When I go to Japan, I always want to go to as many places as possible, do many things, and meet as many people as possible, so my schedule gets packed, so this time, I decided to take a trip without cramming.
So instead of going to the friend we were supposed to meet that day, we took a leisurely morning, walked with Ringo-chan with Kyoko and Shigeru, and went shopping for the ingredients Eric would make for lunch.

Eric cooked for Kyoko and Shigeru for lunch using spring seasonal firefly squid. They said it was too beautiful, elegant, and delicious to enjoy eating it.

I followed my friend Kyoko’s advice to take the Shinkansen from Shin-Yokohama instead of going from Tokyo station to Kyoto, and it was right.
The transfer went smoothly, it wasn’t crowded, and Eric was as excited as usual when he saw the Nozomi Shinkansen in Shin-Yokohama.

He was filming a Shinkansen video, and the station conductor shouted at him and warned him to stay farther away, but I am sure Eric didn’t hear it, nor did he not care, so he continued filming.

Shinkansen’s ride was smooth and comfortable.
As I rode, I remembered that riding the Shinkansen to Tokyo was one of my favorite things to do when I was in high school.
At that time, Shinkansen was about 3 hours from Shin-Yokohama to Kyoto, but now it’s faster, about 2 hours or less.

So we arrived in Kyoto before we knew while I was eating Chihiro’s cherry blossom azuki buns as a snack and knitting the spring sweater that I started knitting on the plane.

I decided for us to stay at a hotel in Kyoto. Kyoto is the tourist’s number one destination, so they were fully booked.
Luckily, after searching online, I found Hotel Granvia Kyoto, which is very close to Kyoto Station, so I read up on what kind of hotel it was. It’s directly connected to the Kyoto station building, so even if it rains, we don’t have to go outside with our pieces of luggage, so I decided immediately.

When we arrived at Kyoto station, it was not as crowded as Tokyo Station, but I wanted to make sure where we were going, so I asked the way to the entrance of Hotel Granvia Kyoto.
When we got off the Shinkansen and turned right, I was told there was a hotel entrance.
We found the entrance, and after going up the slightly dark stairs at the entranceway, I noticed we were walking on a glass-covered bridge that seemed to let in a flash of light.

What is this? While saying that, I noticed we were above Kyoto Station.

The right side was the JR trains track area, and the left side was the Hachijjou guchi entrance of the Kyoto station southside. 

It’s an extraordinary view, and it’s meta at first sight that various people are walking and hurrying. We had never seen a train station from above before, so Eric was excited the second time that day and started taking videos.

After crossing this glass bridge, there was a row of lovely shops and an elevator to the lobby.
As I write this, I want to return to Hotel Granvia Kyoto and spend time in its surroundings.
I usually like hotels and Ryokan with gardens and traditional Japanese inns, but I was drawn to this hotel for some reason.
Our room had a view of the station on the Shinkansen side, so when we opened the window, we could hear all the sounds of the station, and when we closed the window, we could hear almost nothing. I was impressed with this windowpane. The beautiful scenery of the mountains on the south side left an impression on me.

While I was resting in our room, Eric explored and discovered a delicious yuba (Tofu skin, Yuba, beancurd skin, beancurd sheet, or beancurd robes is a food product made from soybeans. ) and homemade tofu, Kyoto Vegetables  restaurant Seppourai next to the hotel.

He came to invite me to have dinner there.

We ate to our heart’s content at the delicious yuba and tofu restaurant, walked around a bit, browsed souvenir shops and bakeries, and returned to our room.
Relax in a modern Japanese bath which Eric was excited third time that day to videotape.
Had my homemade bath salt with my garden Calendula and North Fork pine.

And we had a good night in Kyoto for the first time in 8 years.

Love, Sanae

My favorite thing about going to Japan is the hot springs and Shiatsu massage! 

So this time, I made plans to go to Tenzan in Hakone Yumoto, where I went four years ago.

Meet up with a good friend, Chihiro, in Odawara. 

She took us first to Owakudani – one of the most famous viewpoints in Hakone, where you can observe the intense volcanic activity from up close. It is said that this place came to be thanks to a phreatic eruption and pyroclastic flow that occurred almost 3000 years ago. It’s also known to locals as “Jigokudani” (the Valley of Hell) and is famous for its black eggs, which are boiled in the sulfurous waters to give the egg shells a distinctive color. The sulfur smelled so strong I had to wear a mask because I have smell sensitivity.

When we arrived at Owakudani, we could see Mt. Fuji, but it was behind the clouds, so we blew our breath to move the clouds away. 

Did it work? 

Sure, it did.

Four years ago, it was raining, and we could not see Mt. Fuji, so we felt blessed this time.

Mt. Fuji is the symbol of Japan and World Cultural Heritage.

I have memories of my father’s construction company building a road to the 5th Station (Fuji Subaru Line 5th Station), and I feel a sense of familiarity with Mt. Fuji. The Fuji Subaru Line 5th Station is located at an altitude of 2,300 meters and offers a panoramic view of the Fuji Five Lakes. 

It is a popular spot even for those who does not climb the mountain climbing. While my father’s company was constructing the road, I was invited to see the breathtaking Mt. Fuji. I was moved to tears when I went to see the completion of the 5th station road a long time after my father passed away.

I’ve talked about this story with Eric many times, but someday I want him to see the road leading to the Fuji Subaru Line 5th station.

Chihiro drove to Ashino Lake, Shinshou Soba (opened over 50 years ago), for our lunch.

Usually, I don’t eat much soba because it is much denser than udon noodles. But Shinshou soba was smooth, light soba that I could enjoy. I had soba with grated jinennjo (wild yam).  I had never had such thick jinennjo before. It was sooo delicious.)

After a delicious lunch, we saw the beautiful mountain cherry blossoms, then went to our destination, Tenzan. 

Tenzan has a great onsen (hot spring), massage, cafe, and souvenir gifts shop. 

As soon as we arrived, first, we went to the massage room area to make an appointment to receive the massage after Onsen. There are many choices to choose massage style. I decided on the therapeutic Shiatsu and legs/feet combination. Eric and Chihiro chose the therapeutic Shiatsu. 

The Onsen is nature’s gift – it warms the body, heart, soul, and spirit and makes skin so smooth. Tenzan had an elegant wooden indoor bath and an open-air bath area surrounded by the forest’s trees outside.

The last time we were there, Chihiro and I talked too much, dipping ourselves to enjoy Onsen too long, and we were late for our massage, so we had to make sure we won’t be late this time.

The massage was heavenly healing, and we were all satisfied 100% with big smile.

After the massage, we went to the cafe “Ukaregumo” (it means Floating Clouds).

The last time, I ordered a Red Shiso Juice since the weather was warmer. I liked it so much that I make it in Santa Monica in the summer, so I wrote the recipe on my blog.

, but it was still cool this time. I had homemade hot Amazake (a traditional sweet Japanese drink made from fermented rice) to warm my heart and sweeten my soul.

Eric had plum wine and chocolate tart.

The hot springs are freshly brewed and can be drunk or brought back to your home in a bottle.

In general, hot springs have a high content of magnesium and have the impression of being “hard.” Tenzan  [No. 74 hot spring] contains zero magnesium ions. The content of calcium ions is 1.2 mg in 1000 ml, which is very soft and has the property of super soft water.

I have another favorite thing to do at Tenzan – stop by their souvenir gifts shop, “Sharetei.”

I love their unique, rare collection of items that can use in daily life. Just adding such a modest tool makes life fun.

I found Zukou (a powder incense) with a cherry wooden container to put the powder incense this time.  I have enjoyed incense since I was a teenager, but I didn’t have any powder incense, so I was excited. Powdered incense is applied to the body to purify the body. 

Agarwood, sandalwood, clove, cinnamon, and other precious herbal fragrant woods are used as a base to create a clean fragrance.  Apply the incense to your hands and body when you hold a Buddhist memorial service or before you start copying sutras.

I decided to use the powder incense as a Japanese aromatherapy to soothe and protect myself.

These powder incent and a wooden box will be added to my treasures in Santa Monica.

Love,

Sanae❤️