Toyoko Inn Aizu Wakamatsu Ekimae Aizuwakamatsu

... maze of walls and avenues to Tsuruga castle, which is a steep, reconstructed site of a long seige. Also filled to the brim with school children on a field trip, buying toy katanas and fans--don't they have classes...at all? Didn't actual visit inside the castle, as I'm pretty tired of them and it's not that interesting I think, despite it's historical value. Then another long march of tears for a few kilometers to the Higashiyama district, where there is a restored samurai ...

... You had to wash yourself completely before you got in the actual spa. You could not have any suds on you when you got in. There were separate spas, one for the girls and one for the boys. For brekky we had to have fish, seafood and rice. It was all yuck except for the rice. Mike: One of the things I'd most been looking forward to was the traditional ryokan experience and it certainly didn't let me down. To bathe ''au naturale ...

... reconstruction. The walls and moat are original, and there's a nice garden and tea house. There's a good view from the 5th storey; however, the smog was pretty awful (they do lots of burning in the fields and it was really thick on this particular day), and the town itself had nothing going for it. Most Japanese towns and cities are quite ugly - nondescript concrete ...

... the parents lounging around the onsen (hot spring) just taking it all in and the kids running havoc it is v funny. On the way out I saw two young monkies fighting, I had to take a video of a monkey fight...... but as I got a little bit closer one of the monkies jumped on me and turned the camera off ........ I couldn't stop laughing. And then the snow started ....... we headed for Tokyo

... in a cab. We were lucky enough to get reservations at the Nikko Kanaya Hotel, one of the first Western style hotels built in Japan. The owner built it after his friend- the guy who first translated Japanese into Roman letters- encouraged him to do so. The hotel was walking distance from the train station but we didn't want to waste 20 minutes walking and likely getting lost as well- the cab ride was about $5. The hotel was very charming ...

... were off to the Bowling floor. Like most things, the Japanese do not mess around with Bowling. There were giant flat screens playing music videos and images from the African Serengeti. The shoes are in vending machines and are pristine. I especially liked the ball weights, as the had lighter balls with large finger holes that allow me to chuck the ball harder than I can in the States!! That was enjoyable. The man of the game was Ken... not because he ...

So we get to one of our first relaxing places from the outside bandai-atami doesnt look that nice, probably due to its heyday being 15 years ago! The hotel we stayed at was called Kirakuya Inn not much from the outside but once inside it was really nice, it has 2 public onsens for men and women with many different baths and a sauna, and two private baths on the top floor observing the mountains surounding bandai. It was really nice, Michelle`s bag broke (also her hair drier blew up, we ...

... dessert we had yogurt with fruit, plus the No.1 variety of persimmon - MISHIRAZUKIKU (not crunchy or slimy like the other varieties, but incredibly crisp - someday I'm coming back to Japan just to try it again). We then got on the topic of culture. Mutsuo-san taught us that fool (BAKA) in Aizu-ben (Aizu dialect) is ONZAGES. Surprisingly, Yamaguchi-san doesn't speak Aizu-ben, despite his family being in Aizu for many generations. We then got an etiquette lesson on how we should refill ...

... Mike, and we ended up charging off in the wrong direction. Back to Kitakata. Yamaguchi-san was kind enough to give us a lift in from the YH. Dave and I sat in the back of the car with his 1 year old grandson who was giving his lungs a good going throughout the whole trip. It soon occurred to us that to open our mouths to say something led to an outburst of crying and screaming. Probably seeing gaijin for the first time in his life was too much for him. After thanking Yamaguchi ...

... Yamaguchi-san said, even though the bigger powers defeated the Aizu samurai during the Meiji Restoration, the Aizu heart was still strong. Aizu Wakamatsu holds a festival twice a year (April 24, Sept 24) to commemorate the event where 19 young samurai (16-17 years old), committed ritual suicide on a hill overlooking the city after witnessing that Aizu's castle, Tsuruga-jo was in flames. They were called the BYAKKOTAI. So every festival 19 young boys are selected (via ...