Summer vacation in 2009 vol.1

I like traveling alone. Especially I like taking a trip on local trains.

In Japan there is a useful local train ticket which is offered by JR(Japan Railway Company) and is called “The seishun 18 ticket“. We can use it every spring, summer and winter.

Regarding this summer holiday, I originally planned to visit to my husband’s mother’s birthplace with them. Then after visiting there, I planned to travel alone using the seishun 18 ticket.

However, we needed to change our plan due to his mother’s bad phisicalcondition.

I left my home on the 14th and headed to Ikaho Hot Spring in Gunma prefecture by express bus from Shinjuku. Ikaho Hot Spring is one of the famous hot spring areas in Japan.

The reason why I decided to go to Ikaho is because I was interested in Mizusawa Udon, which is one of the famous types of udon in Japan.

The shops which serve Mizusawa Udon are located nearby Ikaho hot spring.

The following image shows Mizusawa Udon Street, and along the street, there are many udon shops.

It was actually not so near to Ikaho Hot spring from Mizusawa Udon Street. I went to Mizusawa Udon street by taxi, and asked the taxi driver about his recommendation.

He told me about the following udon shop.

By the way, near my hometown, there is a popular regional udon which is called Sanuki Udon.

We are very familiar with this Udon, so almost all of us are particular about the taste and the quality of udon.

The taste of Mizusawa Udon was not bad, however for me it was too soft. At that shop, the most delicious dish for me was Maitake Mushroom tempura which was served as the part of the set menu with the udon.

So I decided to go to Gunma Maitake center after lunch, which was located not so far from the udon shop.

I bought some special maitake mushrooms for my parents, aunt and grandmother, who are all living in my hometown, and asked the center’s staff to deliver the mushrooms to my family.

Later, I asked my family about their impression of my gift, and they said it was very delicious!

After the Maitake center, I moved to a famous Kokeshi museum which is called Usaburo Kokeshi Museum.

Although I am not interested in Kokeshi, I didn’t know any other interesting spots nearby, so I went there.

Contrary to my expectation, the museum was amazing. I saw many beautiful, cute and creative Kokeshis there.

Especially the second floor of the museum, which was the gallery of the creative types of Kokeshi was good, and I highly recommend you to go to see them.

After the museum, I moved to the another museum, which I also didn’t expect very much of.

The name of the museum was “Ikaho Omocha to Ningyo Zidosya Hakubutukan(Ikaho Toys, Dolls and Cars Museum)“.

I thought that it was just a typical, common museum found in rural areas of Japan.

As soon as I entered the museum, I was disappointed, because it was even less interesting than my expectation.

In the first section of the museum, some antique Teddy Bears were on display. Then in the next section, old goods of Japan were on display. Both were boring for me.

In the third section, many old classic cars were on display, and I could understand  the owner’s purpose of opening his museum.

He really likes beautiful, classic cars, so after collecting and restoring to mint condition, he put them on display.

The condition of the cars was very good.

I could also understand his excellent business sense. I saw many ingenuities which had been thought out by him in order to attract many customers to his museum and to encouraged them to buy souvenirs.

Since I am interested in marketing, I really enjoyed the museum.

I took the following photos on the way to the Kokeshi museum. The view was very nice!

After visiting 2 museums, I called a taxi again to take me to Ikaho Hot Spring.

Actually I paid a taxi fare of about 5,000 yen to and from the Mizusawa area. It was expensive, however I really enjoyed it, so it wasn’t a problem.

I finally went back to my Ryokan(Japanese style inn) before nightfall.

The following images show the ryokan and my room.

I really like such old and typical types of ryokan.

After taking out my belongings from my backpack, I left my room quickly to walk around the Ikaho area.

I walked a lot, then reached the fountainhead. At the fountainhead, there was a open-air bath. It was amazing!

That night, I bought one boiled egg on my way back to the ryokan from the open-air bath, and after eating it, I enjoyed a bath of the ryokan, then went to bed quickly.

The first day was very full.