Author Archives: borysSNORC

Hakone – Part I

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Driving from Yugawara to Hakone proper today, up some beautiful winding mountain roads. I noticed from my last trip to Japan that when you’re out and about in a car, and you encounter gorgeous scenery, there are rarely places to pull over and enjoy the view. In Australia, lookouts seem to be everywhere there’s even a slight elevation in the road, along with some big board of information to tell you what you are looking at. Here they seem very few and far between.

Looking back towards Tokyo.

The elusive Mt Fuji! Sadly, without any snow on top… apparently it’s the first time in 130 years there has been no snow on Mt Fuji in October. Signs of rapid climate change are all around us. The hovering low cloud is reminiscent of so many iconic Japanese prints and artworks.

These guys pulled up in their car and at first I was like, ‘Hey! Way to block the view!’, but they have a cute little K-car so we forgive them.

When we arrived in Hakone, we did a quick scout out of the Hakone Checkpoint area. The Hakone Checkpoint was originally an inspection facility during the Edo period (1603-1868) and was dedicated to keeping the city of Edo (Tokyo as was) safe. There were up to 50 checkpoints scattering across the country during this era but most were abandoned when the Edo Period ended. From what I’ve read the Hakone Checkpoint is the only one that has been restored. It was rebuilt and renovated in 2007, using the traditional building tools and techniques from the Edo Period. I am planning on coming back this way in a couple of weeks to visit the site – but so not going near it on a public holiday weekend!

The little shopping street leading up the Checkpoint has many craftsman who create the traditional ‘Yosegi Zaiku’ workwork that has its origins in the mountains of Hakone. The craft has hundreds of years of history and is designated as a special Japanese cultural treasure, and utilises naturally different coloured timber laid out in intricate geometrical designs and patterns to make complex and beautiful timber products.

Hakone Karakuri Musuem – showcases the techniques used to make the Yozegi Zaiku masterpieces. There is a small museum which displays how the history of the techniques date back to the Edo period, and it was as much as 1000 years ago that local craftsmen began to gather in Hakone to take advantage of the wide varieties of wood available in the mountains here. Initially, the timbers were used to create furniture, but around 200 years ago a noted craftsman named Jinbei Ishikawa developed a technique of co-mingling different colours and grains of woods to make boards and then cut them into thin slices of timber veneer. These thin boards containing the intricate designs are then glued to various boxes, trays, coasters and what have you, to create these beautiful marquetry pieces.

Planes used to create the thin slices of timber decorations.

The work is so beautiful, and showcases some serious woodworking talent.

After checking out the marquetry and resisting buying anything to carry around for the rest of the trip, we sought out something fishy for lunch. We found a sushi restaurant near the Checkpoint, called Daimasa Honten. It was rated 4.2 on the Googles, which is damn near impossible in Japan. The Japanese are notoriously harsh on rating restaurants, they will never complain about food they are served, but they have very high standards and seem to often feel, ‘things can always be better!’ Which seems to sit with the Japanese ideals of perfectionism quite nicely. Anyway, if you’re in Tokyo and see a restaurant with over 4 stars aggregate reviews on Google, just know that’s damn near impossible – and you should go there, the food will be amazing. This place however, could just be lucky enough to have lots of western tourists visiting who are more free and easy with their praise!

I chose a unagi and tuna rice bowl, that is supposed to look like a dragon.. and while the picture on the menu was sort of dragon like if you squint at it from the right – mind did not! 😀
Nevermind though, it was super fresh and really tasty. So all is good with the world.

Yale ordered a donburi set full of all good things. All up, a delicious meal and for a fairly reasonable price (compared to what we would pay for similar in Australia, though admittedly kinda touristy priced for Japan).

After lunch, we took a drive to get to Kitanozake Saryou, and made a quick detour to a photo point on a small side road near the “Old Tokaidō ROad, Ancient Cedar Avenue”. We managed to get some beautiful views of Lake Ashi towards the famous Hakone Tori Gate, and Mt Fuji in the background. As luck would have it, one of the very touristy and famous pirate ships was coming past and made for some beautiful iconic Japanese photos.

Togendai Station – where the ships come in.

Had to do a quick stop at the konbini for some saké… and I’m always amused at the strangeness available at the local shop. Spam nigiri? Hotdog in a bun complete with ketchup and mustard, and how long has that been sitting in that bag? Yikes!

Yale found this enormous chocolate waffle ice cream monstrosity… don’t let the Yale for scale throw you off, this thing was easily as big as my hand!

While in the area for a few days, we took the opportunity to visit the Hakone Venetian Glass Musuem also known as the Hakone Glass Forest or the Ukai. It is located in Sengokuhara in the Ashigarashimo District and I thought the idea of a Venetian glass museum in Japan was going to be something seriously odd… and well, I always love me a bit of absurdity in the morning.

And all these objects are before you even enter.

This is an Insta-famous archway is made entirely of crystals. It is quite striking when the sun hits it, but today it was quite overcast.

I saw this curly white glass sculpture in the middle of the lake and was immediately reminded of Dale Chihuly’s work… but didn’t think that likely as it was a Venetian glass collection, yes? Only to walk around the corner and find a plaque confirming that yes, it is actually a Chihuly.

The Venetian Art Glass Musuem.

I don’t know what this cascade of glass flowers is called or when it was made – but it was interesting.

Glass perfume bottle in the carriage – Italy, c.1860.

Compote bowl and lid in filigrana a reticello techniques. Italian, undated.

Wine glass in filigrana a reticello. Italy, c. 17thC

Glass ship hot work. 18thC Venice.

Mosaic of Doge Niccolo Marcello. This mosaic has a portrait of Niccolo Marcello, who was Doge (admiral) from 1473 to 1474, in the centre. Marcello Marcello’s portrait was repeatedly painted by Venetian painters such as Gentile Bellini and Titian in the 15th and 16th centuries. This mosaic was probably modeled on a portrait painted in a Venetian workshop.

Bottle in rock crystal with two handles, c.16th.

Cave a parfum. c.1870.

Glass rose water sprinkler, 18-19th C.

Insense burner with painting cicada and chrysanthemums, c.1840.

Bottle enameled with figures parading, c. 1500 AD.

Core-formed glass fragrant oil bottle “arybollos” c.6thC.

Flask in opaque-white glass (lattimo), c. 16thC,

Porcelain perfume bottle decorated with florid motif. C. 1760.

Black figure aryballos fragrant oil bottle, c.6thC.

Glass bottle with decoration, c.1C AD.

Toilet bottle, c.1stC AD.

Double head glass flask, c.1stC AD.

Porlain perfume bottle with enamels, c.1891-1920.

Glass perfume bottle “boy hon Fleur’s de Pommies”, c.1919.

Pair of glass perfume bottles in an enamel case, c.1770. This portable perfume set, which was popular at the court during the reign of King Louis XVI, is an extremely elegant case made of octagonal gold with beveled corners and decorated with a tortoiseshell pattern of scattered gold stars. It contains two glass perfume bottles with gold caps. The small gold funnel in the center is used to pour the blended perfume into the bottle. This piece was made as a special order for a French aristocrat.

Set of four glass perfume bottles with ornament case. Italy 19thC.

Mirror in glass mosaics, c.19thC.

Pommander, c.1630… is this made of glass??? I’m not seeing it.

Lamps in Millefiori glass, c.1910.

The Venetian Glass Rose Garden…

All the roses are made in glass… it’s really quite pretty and unfortunately very Insta-worthy. It took some patience to get some photos without the selfie crowd about!

’Le Tre Grazie’, c.1996 : Three bubbles inside the sphere emit rainbows when exposed to light – a eulogy to purity and feminine grace.

’Compenetrazione Dinamica’, 1998. Livid Seguso, glass, marble stone.

The indoor, Chilhuly ‘Form from Light’ exhibit.

The gardens are really pretty and when the sun did peak out from behind the clouds, the sparkling in the glass forest was truly striking.

Onions and Reeds Installation, Dale Chihuly, c.1941.

Such a striking sculpture, and from the ‘40s – it’s hard to believe it’s as old as it is given the nature of the medium.

We also had a chance to go for a walk at the Hakone Open Air Museum. I am not super fond of modern art, but I think expected things to be a little less out of place than the Venetian glass!

”Sphere Mesh” – Francois Morellet, 1962-63, stainless steel.

“Tree Man” – Taro Okamoto, 1971. FRP and paint.

”Grand Striptease” – Giacomo Manzu, 1967, bronze.

“The Weeper” – Francois-Xavier and Claude Lalanne, 1986, Trani stone. Sadly her pond was empty and she wasn’t weeping today.

”my sky hole 84” – Bukichi Inoue, 1984, stainless steel.

I couldn’t find a description of these – there were four of them, and they seemed like kami to me. I will have to look them up when I find some time.

”Big Hand” – Rainer Kriester (German), 1973, aluminium.

“Girl with Rooster” – Shin Hongo (Japanese), 1962, bronze.

”Grandson of the General” – Seibo Kitamura (Japanese), 1918, bronze.

”Eva” – Francesco Messina (Italian), 1949, bronze.

”Pavillion Sculpture” – Max Bill (Swiss), 1969, white granite.

“Van Gogh Walking Through the Fields” – Ossip Zadkine (Russian/French), 1956, bronze.
As I approached this piece, I saw the worn face and the heavy accoutrement and assumed it was going to be a heavily laden fighter with weaponry, it was only as I got closer I could see it wasn’t guns he was carry, and wasn’t until I saw the plaque that it was like, ‘Oh wow, did I read that wrong.’

”Great Prophet” – Pablo Gargallo (Spanish), 1933, bronze.

There is a world famous Picasso museum here, which is full of paintings, ceramics and even tapestries – most of which is created by Picasso himself, and some of which is inspired by the movement. To be honest, I’m not a huge fan. I can understand and appreciate the intent and important of most modern art; it’s just not that appealing to me, personally. Also – no photos. Sad panda face ensues.

”Fairy Chapel” – Satoru Okamoto and Nsenda Lukumwena, 2005, stainless tell, float glass.

Symphonic Sculpture (below) – Gabriel Loire is an 18-meter-tall tower covered entirely in stained glass made from shards of thick glass broken by hand with a hammer. “The intricate designs and patterns allow the outside light to pass through it in complex refracting motions, creating a beautiful, fantastical world.” Oddly, we have perfect weather for this – bright contrast outside makes photographing stained glass tricky.

It’s pretty spectacular… but no Saint Chapelle!! 😛

”Two Piece Reclining Figure: Points” – Henry Moore (British), 1968-70, bronze.

”Family Group” – Henry Moore (British), 1948-49, bronze.

”Miss Black Power” – Niki de Saint Phalle (French), 1968, polyester resin, paint.

“Close III” – Anthony Gormley (British), 1993, iron. I LOVE this piece! It’s so simple and yet speaks to me. The artist’s statement, not so much, but the figure itself. 🙂 ‘The artist recreated his body in iron. The rotatation and orbital revolution of the Earth produces centrifugal force and gravity binding it to the ground.’ Sure… but to me it speaks of years of exhaustion and chronic fatigue and pain.

”The Boxing Ones” – Barry Flanagan.

“Two Eggs” – ??? I have a note here somewhere…

”A Grand Story” – Giuliano Vango (Italian), 2004, Carrara marble.

“Intersecting Space Construction” – Ryoji Goto (Japanese), 1978. FRP, iron and paint – inspired by wire mesh and in praise of human connections.

“Sturm (Storm)” – Matschinksy Denninghoff (German), 1980, stainless steel.

”Spatial Dynamics No. 22” – Nicholas Schöffer (Hungarian/French), 1954-1980, stainless steel.

”Arborescence” – Jean Dubuffet (French), 1971, epoxy resin and paint.

Hakone is lovely, and slightly odd… I look forward to coming back in a couple of weeks.

Yugawara Onsen – Ashikari Ryokan

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Yugawara is a small onsen town in south-central Japan known for its beautiful hot springs and numerous traditional ryokans. Its easy distance to Tokyo makes it a popular weekend getaway for city dwellers wanting to get away from the fast pace of one of the world’s biggest cities, and it’s not hard to see the appeal.

The area is known for Makuyama Park which has thousands and thousands of plum tress which blossom in the spring, but sadly they wont be on display at the moment in October. We should normally be able to expect a bit of autumn colour, but the 2024 summer has been particularly long and very very hot, so the leaves aren’t really turning on time this year.

Our accom for the night is at Ashikari Ryokan – https://www.ashikari.com/top.html – which I booked for their beautiful family room which has a fabulous open air bath. This ryokan is on booking dot com and can be booked there, if the Japanese website is a struggle – I have gotten use to their websites now, but I know they can be complicated when first faces with them. Like most ryokans, the room booking comes with half board, so we get to have a kaiseki dinner tonight, and Japanese breakfast tomorrow.

The reception set the tone for our stay – and looked very warm and welcoming.

I completely forgot that it was Halloween, and the Japanese love to adopt traditions from other cultures – Christmas is pretty big here, even though hardly any of the population identifies as Christian.

The slippers were hilarious – mine were fine, but Yale is a size 15 wide, and barely fit the balls of his feet into these things! 😀

From watching YouTube videos, I know that the landlady (usually the wife or daughter of the owner of the ryokan) will have been trained in traditional flower arranging and that any flowers seen on display in ryokans in public areas or in rooms will have been very carefully chosen and arranged with Japanese flower arranging traditions in mind… this involves the thoughtful choice of flowers in accordance with the season, flower meanings, aesthetic design, and lighting design – the fall of the shadows from the arrangement is as much a part of the art as the as well as the flower placement themselves.

A bowl of candy was out for trick or treaters I guess… though we are in a quite remote little part of the town, so I don’t imagine there will be many children coming past.

The lobby had a number of small couch spaces that faced a gorgeous large picture window that overlooks a well cultivated Japanese garden. It’s a beautiful serene space and I imagine if you just arrived here from the JR station from Tokyo, just the sight of the calm garden would immediately start to lower the blood pressure.

Tea and coffee and refreshments are available for guests in the lobby at any time through our stay.

After we checked in, we were led down a stone stairway into the garden. Our room was in a separate villa to the main building, and we were surrounded by greenery.

Hatsuse Room… I think it was called. It was immediately noticeable that this is not a mobility friendly room option, but with my new knee, I’ve been practicing going up and down the stairs – so hopefully it will be okay. Geta to wear around the garden or for on our way back up to the restaurant etc.

WOW! Such a beautiful relaxing space full of timber and traditional Japanese design elements. I could feel myself relaxing as soon as we walked into this room. I love it!

The beds were on a wooden floor area, but we also had a traditional tatami mat space with a ‘chabudai’ (low Japanese table). Super cute! So gorgeous! Squeeee…! I’m so excited to be here.

A little ‘yokan’ welcome snack (red bean jelly candy).

The room was well equiped with tea and coffee makings, glasses for beer, saké, wine, whatever you might have brought with you – it’s quite common for people to bring their favourite things with them when they come to stay at ryokan. A stop at the konbini is pretty much expected.

Selection of teas, a range of coffees, a fridge full of complimentary beer, juices, and spring water.

We were also provided with yukata (lightweight kimono style robes), samue (light Japanese pyjamas), and hanten (overcoats), to wear to and from the public onsens and to the restaurant, or for lounging around the room. Plus slippers, obi belts, tabi socks and a basket for taking your things to the onsen.

The bathroom and showering space is very well appointed and super modern. Everything you could possibly need. They provide so many amenities in the ryokan, it makes me wonder if Japanese travellers don’t travel with their own toiletries, and rely on using what the hotel will provide.

All the lotions and potions you could possible want – plus some sheet face masks, fluffy bathrobes, soft soft Japanese cotton towels, and a wee bag full of onsen towels.

The hairdryer spotting begins! Japanese travellers seem to have strange obsessions with their hairdryers – I am determined to get to the bottom of it this trip, but if you ever seen a Japan travel video done by a Japanese creator that doesn’t tell you what type of hairdryer is available… I’d be pretty sure theyr’e not Japanese! Hairdryer = super important hotel information!

And the star of any room tour – the private bath on the balcony! Oh, so good!

I have no patience whatsoever, after taking some photos of the room, it’s straight into the shower for me to get clean, so I can have a soak and a little Hakkaisan saké in the onsen. The water here was beautiful and soft… I felt the tension leaving my body within minutes!

Berfore too long it was time for dinner… first things first, choosing a local saké to have with our meal.

Matsu Midori Daiginjo (Nakazawa Sake Bazu Ashigami-gun) – this is a locally produced daiginjo often used also as a ceremonial toast of the Tokyo Summit. It was flavourful and kinda fruity, a little crisp without being dry. Very nice!

Appetisers considered of: Kurokawa Nanjing egg tofu; Marinated mackerel sushi, Maitake and Matsutake mushrooms dressed with chrysanthemum flowers; Mini radish and bonito crust, sweet shrimp marinated in koji; Squid with pine ball shell and grille bonito in warm saikyo sauce.

Sashimi course: Hokkaido scallop, sweet shrimp, mackerel served with various garnishes.

Yonezawa Pork ichiban shabu-shabu, served with burdock, fried tofu, chrysanthemum, ponzu sauce and yuzu pepper.

Spanish mackerel Naruto roll; Clam wrap grilled served with vinegared mayoga.

Tsumari soba with nori seaweed, grilled eel and condiments.

Five coloured tempura Sagami beef, served with Matsutake mushroom, asparagus, potato and yellow soy sauce.

Soup: Lobster, moon viewing rice balls, lotus root, grilled scallops, winter melon, and yuzu.

Rice, red miso soup wit eggplant and ostrich (?), served with assorted pickles.

Dessert: Melon mochi, match jelly cake, and fresh grapes.

What an amazing meal! Gochisousama deshita! Compliments to the Head Chef, Yasuo Suzuki.

Decided to talk a short walk around the ryokan after dinner to let our lovely meal settle before heading back to the room. So I had a look at the public onsens available here. This ryokan is not particularly tattoo friendly – when I enquired, they said to please cover or to try and use the baths very early or very late and not when busy. That is basically, I know and they know that tattooed people can make other guests uncomfortable, so please be mindful and try to bathe when no one else is in the space. It’s always advisable to ask, especially in the women’s onsen where you will often find yourself bathing with small children as well.

There were large, clean and well laid out locker spaces, dressing tables and showering areas.

I love the lighting design in this ryokan, you can tell someone has put an inordinate amount of thought into how the shadows will play in a space.

The baths themselves were not very large – likely because many of the rooms here have a private bath available to them, and the ryokan is small and intimate with only 18 rooms in total.

I popped back in the following morning – the view in this space is even prettier during the daylight.

I was in and out of the onsen at least twice more before turning in for the night! This is my idea of the most relaxing type of holiday stay. Screw beaches.

The following morning the clouds seems to have largely disappeared, and the bath was super inviting.

Sunrise, sunrise. Looks like morning in your eyes!

Breakfast time. After the meticulous service of course after course of a kaiseki dinner the night before, breakfast feels like a casual affair. All dishes will be brought out at the same time and you can pick and choose what you wish to eat first.

Tamago; Yuba melon and orange slices; Tuna sashimi; Chicken dumpling in a light dashi soup; Salmon pickles, yuba and wasabi for the rice.

Miso cod! So buttery and delicious. Served with pickled leek.

What an amazing stay! We managed to make use of the bath at least two more times before it was time to check out. I didn’t want to leave at all… I could have stayed for two or three nights quite happily. 😉

Onward we go…

Hakone Onsen – Kitanokaze Saryou

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Kitanokaze Saryou is an adults only ryokan in Hakone… but ‘adults only’ they mostly mean they don’t particularly cater for young children, but we saw one couple here with an infant, so I don’t think it’s a hard and fast policy or anything. From the outside, the ryokan looks really unassuming.

This is an intimate luxury ryokan with only 10 guest rooms nestled in amongst the Hakone Botanical Gardens. There are no communal onsen baths here, as every guest room has a private bath – so it’s totally tattoo friendly in your room. Even though there are only 10 guest rooms, the public spaces like the reception and the lobby are quite spacious and beautifully appointed.

At first I thought this artwork was a painting, but on closer inspection I discovered it was an embroidery! very impressive.

The lounge in the lobby overlooks a meticulous cultivated Japanese garden. One day I’ll do some research into what the different elements of gardening are here, so I can more fully appreciate the layout of these spaces.

Our room was called Shion on the second floor, called a ‘Sky Terrace Room’ with an open-air bath.

I loved the slipper arrangement – his and hers for in the ryokan and in the room.

We found some welcome treats in the room to greet us – some crispy tomato and cheese bamboo crackers and some sesame mochi, which I found out later was made in house. I’m not one for sweets

This room didn’t have the same traditional Japanese design elements to it – no cypress panels, no paper screens, but it did have a lovely fresh and modern decor, with carpets rather than tatami.

Yukata, samue, and hanten coats were all provided for our use, along with obi belts, tabi socks and bags for your onsen towels (even though there were no public onsens to take your towels to??).

The room was quite large – with a desk space, two armchairs, as well as the bedroom space and a huge balcony.

Tea and coffee, kettle, a selection of teas and different coffees and the fridge had some complimentary beer and cold green tea drinks.

We spent quite a bit of time using these comfy armchairs, and the balcony had heaps of space – it if was warmer, you might have spent time on the day bed outside, but not so much for us.

We were welcomed with a yuzu tea, and some sakura wagashi sweets.

The bathroom was a goodly size and extremely well appointed – again with the more amenities than you can poke a stick at! We were never going to use a fraction of the toiletries and things they provide: razors, shower caps, cotton buds, dental kits, you name it, it’s here.

Bathroom has a large indoor bath that fills with onsen water also – I assume so you can use it if it’s raining or snowing perhaps, and you don’t want to use the open air bath? Looks like a good space to commit a gruesome murder. Needless to say, we didn’t use this space at all.

The huge balcony with outdoor shower and the open-air bath! Complete with peep hole through to the treetops of a thick bamboo forest.

Is it bad that I just want to run over and throw myself in the bath saying, ‘Mine! It’s all mine!’ Seriously, as a chronic pain sufferer, if there is any place in the world I would rather be than a fancy ryokan with a private bath soaking my stupid painful body; I can’t think of it.

A cheeky little Hakutsuru junmai saké acquired from the local Family Mart. 🙂 This was one of our favourite little saké breweries that we visited south of Osaka in 2019… and their little ¥400 reliably drinkable saké is available everywhere.

Dinner time…

Nice start to our meal, a plum wine cocktail – made with Ume plum wine, soda and frozen Nashi pear purée… delcious!

Japanese savoury egg custard soup, with Matustake mushrooms, shrimp, pike conger eels, ginko nut, Mistuba, Sudachi – combined with a dashi broth. Full of umami goodness.

Appetisers from left: Country pate made with Okhotsk port bacon; Cream cheese mousse with smoked kelp and roe; Bonito with flavoured vegetables; Jelly of sea bream; Steam abalone with foie gras pate; Japanese style salmon terrine.

Japanese kelp soup based with thin Izu thickened broth, snow crab, grilled shiitake mushrooms, Kujyo leeks and shredded yuzu.

Sashimi of shrimp, tuna, greenling, whelk, Atka mackerel and Maitake mushrooms and chrysanthemum leaves – served with home made soy sauce and home made grape wine vinegar and hop salt.

Smoked duck with balsamic – served under a bell of smoke… I took a video of the bell coming off, but it can wait until later.

Grilled beef with yuzu miso, served with a red wine and cassis sauce Kadayif. Abalone mushrooms , maple leaf shaped carrots, sweet potato, watercress and yuzu miso. This must have been one of the most delcious things I have ever had in my entire life! The flavours were incredible.

Simmered turnip with chrysanthemum flower paste, steamed and simmered sword fish, Momiji-fu and green beans.

Koji miso sou, Nameko mushrooms, Tofu and Mitsuba.

Kettle cooked rice: Seiten no Hekireki; famous rice provided from Aomori prefecture, a region known for it’s rice purity laws.

Served with pickled vegetables: Wasabi kelp, Enoki mushrooms marinated in Chinese style sauce, Nagaimo marinated with washable and sake lees, Winter melon pickled in tamari soy sauce, Chinese cabbage picketed with salted kelp and bonito flakes.

Homemake Japanese plum (Ume) ice cream; Mont Blanc pudding, Fig cheese tart, Grape Daihuku.

What an amazing dinner! We had a short wander around the ryokan after dinner, but with there being no public bathing areas, the communal spaces are more limited than normal. I do love the gardens here, they are very established and very beautiful – I guess that is one of the benefits of being in the Botanical Gardens.

In the morning, we were delivered a newspaper – neither of us could read it, but it’s the thought that counts, right? 🙂

Up early for blue skies, green bamboo swaying in a light breeze, and more dips in the onsen.

This bath is just about perfect – good size for two people, three if you’re close friends 😉 Has the ability to add cooled spring water if you are finding it too hot, and loads of space. Many private open air baths on balconies are small and in slatted rooms for privacy, but this is luxurious.

We chose a later breakfast time this morning so we could enjoy the room.

And this time we were guided to a different private dining room with a large picture window leading your view out into the gardens over breakfast.

I feel like there should be more moss growing on things around my house… but we live in the wrong climate for that!

Breakfast consisted of many of the usual things – Tamago, grilled salmon, stewed tofu, yuba, salted squid, picked vegetables and rice… and some dreaded Natto (fermented soy beans – yuk!).

Grilled salmon, Tamago, tuna sashimi.

Mystery soup! 🙂

Stewed tofu in an onion and mushroom broth.

I don’t need dessert at breakfast – but thankfully Yale never knocks back extra food.

Had another short wander around the ryokan in the daylight. It’s a beautiful modern complex, I’d stay here again.

Another bath… with some green tea. Afterwards, a quick skip through the gift shop – most ryokans have a small gift shop where you an pick up local delicacies that might have been on your plate, or craftswares that have been made by local artisans, gifts to take back to your co-workers and that sort of thing. We considered picking up a beep set, but sadly, we have no refrigeration.

Small waiting room near the reception – I’m not sure what this room would be used for, perhaps for very special guests who desire privacy when they are checking in. Unsure.

Whenever I try to take photos of the front of the ryokan, one of the staff will inevitably ask if I want my photo taken. I don’t usually want heaps of pictures of me from my travels – I know I was there, that’s enough for me – but it feels rude not to accept the offer!

Transit day again – Japan!

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Off adventuring again. A few days hanging out in Hakon with Yale before Mr K comes over and we get stuck into some work and some serious onsen hopping. Having this trip booked has been MAJOR motivation to stick to the rehab program on my knee and make sure I am ambulant enough for this.

Hmmm Qantas slacking off on the menu again. Lane Lois Blanc de Blanc is the sparkling wine on offer atm, and I made the mistake of noting the step down from the Grant Burge to Yale, who relayed it to his wine-snob friend, Gamer. Gamer who immediately started hanging shit on me for preferring Grant Burge! Yes, I do! To this swill… but only because it isn’t the Vintage Dom Perginon I’ve become accustomed to on Emirates flights this year! Sheeesh. When I asked when we were coming over to raid Gamer’s wine racks, I noticed he backed down pretty quick!

Made it into the Qantas First Class Lounge in Sydney and thankfully, there was some superior French offerings here… a bit of Pommeray and Tattinger. Phew that was close!

I only had some nuts with my wine on the plane, so had some salt and pepper calamari and tried a mushroom dish. Tasty, and they serve you so quickly here, which is nice.

2A.. it’s my favourite in the A330. Closer to the window than the aisle. Yes, even in business class there are ‘better seats’ on the ‘right side of the plane’.

More champagne, yes please.

Pyjamas for the people…

The Japanese set meals on the flights to and from Japan last year were really nice… this one was a little on the ordinary side. I was wondering if maybe it’s because it was prepped in Australia rather than Japan. I guess we will get a chance to compare with the meal on the way home.

Still very pretty presentation though – and there’s saké so we aren’t writing complaint letters just yet!

Arrived safely in Japan! Oh no… it’s stupid early in the morning and we can’t pick up our hire care for hours yet. But, guess who skipped breakfast so we could hunt down some breakfast sushi! This chick. Not my first 0600 arrival in Haneda! 🙂

Oh dear god – how much trouble are we going to get into!

Okay, it’s official. There are ZERO ‘on-airport’ rental cars at Haneda airport. In fact, I’m not sure the companies operating from here understand the concept, because they will tell you they are ‘on-airport’ but you’ll find they mean, ‘yeah, there’s a desk cut you’re going to need to take a shuttle to collect a vehicle’, which will e somewhere in a nearby industrial neighbourhood. Oh well, guess that means we can stop hunting for ‘on-airport’ rentals in future. Hired this cute little Nissan Kicks… nice little car actually.

The drive to Yugawara onsen, which was down the coast past Yokohama… overcast and moody.

First things first though… it’s not a road trip in Japan until your first visit to the konbini, and because it was cool and overcast (compared to Brisbane at least) that means, sweet caramel tea and curry bread! 😀 Curry bread quota: no more than one per week in country. That’s a hard rule!

“Don’t judge crime!”… but why not?

We didn’t have much of a wander around before making our way to our ryokan. We were tired, and both hoping to check in a little early… can’t wait to slip into the onsen with a saké!

The pot is boiling over.

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Being in Germany for the last month, the news that has permeated the zeitgeist (and the language barrier) most readily was Spain prevailing over England in the World Cup. But there has been a LOT going on globally and I’ve been catching up on the past month’s news over the last 24 hours since I got home. Over the last couple of weeks: the UK booted out their conservative government, France also rejected right wing extremism, there was an assignation attempt on Trump, J.D. Vance was announced as Trump’s running mate, Israel’s occupation over Gaza has been declared illegal, Crowdstrike and Microsoft demonstrated some stunning global IT vulnerabilities, Biden withdrew his candidacy, Harris has emerged as the presumptive Democratic nominee and is steaming ahead with a record breaking campaign (in terms of donors and volunteers). I have no idea what’s been happing in Australia, haven’t got that far yet… other than Gina Whatsherfart and Dutton deciding they like nuclear power a couple of weeks ago (?), but I’ll get into that later.

Any way, one thing I saw stood out a LOT, even among all this noise, was these signs at the fascism-fest that was the Republican National Convention…

Yeessss… subtle they are not! They are fucking huge alarm bells going off.

A couple of weeks ago I was at the Jewish Museum in Berlin and was struck by a room that was lined on both walls with displays of the chronology of legislation that was enacted to slowly restricted the freedoms and rights of the Jewish people under the Third Reich. It started in 1933 and it showed how the lives of the Jewish people in Nazi Germany and eventually Nazi occupied Europe, were slowly and steadily having their rights eroded.

One week, it was Jewish lawyers losing the rights to practice law, the next it’s Jewish student teachers being sacked. The following week Jewish people can’t serve in the civil service, then Jewish doctors can’t treat non-Jewish patients, then Jewish tax accountants had their licences revoked, then civil servants can’t be married to Jewish people. And so on and so forth, until the edicts were codifying that Jewish people can only live in certain parts of various cities, that the property of Jewish people will be forfeited to the state, then Jewish people will be deported and they end up in walled and patrolled ghettos, then they get pushed out of the ghettos to concentration camps, and we all know where this tragic history ended up going.

(If you want to know more about how and when these insidious and pervasive laws were rolled out click HERE.)

The Jewish people in Nazi Europe were frogs in a boiling pot – slowly but inevitably having their rights and humanity stripped away from them, and if they (and the global community) had known where it was going from the outset, history might have turned out completely different.

It is not alarmist to say the Trumpian vision of the US is on the same trajectory – only they’re not planning on boiling that frog slowly. Trump and his advisors are stating unequivocally that they plan to forcibly remove ‘illegal immigrants’ from the United States via forced expulsion and deportation camps. DEPORTATION CAMPS. They are promising to remove 20 million ‘illegal immigrants’; this is a number that far exceeds the estimated number of undocumented residents currently living in the United States, many of whom have been born in the US and have never seen the countries they would be theoretically deported to… And if anyone thinks these deportation camps would be run with any administrative rigour or with any humane consideration whatsoever – just remember the family separation policy that was instituted under the last Trump administration. From April 2018 to June 2018, families arriving at the border saw adults prosecuted and held by in federal jails and subsequently deported, and their children were placed under the supervision and control of the US Department of Health and Human Services. This resulted in over 5,500 children being removed from their parents and the short lived ‘children in cages’ media outrage. No one is talking about it anymore, but as at March 2024, this year – just four months ago! – there are still 2000 children that haven’t been able to be reunited with their families.


“MASS DEPORTATIONS NOW!” is not a slogan for a slow and inexorable removal of rights for people who land on the wrong side of Trump’s bigotry… it is a massive red flag heralding the systematic xenophobic persecution of immigrants based on the ultra conservative values outlined in the Project 2025 manifesto. Trump has stirred and stoked the worst type of fear in these people with his asinine assertions that migrants are ruining their lives. Crime is statistically much lower than during his tenure, but he’s at those rallies and on Fox News bleating about ‘migrant crime’ and, ’Biden migrant crime’ and it’s feeding the worst impulses in his followers.

The pot is already boiling. The whole world can see where this is going… I find myself hoping that the average American is more decent than deplorable, but whenever I think about it too long I worry that most of them are largely apathetic.