Shinjuku Chuo park

We rented a car in Sapporo and drove about 45 minutes to a ryokan in an onsen town called Jozankei. It was a funny looking car but similar to what everyone is driving here. Jorma always impresses with me his navigation skills while also managing to remember which side of the road to drive on and which way to look before pulling out (most of the time). We stopped in Otaru which had a fish cake factory and a very quaint street with old historical buildings along the canal. It was beautiful in the rain. Jorma loved the fish cakes so much.

We drove on to Jozankei, it is a beautiful mountain town with natural hot springs. The weather was drizzly, cool and cloudy- perfect! First stop was a little cafe that had a foot bath you could use while drinking your warm beverage. It was wonderful! But just a tiny glimpse into the wonderment of the evening we were about to experience.

Jorma warned me that he had booked one of the less expensive ryokans in the area. The inn was wonderful in every way. The front desk woman who checked us in gave us perfect instructions on our stay and we booked our dinner time with her. We had a traditional room with a tatami mat for sleeping. The bedding would be set up while we were dining. We had two pairs of clothes each for onsen, men's were blue and women's were red. There were also two each of a heavier jacket to wear over the clothes (probably not called pajamas?). We both wanted to experience the onsen because they were natural hot spring baths. The men and women are on separate floors and they switch the floors by gender from morning to afternoon. The women were on the second floor in the evening, this was the bigger floor with more baths and the flower bath. I loved the flower bath which was a bath that was surrounded by tiled seats in a circle that made it look like a flower. It was beautiful and comfortable. I was still getting used to being completed naked in the bathing area but was worth it for these gorgeous hot springs baths. There was an open air bath that felt so nice because it was raining outside and the hot bath was so soothing....mmmmmm.

The sun sets here at about 17:05, so early! There was a laser light show installation through a forest and on the bridge over the river. It was amazing and so much fun! I am very glad that it wasn't raining too hard, otherwise they may have canceled the show. So glad we were able to experience that.

Next up, our kaiseki dinner. We were told it was fine to wear the clothes that were provided for us to dinner. I love that concept. It is nice to not worry about your outfit and be dressed like everyone else.

Kaiseki is a traditional multi course Japanese dinner. Our server was wonderful. I don't know what she was saying of course but I loved her energy and her smile. The food presentation was more beautiful with each course she served. There were so many different textures and flavors. Some I loved and some maybe not as much. But always fun to try new things. I felt like the food was fairly healthy which I enjoyed. Mostly vegetables, seaweed and seafood. The main course was beef wrapped around tofu. It would have been better without the beef in my opinion. Jorma was using Google translate to read about each course. At one point he teased me and said 'rabbit yogurt' and I said 'rabbit yogurt?!?' We both cracked up. Guess you had to be there.

Next up we had booked a private hot stone bed bath for both of us. She told us to change into yet another pair of jammies and gave us the instructions for the hot stone bed. Undress, drink some water and lie down on your tummy on the hot stone for 10 minutes. It is always hard for me to lay on my stomach but especially immediately after dinner, ugh. Then onto your back for 10 minutes. After that, rest for 5 minutes, drink some water and repeat- 10 minutes face down, 10 minutes on your back. It was surprisingly relaxing.

There was one more thing we had to check out before heading up to sleep on the floor. Our host had told us about the night lounge that was a free space open until 23:00. They serve snacks, coffee and hot wine. We took a long walk from the area where the baths are, outside in the rain to a separate building. Oh but it was so great. It felt like being in someone's living room. There was cozy furniture, relaxing music, art and books. And also, mulled wine, crackers and roasted sweet potatoes. I was still full from dinner but was excited for the warm wine, it was yummy! There were also foot baths on the deck with blankets to keep you warm. The older gentleman who was hosting the lounge came out and stirred the baths and showed me how to open the tap for more hot water. The water is HOT, you must be careful when adding hot water. So don't scald yourself because it will take away from the absolute magic of this place.

We slept well on the beds they made for us on the floor. We went down to the front desk area for some fresh juices, coffee and tea. I went to the onsen to bathe before breakfast because there NO towels in our room. I must deduct two points for that.

Breakfast was an amazing Japanese breakfast buffet. There were so many items available. So much fish, seaweed, nori, along with continental breakfast items. It was impressive and very good.

Jorma waited to go to the onsen after breakfast and I decided to rest and relax before it was time to pack up and leave.

It was pretty rainy and stormy on our way back to Sapporo. Jorma picked a long route (4-5 hours) back. It was a bit scary at some points with the heavy rain and wind but we found some beautiful spots. We stopped at a rest stop that had a beautiful park with waterfalls and so much foliage. Amazing surprise.

Right outside of Sapporo Jorma stopped at a cemetery that featured a huge buddha on a hill. It is hard to explain the architecture but I will try. The buddha was set into a hill and just the top of his head was sticking up. The hill surrounding him was planted with lavender which of course was not blooming. The statue itself was so impressive though. And it was beautiful in the rain. I saw pictures in the gift shop of the statue in the spring when the lavender was blooming but also in winter in the snow. Wow! I would love to see those seasons too.

We made it back to Sapporo and stayed just one more night there. Next up was the bullet train back to Tokyo.Read more