Tombo-no-Yu, an Open-Air Hot Spring in Karuizawa
There was a Hoshino Onsen area near our pension. Of course the most famous place around here is Hoshinoya Karuizawa, but I didn’t see much point in staying at a pricey ryokan, so I’d planned to ski…
There was a Hoshino Onsen area near our pension. Of course the most famous place around here is Hoshinoya Karuizawa, but I didn’t see much point in staying at a pricey ryokan, so I’d planned to ski…
I could only get one day off, so I had to be at work in the morning and got up early. After last night’s feast there was a hearty breakfast waiting too, so I couldn’t just rush off because I was bu…
Finally, the dinner I’d been waiting for. Good food is really the single most important thing that draws people to an onsen ryokan. If all you want is a hot spring, there are plenty near the city. The d…
For a friend who came all the way to visit, I booked a room at Kasuien Minami, the most popular onsen ryokan around here. With the wagyu course it came to a little over 20,000 yen per person, which is actually…
The place I live now really is nothing special, and I’m not just being modest, but it is famous across Japan for two things: hot springs and crab. Last weekend a friend from Korea came over for a hot spr…
I’ve been on a sushi kick lately, making the rounds of the sushi places around here that are supposed to be good. Along the way I heard there was a decent sushi place in the hot spring town near my home,…
On my last business trip to Tokyo I went to Oedo Onsen Monogatari in Odaiba, one of the few proper hot springs in Tokyo. (I’d say Spa LaQua at Tokyo Dome is the next-best proper one… though of cour…
On the way to my next stop, Beppu, which I wasn’t expecting much from, there turned out to be a cluster of famous hot-spring villages. The schedule was so rushed that I hadn’t had a proper lunch, s…
Over the New Year holidays I went to Minami, which has a reputation as the tastiest of the onsen ryokan in Matsue. Honestly, though, it wasn’t as good as I’d hoped. I’m not a big fan of cold …
The first thing that comes to mind when you think of Matsuyama is Dogo Onsen, said to be the oldest hot spring in Japan. So it was the very first place I headed when I got to Matsuyama. A full view of Dogo Ons…
I used the weekend to go leaf-peeping at the Tachikue Gorge, which is close to where I live. Once I got there, though, it didn’t look like autumn-leaf season yet. -_-;; It’s November, is this reall…