Work was pretty full on today – we were looking at integrated transport solutions in Nagoya and then had to make our way to Shizuoka which took longer than anticipated… we have found the SatNav in the car to be variously reliable. It gives us decent information on route options and is usually accurate on the cost of tolls, (which are seriously prohibitive considering they barely save you any time at all on some occasions), but we don’t think is always operating on real time traffic data. We have had a couple of instances where the tolls route had a lot of congestion and ended up taking much longer than the no tolls route would have taken. C’est la vie. Live and learn.
We stayed for the night at Migiwaya in Yaizu Harbour in Shizuoka in a lovely little ryokan known for the fresh and crystal clear onsen water. 
We had a quiet little garden villa at the back of the properly in a tucked away secluded little spot.
The room was enormous – I think these newer ryokan establishments have realised how people from the cramped larger cities of the country enjoy a bit of space for restful and relaxation.
The living room was also quite large – had enormous closets and the lovely little half height rocking chairs that were really comfortable.
The tea making space was well equipped and the fridge stocked with complimentary beer, highball and non alcoholic drinks.
His and her yukata for the stay.
and his and her towels. The blue is for boys, and pink is for girls really is ubiquitous. 
Outside was a lovely deck overlooking a private garden. Not as established as some gardens but will be lovely in a few years as the plants mature. 
Dressing room:
Bathroom:
Snackage and drinks: 
Before scubbing off the road and into the onsen. It was a very warm 41C – which probably only felt warm because the ambient temp was closer to 20C than 10C this close to the coastline. The water really is crystal clear, and while not as soft as some others, was lovely and refreshing. 
After a couple of dips in the bath (in between getting some work done) it was time to go for dinner. Here was the menu for the evening, laid out in a lovely autumnal design:
Appetisers of wheat bread and persimmon mixed with walnut paste, roasted duck, smoked salmon, Japanese radish, red turnip pickle and citrus seasoned grilled fish. So tasty.
Maguro sashimi – this was delicious. Lovely three different cuts of tuna of varying grades. <3 Big fan! 
Had to try the local saké of course – cute little saké jug.
Shimonita leek soup. 
Followed by a house speciality – deep fried tuna cheek. This was possibly the most flavourful cooked piece of tuna I’ve ever had in my life. I’m not super fond of tuna once it’s more than lightly seared, but this was fantastic.
Local fish with Chinese cabbage served with seaweed sauce.
Simmered Shrim Potatoes.
Marinated steak with malted rice paste.
Steamed rice with fried Sakura shrimp, served with miso soup and pickles. It’s interesting to see how the flavours in miso soup change so much from region to region.
For dessert, a small brown sugar pudding and some local fruits.
Another delicious meal, and so beautifully presented… 10/10 would dine here again.
After dinner we had a reservation in a different, larger, private onsen… so we made our way down the garden paths to a private little cabana-like space. 
It had a double dressing room, a double shower room and this lovely large onsen. Only we found it to be rather too well lit and took care of that pronto…much nicer without a spotlight overhead, and just the garden lights left on. 
This was actually an odd space to be bathing in – it has all the appearance and feel of privacy, but probably had the actual privacy of a tent! People couldn’t see in, but you definitely got the impression with the open air space that your voices would carry, though the ryokan was not full and we saw only two other parties at dinner.
After this it was time for a much need, good night sleep with the sounds of the ocean not far away. We both woke up bright and early – our deck faced predominantly east, and even though we had remembered to close all the blinds, we found ourselves waking early. Never mind, that just gave more time to have another soak in the onsen on the deck before breakfast in the dining room.
Breakfast that comprised of a cast of a thousand dishes!
Grilled Japanese horse mackerel with fish sausage and wasabi.
Tuna sashimi for breakfast! How decadent.
Tamago with pickled broth sauce.
Plus a bunch of other delicious things – they seem determined to fill us up at breakfasts here, which works well – if you skip lunch!
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Anyway once inside, it felt kinda like the NASA centre where they display the Space Shuttle Atlantis at Cape Canaveral… all dark and the trains are lit up – whaaaa! sHiNy tRaINs!
Gotta admit they are super shiny and riding them is very cool. You don’t feel like you are going that fast at all but the landscape speeds by.
Then of course is the Maglev trains that everyone can’t wait to see roll out in some time in the next five years, as it is currently not quite expected to meet the 2027 opening date. (Though can you really ‘roll out’ a Maglev train?) 🙂 
Sleek! The first track is 296km from Tokyo to Nagoya and had a budget of 7 TRILION YEN. The extension through to Osaka is scheduled for 2037..
The museum also had plenty of interactive exhibits where you could buy tickets and use them in train station ticket machines, you could switch tracks, lift and lower cars and stuff and heaps of interactive fun stuff for kids to get amongst.
This was one of the kids play spaces upstairs above the Great Hall – all shoes off an it was hard to get a shot with no one’s kids in it. They were running around like squirrels all hyped up on catnip.
The Nabano no Sato illuminated gardens are a ‘must visit’ when in Nagano so I figured we needed to go visit. Given it was all happening after hours, it wasn’t too hard to set aside the evening to go out and see them. The gardens are actually attached to an enormous plant nursery and they have been lighting up paths and expanding on the attraction for years. At 2500JPY per person for the entrance fee, it’s not so cheap to just wander around and look at the lights, but it weirdly includes 1000JPY per person in vouchers that you can spend inside the park… 
Having read up on the place before coming out here, we arrived just before sunset and had a bite to eat- from what I’ve read and now from what I’ve seen, if you go wander through the park first if you want something to eat a bit later, you’ll be lining up for ages to get seated in any of the park’s restaurants. The place was BUSY – and the 5400 space car park was no where near full.
Mr K ordered a park katsu curry that was served in a huge cube of bread with a miso curry and egg. The curry was really tasty… miso curry is a popular thing in the Nagano region.
I also ordered some saké – because well, every time I look at a menu and there are no diet soft drink options, I think ‘I’ve gonna have the sugar, I may as well have the alcohol!’. This is the FIRST time ever that I have been served hot saké in Japan. Honestly, all the brewery and saké shops, and restaurants we have been to – the saké is, by default, chilled. With this one exception. 
Which got me wondering why… 
I actually asked for some ice to cool it down and see what it tasted like, as while it was hot all I could pick out was the heavy tone of ‘this is alcohol’… and yeah, it was not sweet, not dry, not citrusy, not floral, it was just kinda bland. So I can see why they heated it up. 
Through the large park is an enormous stream of hot onsen water lined with beautiful Japanese maple trees. There was a public onsen for bathing if that took your fancy, as well as further in a very popular onsen foot bath which had crowds of people using it. The stream made for some glorious opportunities for reflection photographs. But it was very hard to capture the beauty of the scene… 
Though I repeatedly tried to! So many photos of the same subject. 🙂 
There was also an enormous lake which led up to what looked like a Christian church – an yes, you can have weddings out here, or just come out and having wedding photos taken in the park. It’s popular all year round for the autumn leaves and also for the cherry blossoms and massive begonia fields. 
Attempt 53 at trying to captures the reflections of the autumn leaves in the lake…
It was actually really pretty which got me wondering why the hell do people like twinkle/fairy lights so much? What bower-bird like instinct is driving this?
So we’re not all just a bunch of nutters flocking to a Nagoya plant nursery for no reason – we’re psychologically drawn to them. 😉 #sciencebitches 
Ahhhh… a tunnel of love hearts.
In front of which you can get a professional photograph with your sweetie. 
Another tunnel – this time made to look like draping wisteria.
But the most adorable was for last – the long flower tunnel leading back around to the lake… there were two little boys running around with us in tiny little Santa suits. Their Mum chasing them with a large camera trying to get a Christmas photo of her little darlings. They were so excited and happy and much to excited to sit together for more than a fraction of a second for poor Mum to take their photo. They were so cute! 
Obligatory selfie…
Traditional feudal map of the Nagoya area… could not ascertain from the description when it was created or by whom.
Ooh, pretty garden visible from one of the internal passage ways between exhibition halls.
Multiple beds of irises that must look amazing in the spring.
Children crossing warning signs here are slightly more fun than at home: “Be careful; jumping out!!” 
I thought this would be the highlight of the autumn colours today.
One of the things I have noticed here on Japan’s roadways is the total lack of ‘lookout’ points. In Australia there are spaces on highways and roads to pull over and see nice scenery all over the place – they are quite often marked on maps as scenic or photo-worthy stops. Here, there is rarely anything like that, even though the scenery is quite often spectacular.
The autumn colours were simply stunning against the deep blue/green of this lake/river.
*if we ignore the fact that I’m standing on the side of a highway and cars are flying past us at breakneck speed. 
