Hakone

​Hakone was suggested to me, and I’m so glad that we came to this little mountain area. It is starkly different from Kyoto as it is really a collection of small mountain towns near a lake. It would sort of be like saying you were visiting Blue Ridge, Georgia. While there is a lot to see and do, it is over a large, expansive area. So, we bought the Hakone Pass which allowed us to take a wide variety of transportation to see the beauty around here! We traveled by train, bus, cable-car, rope-way(gondola), and even a boat! With the expansive scenery, all of these are both a means of getting from one to another as well as a sight-seeing journey. High season is around here is the fall and spring with maples and cherry trees, but right now, we got to enjoy a plethora of stunning and unique hydrangeas. The adorable train did something rather remarkable. It traveled down over 400 meters in about 40 minutes, and some of this drop was made possible with switchbacks. I’d never seen that on a train, but we would pull in somewhere, then reverse and go down a different track! 

We enjoyed a chilly cruise across the lake one evening, taking in the surrounding countryside. We also walked to the beautiful torii gates that are in the water, symbolizing peace. 

The ropeway up the mountain is always a fun way to travel! It took us to the small stop of Owakudani. Here, the land is starkly different from the lush green landscape surrounding it. Instead, it looks like a desert, with plumes of smoke rising in various locations and the strong smell of sulphur fills the air as it is part of a volcanic valley. Over 1,000 years ago, a statue was built in this place to prolong one’s life. Now, eggs are boiled in the hot spring pond which turns the shells black. Because the number seven is lucky here, and the statue was built to prolong life, it is now said that if you eat a black egg, you will prolong your life by seven years! I hate boiled eggs. The only kind of eggs I really enjoy are scrambled. But, when there is a chance to participate in local tradition AND expand my lifespan, well, I couldn’t let this pass me by. It was not horrible, however, smelling rotten egg smell while eating an egg did not make it more pleasant. 

We continued our journey to the Hakone Outdoor Museum. It was so much fun! I am not one who appreciates modern art as much as one should, but, I absolutely loved this unique museum! It was a huge, expansive garden area with modern art sprinkled amongst the garden paths. I loved the koi pond with floating art, the sunny-side eggs, the giant tower with thousands of pieces of colored glass, and the concrete wall maze in the shape of a star. 

With a little time on our hands, we decided to stop by the Hakone Craft House. It was also such a unique place! In the middle of this large beautifully landscaped park, there are different buildings that offer different classes in all sorts of different crafts from glass bead making to pottery to blown glass. We didn’t book ahead, but instead showed up and asked what was available. So, we took an hour long class on kiriko glass cutting! We were both a little out of our comfort zone, but we had so much fun! Our instructor was great, and for about an hour we learned the art, practiced and then etched the glass of our own sake glasses! 

We enjoyed the Mishima Skywalk even though this beautiful vista was covered in clouds so we didn’t get to see the stunning Mt. Fuji. The large suspension bridge is 400 meters long and does provide stunning views of the valley below. We also ate the special blue ice cream that you can only get here. It’s crafted of rich local dairy milk and butterfly pea. (Yes, pea, not pee.) 

Speaking of food, while Hakone may not have been our best food stop, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention some of the delicious foods we ate: tiny hamburgers on a stick, black sesame dangos, a chicken teriyaki hot dog and hydrangea ice cream. 

One of the other big attractions of this area is the natural hot springs. We decided we should take advantage of the one in our hotel. But first, let me explain how onsens (Japanese hot springs) work. You’re naked. Completely, 100% no clothes. It was certainly intimidating at first, and we were a little nervous, but we read as much as we could ahead of time and decided, “When in Rome!” The rooms are divided into one for men and one for women, which I greatly appreciated. Our room provided us with robes, so we walked through the hotel in our large robes that certainly covered us. Then, in the women’s locker room, we left it all behind. Yep, you walk around the locker room in your birthday suit, then go into the hot springs room. Before getting into the pools, you go to a small, somewhat private shower stalls where you sit and wash completely with the soap provided. Then, you’re welcomed into the pools. There was one inside and one outside and even a sauna. The water was so hot! I found myself going to rinse in the cold water in the shower stalls a couple of times and then returning to the hot water. No matter what, I was blown away by the quiet respect and acceptance of all of the women! (No photos of this for obvious reasons! 🤣)

Our first evening in Hakone, we noticed a weird vibe. It almost seemed like a ghost town. Sure, we encountered people, but very few despite the long zig zag rope lines at attractions. In many of the small towns, some buildings seemed a bit dilapidated, and it was very hard to find a restaurant that was open for dinner. Our hotel is lovely, but we seem to be bringing the average age down a fair amount, and perhaps our hotel (Yumoto Fujiya) had its glory days when the patrons were young. Don’t get me wrong, we’ve had great service and the staff are exceptionally friendly. It has fancy little touches everywhere, and yet, when you look closer, it’s like it hasn’t been updated in a while. I say all of this, because it, too, kind of adds to the “ghost town” vibe. We did learn a few things that helped to explain this. High season is when nature is showing off: cherry blossom season and maple leaf season. Also, many people come here as a day trip from Tokyo which is why most places (food and shops) close by 5. Now, would I still recommend this place? Absolutely! Just know this coming in, and know that you don’t need a long time to see most of what there is to see. Hakone was a lovely place to visit, and a great way to get off the beaten path a bit! 

Kyoto

Kyoto was our first stop independently in Japan. While there were things we wanted to see, the list wasn’t too long, so we took this opportunity to enjoy many tours and classes.

Our first full day, we toured around with “grandma,” learning a lot and seeing the big attractions. After that we went on a food tour with Nay. Food tours are truly one of my favorite things to do. When visiting a new place, it’s the first thing I look for. We’ve got a handful of them booked this summer! Food tours usually involve a small group of travelers (who are almost always incredibly fun people), a local guide, and a bit of a progressive meal around town with the history and significance of the food we are eating. It’s a great way to learn more about the food and traditions in a new area. 

Nay took us to four different places. In the first two, we took off our shoes and sat on the floor. While this is very traditional here, it is not something we had done yet. The first restaurant was all tempura, so we ate fried shrimp, a fried white fish (cod?), and fried pumpkin. While all tastily fried in a light batter, the pumpkin was by far my favorite.

Our next stop was an overload of food and flavor. There were five different pickled vegetables: cucumber, radish, cabbage, a root vegetable and bamboo. I did not love the bamboo, but I was thrilled to try it! We also had four different hand rolled rice balls with unique toppings, a corn fritter (wasn’t expecting that out of the south!), and some sort of a soup.

Stop number three was a very traditional food for this area: takoyaki. These are small balls of fried dough with octopus inside. The real flavor comes from the variety of sauces put on top. While at this stop we learned a bit more about geishas. Geishas are young women who have trained to share a talent with the upper class. They lead a very traditional lifestyle as far as food and clothing, and they are almost more like nuns as their lives are very private, reserved, and they do not date. Because of this, it is not too uncommon that they fall in love with one of the men they are performing for and marry out of the life of a geisha. As geishas are supposed to eat only very traditional food, it is in things like takoyakis that they can find small loopholes. Sure, they’ll eat the fried octopus ball, but why not top it with mozzarella and marinara so the ladies can experience pizza? The takoyakis were good, and honestly only took on the flavor of the topping.

Our last stop was at a dessert stand for fish! Don’t worry, there was no actual fish in our dessert, but rather a waffle like texture in the shape of a fish to symbolize good luck and fortune. On the inside of the fish was a vanilla custard! It was hot and delicious!

The next day, we filled our day with classes. We started by making our own chopsticks! Shaving small wooden pieces down, rounding and sanding them with sandpaper, and choosing our personal engraving made them unique and personalized. 

For lunch, we went to a ramen making class where we made our noodles from scratch, flavored the chicken in teriyaki sauce, made our own flavor of soup, cooked the noodles and then enjoyed our creation. I ate every bite! Will I go to that much trouble at home? Probably not, but I got some tips for sure, and I’ll happily share the recipes for anyone who is interested!

Our last class of the day was a pottery class. “Kintsugi” translates to golden joinery. It’s an old practice of taking something old and broken and making it beautiful. Quite wabi-sabi wouldn’t you say? Now, I had a wonderful time with our Indonesian instructor who told us all about her time in university here and her hope to get her masters at a school next to The Hague working on international law. But I must admit that breaking a plate, filing it down, super-gluing it back and then adding gold felt a little odd. No matter what, we had fun and created a fun keepsake! (And don’t worry, it wasn’t expensive! 😉)

We followed another Instagram suggestion and enjoyed a dinner of gyoza (Japanese dumplings) and a bowl of rice and roasted pork at Kyoto Gyoza.

Another Instagram post took us to Thisis Shizen, a fancy ice cream place well off the beaten path. Intricate flowers were made of bean paste to create gorgeous designs then piled on top of vanilla ice cream in a chocolate waffle cone. I had the seasonal one of hydrangea blossoms of three flavors: plain bean paste, strawberry, and sweet potato with the leaves made of matcha. I’d go back for the friendly service and zen feel of the shop as much as for the ice cream! 

Another night, we went to a popular ramen spot, Menya Inoichi, that had the crowds down to an art. We showed up when it opened, got a “golden ticket” with a time to return. Then, when we returned, we stood in a line up against the wall surrounding the twelve or so spots for eating. We ordered before sitting down, then when we finally sat, our food was ready for us! The seared pork and roasted tofu was a delicious start to the meal, and I drained just about every drop of the giant ramen bowl. The beef was seared with a blow torch and as thin as bacon. While the fish flakes were so thin that the air conditioning made them look like they were still moving, and their fragrance was a bit overwhelming, but when mixed in, it seemed to just add to the flavor. The restaurant’s motto (when auto-translated) says, “Happiness that remains gently after you finish eating.” I love this, but my waist band was still a little tight hours later… 

One day, we took Samantha’s advise and visited a temple a little bit out of town: Otagi Nembetsu-Ji Temple and the nearby Adashino Temple as well. As both were off the beaten path, they were not very busy, and much quieter. The first one was built into the side of a large hill and as such had had to be rebuilt many times. But what I loved most was the 1200 unique faces! In the 1980s, a well-known Buddhist monk and professional carver called upon amateurs and professional carvers across the country. They each, with guidance from the monk, carved their own rakan, or disciple of Buddha. The priest gave them free range over their carving. As such, the faces are all perfectly unique! Some are deep in thought or prayer, others are laughing enthusiastically. Many were holding something, probably giving us insight into what was important to the carver. 

The nearby temple, Adashino Nembetsu-Ji was a ten minute walk down hill. I’m not sure I completely understand its history, but it seems that it started in the 800s. It started as a place to bury the dead, but over the years, the stones became scattered over the hillside. In the early twentieth century, they decided to gather all of the Buddhist statues that were scattered throughout the deep woods and bring them all to this one place. Now, over 8,000 statues and grave stones are all gathered together here. There was also a small bamboo grove we got to wander through without the big crowd.

Countless hours were spent wandering the expansive market that takes up multiple city blocks. We tasted some things, but mostly marveled at all the things we could buy (and of course some that we did!). The most entertaining spot was the vintage and used clothes store that was incredibly well organized, and had so many unique finds!

On our last night in the city, we decided to go back to the Fushimi Inari Taisha as we had seen that it was open twenty four hours a day and that evening was a great time to view it without the crowds. We loved wandering through the hundreds of torii gates that were lit up with only a handful of people. It was well worth it!

During our time in the city, we got around with our feet, but also mastered buses, trains, subways and taxis! Apple Maps and Google Maps makes it all incredibly easy! We stayed at a modern, simple hotel in the heart of the city: Kabin Taka (that I would recommend).

Did we see everything in Kyoto? Far from it! But did we make the most of our time? Absolutely! One should always leave things left to explore… for next time! 😉 This former capital city was full of energy, rich in culture, and strikingly beautiful. I’m very glad we chose to put this on our itinerary!

Our Japanese Grandmothers

​Once again, Instagram got us started in the right direction. I had seen something about the possibility of renting a grandfather for the day in Japan to help show you around and teach you about Japanese culture. I absolutely loved the idea, but when trying to Google this possibility, I must admit that I was not able to find what I wanted, and Googling “rent a grandfather” honestly took me down some weird turns. Thankfully, a parent of a former student had told me a bit about her trip to Japan and had talked about renting a grandmother in Kyoto. When I told her I was struggling to find this opportunity, she sent me the WhatsApp number of the woman who had been their grandmother for the day. I got in touch with Akemi, and the magic happened from there!

Before arriving in Kyoto, she sent me a message and said that someone else in her travel company was starting a new tour and was hoping to try it out on some people. If we have the time and were interested, they would offer this experience to us without charge as long as we were willing to write reviews later. We are not one who often say no to such generosity, so we jumped at it!

Akiko picked us up at our hotel the evening after our bullet train ride into Kyoto. She could not have been more precious, and I’m so frustrated at myself for not taking a photo with her! She walked us to a small studio for some craft time.

She told us about the art of Japanese paper making, showing us how strong the traditional paper is. Apparently, in pre-electronic days, if a fire was coming, accountants would throw their paper books into the water to protect the information as the ink had set into the paper and the paper was strong enough that it would not rip. This strong paper is now used to make Japanese lanterns. We chose a shade of paper, carefully cut it to fit on the plastic protective sheet, and then set to work decorating it. We used other colors of paper and stencils to create the perfect pattens we wanted. Then, we chose a small electronic light to put inside it. When we get home, we will fold up the now flattened lantern, and joyfully think of our adorable teacher, Akiko, when it lights up our homes!

Sunday morning, our tour started with Akemi at 9, but she said she’d meet us in the lobby at 8:40, so I wasn’t at all surprised when I got a text at 8:20 that said she was downstairs. She was exactly what you would picture of a grandmother and former elementary school teacher. She had lived in Iowa City for a year where her second daughter was born, and now has three small grandchildren, but she had been an elementary school teacher and an English teacher. While she didn’t give us peppermints or Werther’s from her purse, she did give us some delicious lemon candies! When we were on trains or in taxis, she would pull out her small binder with facts and photographs to teach us something new about what we were going to see. I learned SO much from her, particularly about the religion here.

Let’s start here with some numbers. 1600 is the number of temples in Kyoto. 300 are the number of major shrines here. While 1.4 million people call this place home, 54 million visit it annually. (There’s no wonder we’ve heard lots of different languages!) For 1,000 years, Kyoto was the capital city of Japan. It only moved to Tokyo 150 years ago. The Japanese population is decreasing, from 130 million to 122 million in just a few years. (Grandma, mother of two daughters, said, “It’s because we don’t have good men here.”) Oh, and there is one vending machine for every 23 people in Japan. (They are everywhere!)

We went to lots of temples with Akemi, and they were all beautiful. The Golden Temple or Kinkaku-Ju was first with its stunning gardens followed closely in beauty was the Tenryu-ji Temple. The Fushimi Inari Taisha Shrine with the thousand torii gates was magical, even with the crowds! Kiyomizu-dera Temple has great views of the city. But it wasn’t just checking off all of these must see places that I loved. I loved learning from her about the religion and the significance of these places. 

Shinto is the indigenous religion in Japan. While there is no primary god, it is made up of over 8,000 deities that especially represent nature and our connection to it. About 1500 years ago, Buddhism was brought to this country. Most Japanese people (Grandma said 80%) believe in both Buddhism and Shinto which is why many shrines and temples are in the same places. There are thirteen schools of Buddhism, but none believe in a god, rather the reaching of enlightenment. Some focus on the absence of judging (I realized how much of this I do without even knowing!) while some focus more on simplicity. This is why the beautiful gardens that surround the temples and shrines, while stunning, are instead more natural areas rather than manicured lawns with symmetrical rows. In fact, we learned a new Japanese term we love: wabi-sabi. It means beautiful, but in a way that accepts the imperfections and appreciates the uniqueness. So, the ponds in the gardens are not rectangular, the pathways are not straight, and the plants are not symmetrical. Japanese gardens also are often blended in with the mountains so that they look like they are larger than they are. In fact, Kyoto has no high rises allowed, not because of earthquakes, but so that the mountains are always in view.

In Buddhist Temples, even when you do not enter, you can see the Buddha inside. So, you bow respectfully and make your wish or prayer. For Shinto Shrines, the deities are flying around close by. So, the doors to their temples are closed tight. You must clap loudly, twice, to get their attention before making your request. At the shrines, we usually found guardians at the gate. For the Inari Shrines, it is dedicated to the god of agriculture, of which rice is obviously a focus. Who eats rice? Mice. Who eats mice? Foxes. This is why foxes guard the many torii gates there. Other torii gates have pairs of samurai guards. When in pairs, one of these statues has an open mouth and another has a closed mouth. This represents the sounds made by the first and last letters in the Japanese alphabet, so they represent the beginning and the end.

Akemi also took us to a beautiful bamboo forest. Even though my Dad is working to create his own, I loved seeing this one and marveling at it. The bamboo is huge; not only taller but at least twice as wide as what I’m accustomed to! Akemi said that they eat the fresh bamboo shoots in the spring. Also, did you know bamboo blooms? But only once every 100 years. Then, when it does bloom, the next year, that root system dies and a new one begins!

Grandma suggested we stop for some cherry blossom ice cream, and well, you should always listen to your grandmother! It was a unique and delightful flavor! She also treated us to a fox face rice flour cake, walked us through the “kimono forest”, helped us navigate trains and taxis, and gave us wonderful suggestions on how to spend the rest of our time in Kyoto! 

Now, when I reviewed Akemi on TripAdvisor, it said nothing about “renting a grandmother,” nor do I know a way to guarantee that your guide is of the older, more experienced generation rather than someone else from the company. However, I now have the phone numbers of two absolutely lovely grandmothers in Kyoto, so if you are headed this way, let me know, and I’ll put you in touch with them! I would never turn down an opportunity to get to learn from someone older and wiser than myself. I’m so thankful we met Akemi and Akiko, and I’m so thankful I now have some adopted grandmothers in Japan!