Good Monday! How is this January going on? Ours is freezing, brrr! This means more indoor time, which is good because we have another chapter ready of our Japan adventures with a traditional feeling. We are visiting today the (probably) most famous area of onsens – a.ka. thermal baths – in Japan: Hakone! Want to dive in with us?
From our first visit to Japan we missed one of those experiences that it’s in lots of bucket lists because it looks as one of a kind. I actually don’t feel like I have to tick everything out from a bucket list when travelling, some of the “things to do” may feel right to us (touristy or not), while other simply sound off and we skip it without thinking twice. However, being on an onsen sounded just perfect, we could spend a traditional night at a hotel and see what it feels to bath naked for the first time in a public space.
Would it be totally awkward yet worthy? We were going to see! Nevertheless I have to tell you up front that, as I know my western habits, we made sure to make only baby steps and instead of going to a public bath house opted for a hotel with public & private baths. One step at a time folks, ha!
During our stroll we stumbled upon several fellow Hakone visitors with whom we exchanged a few words, the fact that we could see Fujisan was a common ice breaker. Also during this travel to Japan we had lots of doggie encounters!
One thing we quickly learnt when looking for information about it is that Hakone is the name of the area, where you can find several attractions such as the Lake Ashi with the tori in the water or an open air museum. In fact, the most popular tour for 1-day visitors from Tokyo is to take a train, a ropeway and a pirate boat.
Since we were going to spend the night as our main highlight, we decided to focus on finding a good-looking hotel at a walking distance to the Lake. We were going to stroll around it (half of it, in fact, from Hakone-machi to Hakone-moto) while having views of Mt Fuji, only if odds were in our favor, as it seems to show up 80 days in a year. Hakone-machi happens to have a lovely lakeside but also a cute park and a cedar avenue to walk from and to the shrine. If you have a good day to walk, I definitely recommend soaking into its calmed atmosphere.
Here Dani admiring the lake and the famous pirate boats that sail it: Ahoy!
Yes, it’s one of those 80 days of visibility and… the light! We walked all the way through the tori at the very end which marks the shrine entrance.
The Onsen
Before 17:00 we were expected to be at our hotel for the check-in. Usually this type of traditional hotels include dinner that it is served at around 18:00, but before that you are welcomed with a hot green tea (& sweets) and you can change into more homey clothes. We were visiting from Tokyo and was wearing my Mickey popcorn purse (lol), I still remember how lovely all the staff were with me commenting if I loved my Disney day. I am a broken record, I know, but Japanese kindness always puts a big smile in my face.
The room was like having a little traditional home for ourselves, with a separate room for the futons and a living room, with garden views, where our dinner was going to be served. Quite breathtaking in such a subtile minimal way! As the goofs we are, we were joking how Doraemon was definitely sleeping inside the closet in our room, ha! it totally looked real that he could be climbing down with a dorayaki in his hand. You can tell how our fool heads were working after too much excitement.
The pond of the hotel in the middle was super lovely with lots of colorful koi fishes!
Here it is my yukata! Love the sleeves, I definitely did this pose too many times, poor Dani putting up with my butterfly obsession.
And this was the best bow I was able to make, apologies! Still mine was the best of our two, Dani’s bow was not photographed for a reason ;)
After dinner and wearing our yakutas, we decided to visit the public baths during night-time; one of the perks of staying in a hotel is that often they are open all night-time. The public area was empty – a quick trick is to check if there are sandals in the front door, as people is required to be barefoot – and thus we felt free to brave a camera inside (which is a big no-no if anyone was inside).
The mood the onsen creates is different from everything I have experienced before. Truth be told, my first time ever at a spa was during my birthday this last September, so my opinion may not be the most qualified, but still this felt completely different in every way. Jumping naked at 4º (around 39F) in a 42º (around 108F) natural spring water, while listening to the cricket chirps and surrounded by a garden, was something I don’t really know how to describe; that I felt happy is probably a good approach. Jumping out of the pool, and not feeling the cold at all is also something I can still vividly remember.
That’s all for today’s post! Hope you enjoyed the traditional baths and the hotel ambiance. Oh, yes! that lovely Mount Fuji is quite stealing the show too, isn’t it? For next time, I will make sure to learn how to make good bows for my yukata, promise, ha! Have you ever been to an onsen private or public? Would love to read your opinions!
Tokyo – Part I
Tokyo – DisneySea
Kamakura
Oh how wonderful. I love every morsel you feed us from your Japan trip That hotel looks dreamy and the way you describe the onsen… sounds magical. I never went to one when I visited Japan but it’s on my list for next time
Oh Kate! I am very lucky to have you around to share our travel bits, thanks for your comment! <3
Me gustan muchísimo las fotos de onsen, son de una belleza increíble, me encanta la que estás con el vestido tradicional, te queda que parece que lo hayas llevado toda la vida.
fuji-san!!! So awesome to get to see it, how magically is the shot of you and the Tori :) :) So beautiful! Oh and your hotel looks stunning, what a special experience! My first time visiting an onsen was with a bunch of teachers from my area (when I taught over there many moons ago) and I was very very nervous! Good on you guys for braving it – as someone who is very shy I can definitely say, it gets easier and I think the experience, the water, the differing temps and the ritual makes you forget about others and become less shy!
I don’t know how I would feel sharing the experience with co-workers :) but definitely a better and more accurate that my shy one, next time I should improve my game then! ;) Big love my dear Fee!
Hello ! You already know how excited (and jealous) I am that you had nice weather while in Hakone, so I am not going to go on about it haha.
Your accomodation looked so lovely. The outside onsen is so pretty, must have been a very special atmosphere (I am talking about the view, not the naked people !)
Once again, amazing pictures, your green and yellow bag is so lovely. Love !
Hahahahahhahaahahaahha laughing so much with your clarification of “not the naked people” you are super sweet! Thank you dear Cassandre, you are brighting up my day! Oh! the bag was a last minute purchase at one of my go-to store in Barcelona when I need bags, I just love wearing backpacks when travelling and this can also be worn as a satchel (better for a big city like Barcelona, so… yay!)
Lovely pictures. What was the name of your hotel? Do you think that one night in Hakone is enough?
Thank you Louise! :) The hotel is called Takuminoyado Yoshimatsu and we booked it through Japanican website (in case it might be helpful). We loved the onsen experience and found 1 day more than enough to soak also into the town atmosphere. There are several attractions we missed like the Hakone Open Air Museum, or the ropeway, but I don’t miss not going for them, so 1 would say 1 night is plenty to enjoy Hakone!
Ohhh, this trip to Hakone looks absolutely beautiful! So good to see other parts of the area than that I saw on my daytrip there. I thought Hakone was a breathtaking place, and your pictures did it so much justice. You guys are so cute — and I love the descriptive stories that accompany your pictures.
Please go to Japan many times again! :D
Thank you a million times Louise, you gave a super huge smile on my face! thanks for joining us in this virtual travelling back! I do hope there is at least a third time visiting Japan for us because still I have a large list of new places and things to experience, ha! :) Big hug!
I love your oversized scarf! I’ve never been to a public bath before :o but a thermal bath does seem very appealing in this cold weather! -Audrey | Brunch at Audrey’s
The oversize scarf was super handy as it doubled as a blanket whenever we needed it too, ha! :) :) I realized too late that I should have packed another scarf. I wasn’t expecting needing it almost everyday, but it was quite cold indeed. Hugs lovely Audrey!
I’m pretty much gawking at all these beautiful photos plus your words. The photo of you with the umbrella at the pier (shrine entrance) looks magical x
Your photos are so so beautiful! That picture of you and the shrine is ugh gorgeous!
This is Dani, Juno & Damaris.
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our hearts stay in Japan.
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