Tokyo in August 2007
It is difficult to organize a holiday in Japan live in Japan, if you do not speak Japanese you can only rely on internet as the domestic tourist agencies offering mostly agents that communicate in Japanese only and consequently do not provide any relation to the gaijin (I called that all those who are not Japanese), literally "outside person, not native."
But I wanted to go and find out, and by train to reach the interior of the Kanto because it is rich in thermal waters, and then get famous onsen in Japan. Given the distance we needed a night in a riokan, who owns a hotel outside the traditional Japanese natural hot springs.
Japan's Hidden Hot Springs is the title of a book in English that I bought here .... in fact some of the best onsen are very hidden ... and I found one that appealed to me much, I had seen in pictures Internet ... is on the edge of a river and just above there are pools of natural hot water, further a wooden building and a bridge that connects the country road to riokan ... that's where I wanted to go ... Kanto Region, town Takaragawa: traditional riokan "Osenkaku" (I've found on the website-Japanese Guest Houses)
After several negative responses, I recompiled for the tenth time the form is located on the Internet and with persistence and patience ("Gaman " teach the Japanese) I get my reservation. Only two people, Simon is at home, I start with Paola, my sister, who arrived in Tokyo a few days and that takes precedence because it is our guest ...
three hours to get two trains and two buses, a pity that the day is gloomy and that we can not enjoy a nice view through the large windows of the train. We leave Tokyo to the north-west and the city seems to never end, the suburbs are really very large, heavily built and populated only after about seventy kilometers around you start to get into a lot of green countryside and just a very rough and therefore less cultivated. The tracks lead up to the mountain, the sky is full of clouds and rain that may seem at any moment, all around us if only Japanese and hardly anyone speaks English here in Tokyo it is practically impossible. I understand that tourism in these parts do not arrive.
Paola and I met quite wrong for failing to train or coincidences, with our reservation sheet and with a bow and felt sumimasen we present the reception of riokan.
We expected! and we even arrived on time for check-in that was necessarily take place before the 17 .... yes I know, I'm a bit ironic, but this time I want to be to take even a bit around that by keeping all these Japanese their qualities of warmth, kindness and reliability, however, have affinities with the German-Swiss people for the firmness with which they apply their rules, their customs and habits in mind the diversity among the people ... showing short, a little rigid and less capable of flexibility. Paola
esterreffatta in fact I see it is how the staff is imposed from the very beginning ... we have green tea, ma anche un foglio, naturalmente scritto in giapponese, con disegni che segnalano i luoghi accessibili e gli orari da rispettare, pretendendo da subito la tabella oraria con cui ceneremo, faremo la prima colazione, andremo ai bagni al coperto e a quelli all'aperto ( questi ultimi chiamati "rotemburo").....In uno stentato, ma deciso, inglese dico che non parlo e non leggo giapponese, che siamo molto stanche del viaggio e che vogliamo bere il the e riposare cinque minuti prima di ricevere tutte le istruzioni. Finalmente sole ci guardiamo intorno.
Insomma eravamo appena arrivate, non avevamo ancora visto la nostra stanza che già ci invitano a scegliere nuovi vestiti e nuove scarpe per soggiornare due giorni!Nel riokan le tue scarpe vengono messe immediatamente the turn end up in a closet in the right direction to be worn only at the start ... while in the riokan wear clogs and slippers inside and outside Japan, the shoes have neither right nor left, for me it's beautiful , and leaving it outside the room your trovarai new turn in the right direction! Paola is horrified: " but how? I use the shoes of all ?"
Yes, it is one of the strange things that happen everywhere in Japan: are always on the threshold of slippers or clogs, as in private homes or in restaurants and bathrooms and do not know who has worn before you ... In
riokan wearing the yukata. The yukata is a
of colored cotton robe reaching to the feet tied at the waist with obi, the traditional Japanese belt. The yukata is used to turn the building, to eat and go to the baths. It 'important to wear it properly, the outside flap must close before the fact to the right in Japan closing the left is reserved for dead people. In this riokan yukata's are very colorful, there is plenty of choice, there are for women and men at any time you can replace con uno pulito. C'è anche la possibilità di coprirsi con una giacca più pesante se piove o fa freddo...ah, dimenticavo, ci sono ombrelli di tutte le misure e di tutte le fogge!
Dopo il gioco della scelta del vestito ci facciamo accompagnare in camera...
La camera è fatta di tanti tatami sul pavimento ed è uno spazio che si presta ad essere trasformato, a una certa ora....diventa sala da pranzo....
and then the bedroom with a futon on the floor while the table and chairs magically disappear (of course at a certain time ...)
always knock and wait for your ... " to Doso "
(please)
The waitresses are a bit pushy and their frequent presence in the room is a habit that we appreciate very ! you say as you sit down to eat and check frequently if you are consuming each food in order. We have to deal with many courses, not tutte gradite ma ho imparato che ci si salva sempre chiedendo "gohan kudasai".... riso bollito....che funziona un pò come il pane e che ti permette di ridurre l'intensità del gusto di cibi assolutamente sconosciuti. Mi piace la cucina giapponese quando posso scegliere tre i diversi tipi di pasta e di pesce di zuppe e di fritti, mi piace meno quando mi trovo davanti ad un'infinità di portate come in questo caso...bella la scenografia,belli i colori e le forme delle ciotoline,ma sapori un pò difficili da gustare!!
Prima di cenare facciamo un giro all'esterno and although it started to rain the place is fascinating.
The steam you see nel'aria comes from the warm waters ...
It 'a unique show ...
So what do we do? we dress by Japanese and we dive? We must hurry up dinner will arrive in the room at 7.30 ....
I think the picture more than words can give a sense of magic ...
The water is very hot , at first seems impossible to throw yourself in 40 degrees, then slowly yukkuri yukkuri in Japanese ..... becomes possible and wonderful, all the muscles slowly relax, the water is transparent, the floor is of stone, hear the sound of the flowing river, you can look at the stone sill and watch the river foam just below ...
wishing you can take a break and sit outside the pool
something to eat or smoke a cigarette ...
There are swimming pools for men and women and for women only, we try them all,
since they have different forms and they are all attractive .
Each pool has a hot locker room where you can leave il proprio yukata e la propria spugna per asciugarsi. E' tutto molto confortevole e finalmente lo staff alberghiero non interferisce....
Si può fare il bagno anche di notte....
In questo splendido esterno si incontrano statue, piccoli altari con piccoli doni è un luogo anche sacro, protetto da guardiani che allontanano gli spiriti malvagi
statue in the pool of women with hot spring ...
if you are bad ...
puss out!
I feel that we are deep in Japan, in what few have met, we are fortunate, I think that Simon is at home ... what he'd like this place, I know I'll come back with him.
thanks to Paul for the photos, I sent you to hell with the coffee still in hand ... but you did well, I realize how difficult it is to find the words to describe this magical place.
The symbol of the Japanese Shinto religion is the sacred gate called "bulls."
is usually painted bright red, is expected to cross it to pass from the material world to the spiritual.
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