The instructions were: bring your own toothbrush and towel. Soap, bathing facilities, charging outlets provided. I didn’t read it to the end. That’s why the rest of my entourage ended up brandishing their toothbrushes glumly at the counter staff. But, they could rent towels for 150¥ apiece – […]
If you are an onsen aficionado, you definitely need to visit Kyushu. Oita and Kagoshima are ranked #1 and #2 in Japan for having the most number of hot spring sources so you can expect a long list of renowned onsen resorts (Beppu, Yufuin, Kurokawa, Kirishima) to choose […]
From Mountain to Valley We got back to Kofu 甲府 from Mt Houou at around noon and without much ado, booked ourselves on the first train out to Okaya 岡谷 (Limited Express Azusa, 50 mins). At Okaya, we transferred to the JR Iida Line bound for Iida 飯田 […]
A Thunderstorm Brought an Unexpected Surprise On our last day in Kagoshima, we woke up to a thunderstorm – and out went the plans to go Ibusuki 指宿 (couldn’t imagine taking a wet sand bath). We could have moved to Myoken Onsen 妙見温泉 immediately but the ryokan staff […]
I remembered we got on and off trains a lot to get to the Chichibu onsen. It wouldn’t be far from the truth to say the journey left a deeper impression than the onsen. Yet, we weren’t done after we stepped off the last train at Minano – […]
the last word 