We continued our drive today to experience country life. There are still small villages that have preserved life from another era and we were able to stop at two of them. The first, AinokuraGassho-zukuri Village, still has thatched roofed houses on quaint homes. I did see a satellite dish or two so they have not sworn off all modern conveniences. We were given an hour to wonder around. There were signs that we should not enter anyone's home or walk in their fields which tells you this is a tourist stop.
I stopped in the public restroom and was pleasantly surprised that it had heated toilets. I won't go into it now, but Japanese toilets are a step above anything I've found in all my travels and definitely makes me reconsider our choices at home.
We stopped at a second village but by now it was raining. This one was definitely full of tourist with the car park jammed full of large buses. We spent a little time here but it just wasn't as charming because of all the people.
Tonight we stayed in a
Ryokan, a more traditional travel experience. Often these are in small structures more like staying in someone's home. Ours however was more hotel like while still keeping a bit of charm. We had to remove our shoes at the door and keep them off for the duration of our stay. Bamboo woven mats covered the floors and sliding screens were used extensively for the doors. This one had western style beds although they were low to the floor but in a more traditional one we would have been sleeping on a mat.
Hot springs (
onsen) were available for our use with clothing optional but I don't think our group wanted to know each other that well. We also had
yukata, colorful print Japanese robes, available for our use. Several of our group picked them out to wear to dinner. Dinner was a set Japanese menu which again was visually stunning. The mixing of flavors in the small dishes mostly delighted my tongue. Every so often I ran across a beautiful but tasteless morsel that seemed like flavorless jello. They do offer raw fish at almost every meal along with cooked. We ate at low tables with a pit underneath them for our legs and legless chairs for our back. They are comfortable while you're seated but a little difficult to pry yourself out of.
Tomorrow: More Driving and a Knife Forging Demo
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