to isolated locations where the train stations are unattended. The train operator collects your fare before you get off the train.

So, the first step is to go to the Hakodate JR Train Station. Lucky for us the station is next to our hotel.

I asked Emi to pose next to our train. The train operator seemed surprised to see her.

Okay, this is better.

Now we're all comfy and cozy inside the train. By the way, it's a beautiful day to visit the park.

The train ride was about an hour long; we stopped at many stations along the way. This is the front of Ōnuma-Kōen Train Station. It's a short walk from here to Onuma Park.

We have arrived at the Park

Onuma Park is a beautiful nature park with several walking courses. There are lots of small islands joined by nice arched bridges.

In the park there are group tour boats and individual rental boats.

After walking around the park for awhile we walked to the Moo Town Cafe.

Per the internet: Yamakawa Bokujyo Moo Town Cafe Factory, is a small ranch producing milk and beef meat. Their roast beef sandwich as well Philly steak sandwich are highly recommended. But please try a plain glass of cold milk. It is amazing! Without any additives it tastes sweet and nothing like milk you can buy in a supermarket. It is such a delicatessen!

We ordered a roast beef sandwich and a Philly cheese steak sandwich and split them between us. I've had Philly cheese steak sandwiches in Philadelphia and they were nowhere near as good as the one we had in the Moo Town Cafe. 

After lunch Emi posed in front of the Cafe.

A rice field across the street from the Moo Town Cafe. By the way, this place is in the middle of nowhere.

We walked past this dairy on our way to the train station.

After departing the Moo Town Cafe, we walked another 15 minutes or so to reach the Onuma train station. This station is one stop prior to the Onumakoen station that we originally arrived at. We have been walking a lot today. I'm tired but I can't admit that in front of Emi. Sometimes one has to act like they're tougher than they really are for the good of the team. Press on regardless!

The problem with these train stations in isolated areas is that the trains don't run very often. Sometimes they only run a few times a day. Out on the train platform this station looks big but we're the only people here. We checked the schedule and our train should be here in 20 minutes. The fact that nobody else is here makes us feel a little uneasy. Emi reads a book while I take pictures.

An express train passes through without stopping; only local trains stop here. The express train looks nice; I wish I was on it.

Exactly on time our one-man train arrives at the station... hallelujah!
A cold beer is going to taste so good when we get back to our hotel room!

That night for dinner we picked up yakitori bentos from this small shop.

It's our last day in Hakodate. Here we are checking out of the hotel. Our flight to Tokyo isn't until 8:00 pm at night so there's still time to do more sightseeing.

We have plenty of time so we rode the ropeway to the top of Mt. Hakodate!

The view of Hakodate City from the top of Mt. Hakodate

The observation deck on top of Mt. Hakodate

This shirt makes me look fat! 

On our way back down, passing by the upward bound ropeway car.

Back down to the Hakodate waterfront.

The view from Green Island.

This is the nearest street car stop to Green Island. We'll take this street car to get to the Hakodate Tropical Botanical Garden.

Welcome to the Hakodate Tropical Botanical Garden! The admission is 300 yen for adults. This is the last place we visited before catching a local bus to Hakodate Airport.

Time to go home.

This is the end of our Hakodate adventure. We had a wonderful time. Hakodate is a fantastic city! We were worried that staying in one place for six days would be too long. Six days was easy here because there are so many interesting places to visit and such fun things to do. I love Hakodate!

All the best,

Mike

Bonus shots!