It takes a transfer and roughly two and a half to three hours of train rides to travel from Tokyo Station to Yamanouchi, but our train journey was almost like a sightseeing tour. There was always something interesting to see out the window. As we traveled farther out of the crowded metropolitan area, towering skyscrapers gave way to suburban houses, similar to the suburban area we passed through around Narita Airport. Past Nagano these houses became smaller and farther apart, and green vegetation covered the land, with snow capped mountains rising in the distance.
Our next destination, Yamanouchi, was a small sleepy town. It’s best known as a tourist spot for the snow monkeys and hot springs. The actual number of permanent residents seemed to be very small - the town had a very rural feel, and as we walked around we found very few open shops and restaurants - a sharp contrast to the sensory overload that was Tokyo.
One of the open restaurants that we did find ended up being among the best meals we’ve had on this trip so far. The restaurant, Tamaya, was a small mom and pop restaurant specializing in Chanko Nabe, a stew containing chicken, tofu, and various kinds of vegetables. Apparently this is the go-to dish for sumo wrestlers who want to gain weight. Luckily our serving was not as large as what the sumo wrestlers would eat. The ingredients of the stew were delicious, and the soup was even better.
After the stew we had the “accompanying carbohydrates”, a bowl of udon and several baked mochi rice cakes, both immersed in the same soup used for the stew. The combination of the stew suite and the additional appetizers we had ordered left us immensely satisfied and wishing we all had extra stomachs to eat more.
The Chanko Nabe stew
Baked mochi in soup
Yamanouchi and the surrounding towns are undoubtably hot spring resorts. Almost every hotel around the area includes hot spring facilities, and ours was no exception. We stayed at Hotel Yudanaka, a nice little hotel that included Japanese style tatami rooms and free breakfast containing over twenty dishes (both Japanese and western). But the main attraction was clearly the large public bath. There are separate facilities for men and women, as the baths are used sans clothing, and each one contained multiple bathing areas for different purposes. You start at the shower to clean off any dirt and grit on your body, then move on to the small pool where you use a small bucket to pour warm water on top of yourself. Following that you can move onto the steaming hot full body bath, the medicinal bath to ease muscle pains, and other baths containing jet streams and waterfalls for a self massage. It was a great way to relax and recharge after all the walking we had been doing the past few days.
This snow monkey had the best look of disapproval
The main reason for our trip to Yamanouchi was to see the famous snow monkeys. After checking out of our hotel in the morning, we took a shuttle bus over to Jigokudani Monkey Park. A short hike though a foggy wooded area later, we arrived at the gathering place of the monkeys. Many of the monkeys were just running around, foraging for food, and grooming each other. It was a relatively warm day for the area, but there were still a few monkeys soaking in the natural hot spring. This was where a lot of the iconic Japan travel pictures were taken, and we spent a good part of the morning taking our own pictures of the monkeys.
Monkey enjoying the hot springs
Today we head back to Tokyo for the night, and tomorrow we plan to take a day trip out to Nikko, a similarly sparsely populated area but with more of a focus on temples and shrines. Looking forward to seeing a different side of Japan!
- MC 4/11
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