Kagurazaka II

The Japanese don't waste space, at least not in Tokyo. Near the sweets shop in Kagurazaka was a modern building with an upscale restaurant on each floor. French and Japanese cuisines were represented.

Kagurazaka I

I traveled to a small neighborhood outside the Kagurazaka subway stop on the Tozai line. This was the picture perfect European neighborhood in the middle of Tokyo. Far from the hustle of Roppongi and Otemachi, the street was filled with tiny shops for browsing.

To the left is a photo of the street with a group of people walking. I saw a few Europeans walking with their children. The way they stopped and chatted gave me the feeling they were locals to the area.

I stopped for a small snack in a sweets shop. Inside, fancy deserts were served akin to a French restaurant, except everything was green tea-focused: dark green tea served to begin, green tea jelly, and sweet green tea topping over ice. I don't know the name, but I have read about these places. They are traditional gathering places for women. Many were dressed in traditional clothers; one even wore white gloves to serve herself. The number of men was few. Still, the maitre'd was welcoming and spoke some English.

London Pottery

When I was a little boy in London (I think), my parents enrolled me in a pottery class. I remember the wheel and clear as yesterday. Too fast and the clay would grow to thin and collapse. Too dry and the clay would tear.

One of the attractions in the town was do-it-yourself pottery. I took a taxi to the location; nothing was walkable here -- a first for Japan. Upon entering, it was clear the strong command of Japanese was required to complete the application, as spoken English was limited. An address to mail the completed pieces was required.

Regardless, once the demonstration began, language was irrelevant. The guy had the Hollywood stereotypical Japanese sensei-feel. He had long hair, spoke with a flawless voice, and wore a bandana. His control of the wheel and clay was incredible. Ten minutes of watching him, I was ready to move back to SoHo and go pro as a potter.

On the wheel things were a little different. It took a few tries for the memories to come back. I created two pieces. Keeping the clay wet and spinning the wheel slower than the teacher was the key. I will photograph when they arrive.

Personal Onsen

Inside each hotel room was a personal onsen spa with natural spring water pumped. The spa opened directly out to the balcony. The day was chilly so the combination of the piping hot spring water with the cool breeze was perfect.

Behind me is a small Japanese style shower where I could rinse myself before entering the spa.

At night, the hotel provide a block of time for each room to visit the master spa. Surrounded by bamboo walls, it was enormous and had a watering statue. The steps and floors were elaborately tiled with stone. (Sorry, I forgot to take a picture! Next time...)

Onsen Dinner II

Of all the courses that arrived, this was the most beautiful. Small rice dumplings arrived in separately in bowls soaked in a broth (a.k.a., special sauce). The exterior was painted with food coloring.

The shell was a chewy rice paste and the interior a mixture of meats and vegetables. Surprisingly, this was eaten with a spoon.

Just behind the bowls is the menu written Chinese style (vertically). Each vertical entry represents a single course. You can imagine how long this meal lasted.

Onsen Dinner I

Before I touched anything at the onsen dinner, I captured this photograph. In the front are two bowls for nabe, a soup cooked for each personally with miso base and various vegetables and seafood to add. A small heater -- equivalent to sterno in the United States -- boils the broth. Items are added from the small plates to the left and right to cook.

Farther back, the course begins with a small sample of sashimi -- raw fish. The courses came endlessly until I was ready to explode. Each was but a taste of food. The staff did their best to explain each dish. Fortunately, it didn't matter as everything was oishi (delicious).

Each hotel room was given their own small dining room in the main hall. This onsen hotel was very small, only five rooms.

Piece of Easter Island

At the top of the mountain, a huge crater about two hundred feet deep had been carved from the center. At the very bottom was an archery installation with people shooting arrows with bows. A walkway around the edge of the center lead me to the peak -- a small sign on the very windy side.

Unlike a tourist attraction in the United States, there were no guards, extensive list rules, or safety precautions taken. The path alongside the mountain was quite close to the edge. On this windy day, more than once I had to catch myself.

Just around the corner to return to the start, I found a group of stone-carved buddha statues. The stone appeared to be volcanic rock as it was porous and had distinctive moss growing. This had a bit of Easter Island feeling. As normal, within the hands of each buddha statue were small piles of coins. It is customary to leave a small gift -- a few coins or a piece of fruit as an offering.

Each statue had a pink ribbon tied around its neck. This is the first I have seen.

Expired Volcano

As part of my trip to onsen, I stopped at an expired volcano to ride a ski lift to the top. The way up was easy because the baskets were close to the ground. Oddly, on the way down, the chairs felt twice as high. This must be an illusion riding up and down the mountain (yama). It was a beautiful day with excellent visibility for several miles. Further, clouds faded the background for some nice views of distant villages.

The expired volcano had very little exposed stone and was nearly covered in lawn-length grass. Are the Japanese crazy enough to run a lawn mower over this tourist attraction? The thought crossed my mind more than once on the fifteen minute journey to the top.