We had one splurge planned for our time in Japan that we had been looking forward to for weeks. We had reservations at an onsen ryokan, a traditional Japanese inn with natural springs.
We hopped on the Shinkansen bullet train and rode 250 miles NE from Kyoto to Hakone, a small mountainous town just outside of Tokyo. The two hour ride there was beautiful as we passed Mt. Fuji perched majestically with its snow-capped “crown” sprawling down with almost perfect symmetry.
We were asked to take off our shoes as we arrived at Hoeiso ryokan and put on slippers in the lobby. Our room was very spacial with fully straw-matted tatami floors. It had four sections separated by sliding doors; a sleeping area, a main living area with one low table and two wooden leg-less floor chairs where we would later have dinner, an alcove we assumed was for meditating and a balcony with two tiny chairs overlooking the mountains.
A girl named Leah was assigned to us as our hostess for the evening. She had a laugh when she saw how excited we were to wear our yukatas (casual kimonos). She had to search for a larger size for Yemi. Jan also wore her haori, a short jacket worn over the yukata in winter, which looked like bat wings on her.
That evening Leah served a traditional 11-course kaiseki dinner. It was a culinary roller coaster experience of hot, cold, sweet and flavorful dishes. The menu included miso soup, varieties of sushi, and several dishes with pheasant, which was this ryokan's specialty and the highlight of our meal. They also gave us complimentary champagne and a whole fish as a traditional honeymoon gift.
Later we put on our betas (wooden sandals) and made our way to the open air onsen (hot natural springs) next to a river overlooking the mountains. Five minutes into it and we both had the same look on our faces that said, “this is finally feeling like a honeymoon.” By the time we got back to our room, thin mats had been pulled out for us and laid flat on the floor. No "real" beds! This is something we had gotten used to in Japan. They also provided a buckwheat-filled pillow called a makura that felt like it was filled with sand.
The following morning began with another onsen dip followed by an eight course Japanese-style breakfast before we had to check out.
We were asked to take off our shoes as we arrived at Hoeiso ryokan and put on slippers in the lobby. Our room was very spacial with fully straw-matted tatami floors. It had four sections separated by sliding doors; a sleeping area, a main living area with one low table and two wooden leg-less floor chairs where we would later have dinner, an alcove we assumed was for meditating and a balcony with two tiny chairs overlooking the mountains.
A girl named Leah was assigned to us as our hostess for the evening. She had a laugh when she saw how excited we were to wear our yukatas (casual kimonos). She had to search for a larger size for Yemi. Jan also wore her haori, a short jacket worn over the yukata in winter, which looked like bat wings on her.
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| Bird's eye view of the appetizers |
That evening Leah served a traditional 11-course kaiseki dinner. It was a culinary roller coaster experience of hot, cold, sweet and flavorful dishes. The menu included miso soup, varieties of sushi, and several dishes with pheasant, which was this ryokan's specialty and the highlight of our meal. They also gave us complimentary champagne and a whole fish as a traditional honeymoon gift.
The following morning began with another onsen dip followed by an eight course Japanese-style breakfast before we had to check out.
Jan's dad always says you can't put a price on memories. Visiting this sure was on the "splurge" category of our travel budget at $350 for the night but it was indeed one of those priceless memories that made us love Japan.
That looks so relaxing. And what's the point if you don't splurge every once-in-a-while, right?
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