Lars and I arranged to meet the parents at Shibukawa station at about 11 am. Lars and I stopped by Mister Donut for breakfast. So we came up from the south, and they took a bus and train down from Takaragawa. We headed off to Ikaho and I remembered where to park! A showed me a great spot last time. I wanted to try and met up with her, but she was going to Ikaho later in the day around when we left. We started at the bottom of the 365 stone steps. I pointed out the water running underneath the stairs, and we stopped by the footbath for Lars and Papa to try. We got some free tea there from ladies advertising the Tomioka Silk Mill. I actually managed to tell them that I lived there.

We had lunch at a cafe with a sweet interior design. I had cold salad udon and it was delicious! Something I could easily make myself. We finished climbing the stairs and visited the shrine. Then we headed over to Kajika bridge which looked quite different now in the spring! The family tried the gold onsen water and the silver regular stream water before Papa and Lars went to take their first proper onsen bath without towels. Mama and I hung out next to the water source bubbling up from the ground. Lars told us afterward that he ran into a guy with full body tattoos! All the other Japanese guys moved from one pool to the other. He didn’t know that they guy was a yakuza. How crazy!

On the way back down the stairs, we stopped by a shop that sells soft serve ice cream. I spent some time trying to deciphering mixed in katana, but had my orders all set when I went to the window. She then handed me an English menu, haha. After getting ice cream, we also stopped by my favorite store filled with cat themed things. I ended up getting a bag like the one I got my sister for Christmas. Either as a lunch bag or for makeup. It’s so cute! We got back to the car and set off for Takasaki station to drop my dad off so he could make the trip back to Osaka. Mama needed to get a Starbucks too so we waited for her while she had to pass through a gigantic line filled with high schoolers.

Lars desperately wanted to visit an anime/manga store so I took them over to Mandai Shoten. Both were promptly impressed. I managed to buy some nice things and Lars was happy with his pokemon card purchases. We drove back to Tomioka and stopped by the grocery store by my house. Mama bought a lot of alcohol ha. We just ate bread and salad at home.

Last night, my family (my dad, mom, and little brother) arrived in Takasaki at 9 pm. So crazy to finally have them here! After a quick stop at 7-11 to get some food, I drove them back to my place. We were up pretty late chatting and unpacking. We managed to fit two people in each of my rooms. Saturday morning, we left home at about 9 am to drive up to Tanigawadake, a mountain on the border of Gunma and Niigata, in Minakami. We parked at the ski area parking garage to head up the ropeway on the side of the mountain. It saves you a three hour steep hike up the side of the mountain. Although it was pretty warm at the base, the top was pretty windy and chilly! I wished I had brought my sweatshirt with. The views were stunning at the 1300 m, and we decided to take the second, shorter lift to the very top of 1500 m.

Wow, just wow! Mountains and greenness everywhere. The peak of the mountain is at about 2000 m and the surrounding mountains still had some snow on them. We scrambled over a rocky area to have lunch while admiring the beautiful view, although our seats were rather uncomfortable. We ended walking to the shrine on the opposite side of the lift too. On the descent, I noticed that the rest of the road we wanted to drive to Ichinokurasawa Gorge was closed. Back at the center I asked and found you had to take a bus to the gorge. Sadly, we had just missed the bus, and it’d be too late to catch the next. We decided to head over to Takaragawa Onsen where Papa and Mama would be spending the night at the ryokan as an anniversary present.

On the drive over, Papa wanted to stop by the dam. The roads were crazy curvy and small, but it was a fun ride! The lake was so empty. Everything is really dry before the rainy season. Arriving at the onsen was confusing, because there was a guy at the gate who wouldn’t let us park down by the entrance as I had done last time. We tried explaining to him that some of us were staying overnight and that Lars and I were just going to the onsen, but it was too hard to get our point across. We had to park at the furthest lot, just outside the entrance while Papa and Mama pulled their suitcases down to the main ryokan entrance. It was actually hard to find! Completely tucked away, down the road, over a bridge, past all the parking, and around the corner.

After dropping them off at the reception, Lars and I slowly made our way to the onsen entrance for the non-overnighters. The guy there actually spoke really great English and was surprised to hear that it was my second time there. Although he overcharged us each by 100 yen according to the signs around and what he typed into the register...not sure if there was a recent price increase or what. It seemed fishy, but this is Japan… Lars and I rented a towel as well. We walked past all the old timer decor and the black bears in the small cages, before stopping and hanging out by some tables. Papa and Mama still hadn’t shown up about 30 minutes later.

I wanted to find a toilet next, but the signage was really lacking. I ended up asking a staff member who for some reason had trouble understanding me (although I’ve asked this many times before with no issues…). There was one in the ladies bath which she then went to show me the way to. Then I explained to Lars how to get changed and what to do with his clothes. Lars finished quicker than me, and had started heading into the water when I came out. I had to explain to him again that we need to pre-wash first around the corner. The water that had felt so cold in the winter was hot now! We rinsed off and got in the first bath which was really hot. Lars was freaking out a bit about all the men who were not covering themselves properly, but he seemed to be enjoying himself. We tried out all three baths and hung out in the last one the longest because it was much cooler.

Lars started getting red quite quickly so I had to remind him to sit outside and cool off. I went to see if I could track down the parents as it had been over an hour waiting for them. Finding people with blurry eyesight was a little tricky, but I finally spotted them coming down the path and waved Lars over from the opposite side of the river. Once again, I explained bathing etiquette and we joined the parents for a short round two. They didn’t stay in the water as long, and we both ended up getting changed around the same time. This time, I learned that the guy’s changing room was much bigger than the woman’s. Makes sense with the higher number of men there. Also as a guest of the ryokan, the baths are open 24/7! You could go for a dip in the middle of the night.

After saying our goodbyes, Lars and I made the trip back to Tomioka where we stopped at a kaiten sushi place for dinner. It’s the closest one to my house that I haven’t tried yet, but the fish was amazing! A step up in price and quality. It was crazy full on this weekend night. You had to order from the servers directly, but Lars is a pro. He immediately just picked up the menu, said sumimasen, and pointed to what he wanted. He’s already adapted well to being in a country where he can’t speak the language.

Happy Easter! We got up at 7:30 am and I set up Easter breakfast with the eggs I had dyed at school on Wednesday with my English club. E and K put their bags directly in my car so we didn’t have to worry about stopping at home to pick them up. Our first destination was Jigokudani Monkey Park about 1 hour and 50 minutes away, but we had to stop at Nagano Station first for the JR passes. It was my first time in Nagano City and it had a stunning overview of the snow capped Nagano alps near where Hakuba is. The station was really nicely designed as well. Sadly I didn’t bring my temple book so I decided not to stop by Zenkoji temple there. We also stopped for gas and supplies, but getting lunch at a typical Japanese chain place, Sukiya. First time for me and it was all right.

We got to the monkey park at about 12:30 pm. It was much less busy than last time and really muddy! So much warmer out! There were almost no monkeys bathing but many grooming on the pathways and running around, playing. The little baby monkeys playing and being groomed were the cutest! I then drove us another 2 hours through the mountains to Kusatsu. Sadly the shortcut road is still closed for winter stuff, but at least I knew where to drive this time! There was still a little snow on the ground and people skiing on the last bits. I parked at the bank in Kusatsu as it’s Sunday and closed - free parking yay - and we walked through the shrine down to the city center. So I got a Shinto shrine visit in for Easter instead of church? The sulfur smelled much less strongly this time and there were many people walking around in their yukatas.

We also tried sesame ice cream, and onsen manju along the way to Sainokawara Park. While we were there, it started snowing! We sat with our feet in the foot bath with snowflakes falling all around us. I thought it especially crazy for E and K because they had just come from Okinawa and the beach life. We started the last leg of the journey, another 2 hours back to Takasaki. We got there shortly before 8 pm and stopped at Kappa Sushi for some conveyor belt sushi for dinner. They seemed to thoroughly enjoy themselves. I dropped them off at the station at 9:15 pm so they could catch their shinkansen to Sendai. It was so much fun showing them around even if our time was cut short and we had to do a lot of driving in one day. Plus I got to speak German for a day!

I woke up to rain, bleh. Last night’s sleep was much better. I wore my fleece leggings and an extra long sleeve shirt and sweater with my pjs and that helped. I caught a local bus from the station to Niseko Hirafu, the ski resort town. With rain, I had already given up on cross country skiing. After arriving in Niseko, the slopes looked horrible, completely covered in mist and fog. I walked down into the town, trying to find somewhere to eat. I didn’t have any proper rain gear, but my jacket and snow pants held up. I ended up at a creperie as most places were pretty full. After a pretty short wait, I got my table. So many of the workers were French! All the lovely accents. The food was amazing. I had a savory galette and then a sweet banana crepe with ice cream. I even got to order in French. Absolutely delicious. I had a nice conversation with the Australians who were my table partners.

The interesting part of Hirafu was how intensely expensive it is - most pricey place I’ve been in Japan (paying around $20 per meal)- and how it felt like I had left Japan. All the signs were written in English or romaji. Westerners everywhere you looked and only English in the background. The most Japanese I heard was at the convenience store. It was crazy.

Post lunch, I stopped by the convenience store to buy some conditioner and I went to a nearby onsen. Most provide shampoo, but my hair is picky and I didn’t want to end up with a nest of snarls. After some research, people said this was the cheapest one and had a nice outdoor bath. The way there was slippery and downhill. I should have gotten some traction pads for my shoes. The onsen had just opened. It was my first time paying via machine to buy my ticket. First time onsening with only foreigners ha. This one mom with her two daughters had clearly never been before - towel clutching - and didn’t even realize they had to prewash until they saw the signs. At one point, this mom whips out her phone and starts taking pics of her daughters submerged in the the water! Luckily another woman told her it wasn’t allowed. They spent like 5 minutes in the water before leaving…

The condition of the slopes

The indoor section was pretty sulfury, the stones covered in yellow. The outdoor part was okay. I think Gunma has spoiled me with its amazing onsens. I got to talking with this lady, F, and her partner afterward. They were such a cool couple from Perth and really interesting. We ended up exchanging info to meet up for dinner later. I then headed off to a cafe to hang out. Gah, such expensive coffee. We had dinner at a hot pot place. It was so much food! I couldn’t finish the end bit when they add noodles to use up the extra broth. Very yummy with all the seafood in it. We hung out for awhile chatting, before I caught the bus back to Kutchan and walked back to my airbnb.

I chatted with my parents first thing in the morning. It was only about 6 C in the room so I grabbed my phone real quickly. I did get up at some point to finally switch the heat on. It was flurrying a tiny bit outside. We packed up everything into the car, and headed off on foot to the second onsen we wanted to try, sai-no-kawara, open air bath. This one was about 20 minutes away. You walk through the Sainokawara Park to get there. Water is streaming through the ground, creating little ponds and rivulets of hot water. The fog was intense. Absolutely stunning.

The baths were pretty crowded in the small changing area, but the main pool can hold so many people! This one felt much hotter than yesterday’s. Probably because it’s outdoors and the air was cold. We rinsed off really fast. We walked back through the town and tried a onsen manju sample. I also bought an onsen egg, which are eggs boiled in the source water. We stopped by a glass factory too - such beautiful little figurines! On the way out of Kusatsu, we got gas before I dropped A back at the station to catch her train at 1 pm. The drive back was less hilly, google took me a different route. Managed to get home in the afternoon and go grocery shopping.

We could have bathed again this morning, but didn’t want to get up that early. We took a bunch of photos in our yukata. I was wearing a pink one and A a green one. After going down for breakfast, we found out the green one is only for men, and A had to switch to the pink. The faces of the staff cracked me up. They were so shocked! I personally can’t see the big deal… The only difference is the color. So in all our photos, A is wearing “men’s” clothes.

Breakfast was amazing. What a spread. And so much food! I could barely finish it all. During breakfast, they put our futons away. When we went back up to the room, they had locked it! Oops, we had left it open with the key inside the room. Tis was an easy fix though with lots of apologies on both sides. We checked out and they gave us directions towards the monkey park. She helped carry our things back to the car and even waited outside for a bit in the cold! I had to defrost my car first, so I’m glad she finally went back inside.

Another wonderful sunny day. The road up to Jigokudani was rather narrow. We stopped to talk to the parking attendant who actually had a sign written in English since he couldn’t speak it. We had to park a big further away at the Roman museum because the other parking lots were already full! We got here at 9:30 am and the place only opened at 9 am! The amount of tourists was crazy. There was only a tiny bit of snow on the ground, some leftovers. The walk to the park takes about thirty minutes through the woods. There are some informative signs about the Japanese macaques along the way. The Jigokudani ryokan was nestled picturesquely by the river. Here we spotted our first monkeys! Beyond the entrance gate was a small gift shop, and two walkways. One headed to the main hot pool, and the other down the riverbed where normal cold water flowed. There were monkeys everywhere, running around, and climbing high on the opposite bank of the river up the mountain. I even got to see baby ones! One mother was carrying two, one her back and one hanging under her stomach.

The pool area was massively crowded with people sticking their cameras into the monkey’s faces. I don’t know how they could relax, but there were some digging for food, and grooming and bathing. Their positions and faces looked so blissful. It was pretty cold out, my hands growing numb quickly. I’m glad I wore so many layers, but A had much less clothes. We went into the gift shop to huddle by the kerosene heater. I ended buying some postcards with the monkey’s snow hats. Sadly, we didn’t have enough snow to see that. I also bought apple Kit-Kats back at the bottom gift shop and a wall hanging with bathing monkeys.

We finished at 12:30 pm ish and got lunch at a restaurant right by the parking area. I had this fantastic salad with sashimi salmon in in. Yum, yum. We had to share a table with another couple, since everyone was stopping there to eat. We decided not to walk around this onsen town area, but instead to head directly to Kusatsu. The way back was much better! No turn arounds. Took us a little under 2 hours. We first stopped by the tourist info center to grab a map and check out the observatory where you got a great view of Mt. Asama.

We parked at a public lot near the center of the city and walked around. First stop, a shrine. We descended the stairs to Yubatake (Hot Water Field) where 5000 liters per minute pours out of the source. The air was filled a light scent of fresh eggs as it’s a sulfuric source. The water is at pH 2.1 here! The colors were stunning until the wind blew a wave of egg fog into my face and I couldn’t breathe. We stopped at a cafe in this area to get a cake set - cake and tea - and warm up a little. As soon as we were back in Gunma, the wind made itself known. Brrr. We meandered through the streets past all the shops. A ended up buying some yummy flavoured honey. I got some phone straps and socks with Gunma-chan bathing.

By now, it started to get dark outside and the light decorations were turned on. More picture time! I let our airbnb host know that we were on our way. Google did a poor job of directing us though. Took us down a tiny road that was blocked off for pedestrians only. I had to turn around in a narrow alley, but A helped by going outside the car. Finally, we made it out. The next obstacle was a steep hill. I pulled over to park by a temple entrance. The airbnb was part of the temple grounds. Our host came out and welcomed us and directed me to where I could park. This required me to drive further up the hill, back into her narrow driveway. I’m horrible at reverse driving, absolutely horrible. She moved her car and I somehow maneuvered backwards into the parking spot in her garage. I parked too close to the wall and since I’d have to climb over the other seat to get out, she moved her other car as well so I could re-park my car. Phew! And all in the dark hills.

Our host was really welcoming. We put on our guest slippers as she showed us the indoor baths with hot water from the source! She led us to our large tatami room with a kotatsu and the futons all laid out. It was like staying at a ryokan, but so much cheaper, haha. There were even snacks set out and a tv. First onsen stop, Otaki no Yu, one of the top baths in Kusatsu. It was only a freezing 7 minute walk from our place. It was a big onsen, really nice. After pre-washing and soaking in the main indoor and outdoor pool, we went to the other side where there are five pools of different temperatures. The onsen I’ve been in were all 42-45 C. The first pool was lukewarm, the second comfortable enough for me to hang out in, but too cold for A. The third was a great temp and thus crowded like the fourth. I tried to get in the fifth and made it for less than 30 seconds. I felt like my skin was burning off! It was so hot! The water from the source was about 70 C from the source! The internet tells me the hottest one was 46 C, but there’s no way because I can handle 45 C. Post bath, I got strawberry ice cream to enjoy a milk product. We stopped at 7-Eleven on the way back for dinner supplies and crashed in our futons. All the layers.

I headed out early this morning to go pick A up at the train station, Naganohara- Kusatsuguchi, at 9 am on our way to Nagano and Jigokudani Monkey Park! It’s about a 1.5 hour drive from me there. The drive was stunning. Gunma is really picturesque with the snowy mountainous backdrop and farms. Sadly since there hasn’t been any snow, everything was really clear. Good for driving at least. While A and I were still in the station, the station attendant warned us the bus leaving. I somehow managed to convey that we were here by car. So courteous.

We headed off on the second leg of the journey that should take us about 1.5 hours. The first part took us right past Kusatsu - the best onsen town in all of Japan. We’ll come back here tomorrow for the second part of the three-day weekend. We have Monday off because it’s Coming of Age Day where Japanese children, who have reached the age of majority at twenty, have a big ceremony. We got right by a ski slope when a sign written in English and Japanese forbids cars from driving further. We parked in the skiing lot and asked the attendants in broken Japanese. He told us it’s only open to a shuttle bus. We backtracked and tried google’s route #2. It took us 30 minutes to get to this point so one hour driving wasted.

After backtracking, it was another 20 minutes before we hit a toll gate. We stopped to take some scenic photos along the way, A was snapping pictures out the window the whole time. Very pretty especially with Mt. Asama getting closer. At the toll gate, he asks us where we’re going - presumably to figure out how much we have to pay. When I told him Jigokudani, he shook his head and told us no. We pulled into a parking lot and walked over where the other toll guy brought out a map and showed us where to go. We have to take google option #3, a route that takes an extra 30 minutes from the station. The other guy spoke enough English to tell us road closed for winter. (Later I checked online and it appears the connecting bit of 292 is closed from late spring till Nov - don’t make the same mistake as us. You can’t get from Kusatsu to Shiga-Kogen area.)

We turned around once more. We’ve lost 1 hour and 40 minutes at this point, but we were on the right route now with 1.5 hr eta driving time. It took us right past Sugadairakogen ski area, up in the mountains. We actually started seeing some snow on the road. Driving with snow tires was interesting. I could definitely feel them grip the road more. No sliding at all. I took all the corners slowly. Looking back at the GPS trail, it doesn’t even fully convey the curviness. We pulled over at one point to get more photos. I jumped into the field of snow, stumbled in a ditch and got part of my pants covered. Ahhh, snow!

At the end, we took a short bit on the toll road. I’m so sick of driving, I’m okay with paying the exuberant prices. We stop to eat at a ramen restaurant. There’s actually a wait so it must mean good ramen! I managed to write my name on the list in katakana, whoop. They even brought us a menu translated into English! Oh, the benefits of being close to a tourist spot. The ramen was amazing and I’m not a big ramen person. The best I’ve had yet in Japan.

Then we headed on to our final destination, Yudanaka Onsen, in Yamanouchi, Nagano. We drove around in circles on narrow roads for a bit trying to find our ryokan, but it was a bit confusing since the roads were small and buildings close together. We decided to investigate on foot first. We parked in a random lot and walked around. We had about two hours before check in to explore the town. We tried to stop by a visitor center and get a map, but it was closed so we just wandered. First, checked out a shrine and climbed the hill behind it to see huge boulders that were sealing in an evil spirit. It had the rope around it, shimenawa, and was really cool to see!

We also stopped by another shrine that had the source running through the temizuya, water pavilion where you wash your hands and mouth, and by this Buddha statue you could also wash. There was a free foot bath too, but we didn’t have towels with and it was too cold. The town was filled with older buildings and public bath houses. We checked out another temple with a huge Kannon statue and climbed a steep hill with amazing views. We took a walking path back through the forest and A made sure to ring all the bells along the way. Later, with the help of google translate, we realized they were called peace bells and supposed to bring peace. On the way back to the car, we passed by a shop that handed us a map and told us about a lantern festival that started later. Yay, map!

We carefully followed the streets to the vicinity of our hotel. I pulled into a parking lot to check the map, when a woman came towards us. She asked about me by last name, had us get out and give our luggage to her, and the keys to the other guy. The man parked my car for me, and she carried our things into the lobby. We removed our shoes at the entrance. She was the English speaking staff member. The others knew a couple words, but we tried to reply in Japanese to them. A was really excited about everything and the staff loved her. During check in, we got to select our private bath time in their outdoor bath - onsen as well as see the public schedules when men or women could enter. The indoor one was open 24/7. We also selected whether we wanted breakfast at 7:30 or 8 am. She would give us a room call then. She showed us to the room, and served us tea. It was salty, broth-like tea. I don’t remember the name. She brought me an extra yukata in a longer size hah.

The hotel had a lovely, traditional decor. Our room had an entrance area with mini fridge, tea maker, sink, and toilet with toilet slippers. Beyond the sliding door, we had a large room with a low table and floor chairs with huge cushions. Two snacks awaited us, an onsen manju (sweet bun) and something else.The heater was running nicely. In one of the closets were our yukata - socks with the toe separate for geta, yukata, sash, over-robe, a bag with toiletries. A decided to go in the first women bathing time slot, so I hung out in the room.

When we went to leave, we let them know so they could set out the futons for us. A and I went back to the store which gave us the map and got mulled apple juice there. It was fresh, local apple juice. Nagano, especially this area, is famous for all its apple orchards. It warmed us up while we set out to make our free lanterns. We got to decorate a sheet of wax paper that we put in a lantern. The woman there attached it to a bamboo stick and we set off into the streets to deliver to the end destination. Outside, we were stopped by a lovely lady asking to do a survey. Her English was so good! She had studied to become an English teacher for JHS, but changed her mind. Amongst the survey, we bonded over Glee and Bones. She even gave us beautiful, free postcards as a thank you.

At this point, we were running out of time to get back to the ryokan for our private onsen time between 8-8:30. We hurried to drop off our lanterns on the shelving around a foot bath. The light reflected off the water. It was a wonderful light. Then we rushed back. A stopped at the shop to buy some souvenirs, and I popped by Lawson’s - a convenience store - for a small dinner (still full from ramen!). We both luckily made it back just in time. The futons were out in the room, looking quite inviting. I put on my pink yukata and went to take some rare photos of the bathing area. It was really cold outside and the water felt great. I love the feeling of warmth and cozyness post-bath. It makes your skin feel amazing too. The bathing area was really beautiful with a little waterfall and all the rocks. You could look up at the stars too. After returning to the room, I ate my dinner, and we went promptly to sleep in our yukata. The futon layers were warm and comfortable.

Drive #2! I felt much more comfortable this time around, getting into the swing of things. It was about an hour drive to Shibukawa where I was meeting A. I stopped by the bakery on the way out to bring her something since she was making us French toast! Her apartment was so cutely decorated and breakfast delicious with a French press. I helped her set up her sim card for her American phone with IIJmio.

Later, she drove me over to Ikaho and showed me around onsen, hot spring, town. We climbed the 365 steps to the top, stopping at the foot bath halfway up to soak our feet. So many cute shops, ryokans and restaurants along the way.There are some spots that show the water rushing underneath the town with its iron, rust color. At the top is the shrine. We then walked over to Kajika Bridge which was all lit up despite most of the leaves having already fallen down. A little past that you can taste the famous golden and silver waters of Ikaho. The golden water was rather warm and tasted strongly like iron as you could tell from the brown rushing river. The silver water was cooler and less iron-like. We took a bath at the onsen too! My first true onsen in iron waters. They had a gold and silver water partition. It was serene with the cold rain falling on our heads while our toes kicked up the leaves on the bottom of the pool. Everything was outdoor including the changing room.

On the way back, I took some more photos as it was completely dark by then. We headed back and got dinner in Shibukawa at a hipster place called Junk Sweets. After A got changed (it was raining hard and only about 45 out), J joined us and we walked there. We had amazing chai tea and a fantastic, huge pizza. J chatted with the owner in Japanese. It’s their go-to place so they know him well. I was feeling good about myself too, because I understood a lot of the conversation. Context helps so much. He even prepared a belated birthday dessert for A with a sparkler! The kindness here, I can’t get over it.