kinugawa onsen-nikko

 Yesterday I mentioned that lack of transportation might be the cause of Kinugawa Onsen’s popularity, but Satoshi said that a lot of these hotels were built to accommodate group tours and when the “bubble” era burst, the market changed and more people started to travel on their own, not in groups.

He said the cost to maintain the huge banquet spaces are probably what led to the downfall of a lot of these yuurei “ghost” hotels. 

Plus, to demolish the building would also cost a lot, still so sad to see

Breakfast was kind of disappointing, especially the hard.as.rock lotus root and super salty salmon broiling away in butter....

I ate as much as I could, but left quite a bit too...sorry

We left a little after 9 and it was sunny and flurrying!

On the way to Nikko, we were lucky to see the SL Taiju, a steam engine that runs between Nikko and Kinugawa Onsen.

We arrived at Nikko just in time to stand in line for lunch at Meiji no Yakata.

Apparently this property was previously owned by F W Horn the founder of Nippon Phonograph Corporation, which manufactured gramaphones and records for the first time in Japan.

Aoi Shigemitsu also used this house when his was destroyed in the Great Tokyo Air Raid.

Lunch consisted of pumpkin potage

baguette with butter

cottage cheese salad

omurice...so ono with lots of shrimp in there!

Satoshi had their fried shrimp lunch! (no photo)

cheesecake and coffee...our lunch came out to 8030 yen (tax included), pricey but it was nice to be able to dine like this especially after the pandemic

After lunch, we dropped off our bags at the hotel we would be staying at and started exploring Nikko.

It had been almost 30 years since the last time I visited Nikko and Satoshi wanted to explore in depth, for tour research purposes 

Toshogu, Tokugawa Ieyasu's shrine, his remains are apparently at Kunozan.

Be prepared to climb lots of stairs!

it was a good way to work off lunch...

There was a temple, Yakushido, where you can hear the (Nakiryu) crying/roaring dragon

Nearby is Taiyuin.

lots of stairs here too, we also experienced a size 3 earthquake while the priest was explaining the wall paintings.

he said it was the wind...not!

Across from Taiyuin is Futarasan Shrine.

All sorts of areas at this shrine to pray for luck, to find a good match, even four leaf clover plants!

Then we went to see the 3 Buddhist statues Senju Kannon (1000 armed Kannon) of Mount Nantai, Amidanyorai of Mount Nyoho and Bato Kannon (Horse Headed Kannon) of Mount Taro which are housed in Sanbutsudo, a hall on the property of Rinnoji.

These 8 meter (26 feet) statues are something to see!

NOTES: Be prepared to climb a lot of stairs as well as remove your shoes many times when visiting these temples.

 

A lot of the stairs do not have handrails so be careful, especially if it rains or snows

Also, many of these temples do not allow photos, so be aware and respect the rules.

It was fahreezing all day with flurries and super strong winds.

We checked in, bathed in the hot springs and readied ourselves for our kaiseki dinner.

This was an assortment of seasonal foods.

With kaiseki, I usually end up giving a lot to Satoshi, since I cannot finish, but these dishes were perfectly portioned, so I was able to eat my portion.

It was quite a long day, but at least Satoshi was able to see all that he wanted to.

Meiji no Yakata

2339-1 Sannai

Nikko, Tochigi

Open daily 11:00-19:30

Hotel Seikoen

2350 Sannai

Nikko, Tochigi