Green Hotel Aizu Aizuwakamatsu

... in our kimonos... though probably prettier than without! Tuesday 29th April Alison: On Tuesday we got up fairly early in order to have an outside spa before breakfast and then head off to Paul's place near Iberaki. I have to admit my old bones found the sleeping on the futons with rice pillows very uncomfortable, but the kids and Michael slept like babies so that was lucky. I certainly enjoyed the early morning spa though ...

... is a town with an interesting history from the shogun days ... much political intrigue. There's a castle, and it's famous for a group of 19-year old samurai, dubbed the "White Tigers," who committed seppuku (ritual suicide) during the Boshin Civil War in 1874. Unfortunately, like most castles in Japan, this one was destroyed a long time ago and is currently a 1965 unimaginative ...

Now we decided to head 3 hours east to visit the apline snow monkies of the japanaese alps. Probably not the most constructive use of our time but when I heard that the young monkies dive bomb their parents in a natural hot spring I was sold. We got there and it was so true, the monkies are helarious and complete unafraid of humans, they don't really care that you are there. You should ...

... built in the 1800's it is set up on a hil at the end of a winding driveway off of the main road in Nikko. It is right above the famous Sacred Bridge of Nikko, which is an important cultural area of Japan. We asked for the least expensive room which was a twin with a shower but no bath. The place could use a coat of pain, especially in the rooms, but the rooms were HUGE and very cute and clean. I get the impression that we were lucky to ...

... a great bowler. In fact he's pretty bad. But he is sooooo funny. He is a walking rock star, in everything he does. With his hair, and outfits, and he is always having fun. The most outgoing Japanese guy I've ever met... He had Amy spanking his butt for good luck at one point. I hope we spend a lot of time with him! Tatsuya was the big winner of the game. And after bowling we went into the arcade since they give you free tokens to play with for bowling ...

... got her another yet!)so we wanted to get one, the owner offered to drive us to get a new one which was really nice after we got the bag he then took us out for ramen his treat. the food at the hotel was great but even tho they had an english menu the waiter made a mistake on the second night and we had curry and rice two days in a row. we basically spent two days relaxing, we had a walk and saw a shrine, i got to know a japanese dentist in the outside bath (and no there was no gay love).

... that the body language to indicate that something is hot is to touch your earlobe. I brought up the MAJIDE comment again so Mutsuo-san called me an Osakan AHO (fool in Osaka-ben, but has a more offensive meaning in standard Japanese). Mitsu-san said that she was impressed that we were all eating everything that was given, so I talked about our UMEBOSHI experience and also mentioned that we had yet to try NATTO (fermented soy beans). Then they sprung the GAIJIN CHARENJI (gaijin ...

... ebi (shrimp), and for a surpise we ordered the one called STAMINA OKONOMIYAKI (even after eating it, I still have no idea what was in it - Aquarius maybe?) Mike and I were quickly emptying the bottle of Nigorizake between the two of us, when Yamaguchi-san asked us to join the table next to us. It was all of Yamaguchi-san's school/uni mates, a teacher and the school's headmaster. They were quick to hijack our bottle of nigorizake, but who could complain when we hadn't paid for ...

... written examination) to "dance" for 20 minutes during complete silence. Yamaguchi-san was very proud because not only himself, but all 3 of his sons had been selected to perform in the past. Yamaguchi-san's family was incredibly talented. One son studied at MIT, was snowboarding champ in the Aizu region, and started up a company called Earth Elements which designs and produces ceramics that absorb impurities in water. Another son was studying at a med school in Beijing. I ...