Chasing Cherry Blossoms Mar/Apr 2023

[rbjhan]

Higashi Chayagai is only a few mins walk away across the river.



Most of the teahouses have been converted into shops and restaurants.




There's a shrine at one end.
And full bloom!

 

[rbjhan]

Time to go to Yamanaka onsen!

This gate in front of Kanazawa Station is quite something.


Didn't have time for lunch so I bought a bento. This being Kanazawa, there's gold leaf on the sushi


Also gold leaf on the cream puff...

 

[Quickstatus]

Where are all the pink Sakura. Seems predominantly white

 

[Quickstatus]

Managed to find a place only half full. Not sure why coz my lunch was quite good?

Maybe tourists gravitate to where other tourists go?

Sigh, this gold plate was photographer-unfriendly to the maximum degree

Need a white background

to put name down for dinner!

Did you write it in Kanji or whatever its called?

Imabari towels

We got 2 but i don't get the hype

 

[craven morehead]

Hello friends! It's me and another Japan TR
I know I know, got asked all the time, aren't you getting tired of Japan? WOULD I NEVER....

Actually this was only my 2nd time in Japan during Spring! Why? hayfever
First one is here..

However during covid I got a bit crazy and booked this trip coz award ticket was available, why not eh? Sadly direct flights from Melbourne was not, so I had to transit through BNE and overnight there! Originally was coming back via Sydney but later I cancelled that one and opted for SIN instead.

The trip was:
MEL - BNE - HND
1 night in Tokyo - 5 nights in Hokuriku region - 5 nights in Kansai - 4 nights in Tokyo
NRT - SIN - MEL

Got very lucky as the cherry blossoms were super early this year! My days in Hokuriku was full blossoms everywhere
And here we go!

View attachment 323174

Not sure how I missed this last week

 

[rbjhan]

Between Kanazawa and Kyoto there would be a stop somewhere in Hokuriku, during the planning stage this was clear. However I couldn't make up my mind where to go exactly.
Ideally I wanted to stay in Bouyourou, but after the recent renovation their price is....astronomical.

So I concentrated the search in Kaga onsen area, found one ryokan offering one person plans with snow crab dinner, Kissho Yamanaka.

I called Kissho the day before to book shuttle bus, as Yamanaka onsen is a fair bit away from Kaga onsen JR station. For some reason their bus schedule is not matching the Express Trains... I had to wait about 30 mins in the little station....bored, and took this picture


And here it was.


Check-in was done in the lobby.


Single room, this was looking like a business hotel...


You can see from the floor plan, good use of the space they have...

 

[rbjhan]

Maybe tourists gravitate to where other tourists go?


Need a white background


Did you write it in Kanji or whatever its called?


We got 2 but i don't get the hype

Katakana, that's the alphabet you use for foreign words.

 

[rbjhan]

Where are all the pink Sakura. Seems predominantly white

Yoshino Somei is the main kind of cherry tree in Japan, afaik the flowers are mostly white to very light pink.

 

[rbjhan]

Kaga onse is made up of several small onsen towns in the area. Yamanaka onsen is one of them.
The town is built along the Kakusenkei Gorge.
I decided to venture out a bit.
Sadly there were some fallen trees so the hiking trail beside the gorge was closed.


Back to the main street.


Well here you are, pink sakura!


I was not kidding, got really lucky this trip, beautiful blossoms everywhere.


This is their main bath house for day trippers and locals.



The gorge runs parallel to the town and there are several bridges across. This one is particularly interesting.

 

[rbjhan]

Back to the ryokan and I missed their afternoon pancake
Time for a soak and wait for the much anticipated snow crab dinner.

Appetiser


Hero of the meal!


They gave me this


Oooooh this was most delicious


Sashimi, also including snow crab


Grilled wagyu with walnut miso


Steamed crab


Tempura, unlimited and made to order.


Rice with crab meat



All I can say is money well spent

 

[airstriker]

Love ur post! I also did some cherry blossom chasing in Japan in March. Was in Tokyo - Kyoto - Osaka between 27 Mar to 1 Apr when they were in full bloom. There was this one ryokan we stayed in Otsu that had this big cherry blossom tree overarching the outdoor onsen area.. it was so damn pretty

 

[rbjhan]

After dinner, at 8:45pm there was some performance of local folk songs in the lobby.


To my surprise I quite enjoyed it. But what's with the face covering?!


Booked a kashikiri onsen for 10pm.




After the soak I even had some pudding ha ha

 

[rbjhan]

Love ur post! I also did some cherry blossom chasing in Japan in March. Was in Tokyo - Kyoto - Osaka between 27 Mar to 1 Apr when they were in full bloom. There was this one ryokan we stayed in Otsu that had this big cherry blossom tree overarching the outdoor onsen area.. it was so damn pretty

Very pretty!
What was the name of the ryokan?

 

[Quickstatus]

But what's with the face covering?!

Maybe some Rona requirement?

 

[rbjhan]

They switched the male/female public bath so I went again in the morning.
I was the only one there, took some pictures.
Both baths were by the gorge with great views.




Breakfast






All in all, this ryokan was very good value.

 

[airstriker]

Very pretty!
What was the name of the ryokan?

It's called Yuzansou. That view was taken from the male onsen side.. although I hear that they alternate men/women onsen on daily/regular basis. It also has views of lake Biwa from the private baths in the room

 

[rbjhan]

Maybe some Rona requirement?

I had no idea. Japanese were funny about this whole thing.
There were no requirements now but I'd say 95% still wearing masks.

 

[rbjhan]

It's called Yuzansou. That view was taken from the male onsen side.. although I hear that they alternate men/women onsen on daily/regular basis. It also has views of lake Biwa from the private baths in the room

This one?

トップページ - おごと（雄琴）温泉 雄山荘【公式HP】滋賀県・琵琶湖に近い温泉旅館

里湯昔話の語る宿 雄山荘 「むかし、むかし、湖を望む里山に 静かに佇む雄山荘があったとさ―」 誰もが子供のころに感じた、 昔語りのあたたかな響き。 びわ湖を一望する里山に囲まれた滋賀県大津市おごと温泉にある静かなお宿です。1200年の歴史ある湯をたたえた優雅で広々とした大浴場で過ごす 心穏やかな時間をお過ごしください。

yuzanso.co.jp

 

[airstriker]

This one?

トップページ - おごと（雄琴）温泉 雄山荘【公式HP】滋賀県・琵琶湖に近い温泉旅館

里湯昔話の語る宿 雄山荘 「むかし、むかし、湖を望む里山に 静かに佇む雄山荘があったとさ―」 誰もが子供のころに感じた、 昔語りのあたたかな響き。 びわ湖を一望する里山に囲まれた滋賀県大津市おごと温泉にある静かなお宿です。1200年の歴史ある湯をたたえた優雅で広々とした大浴場で過ごす 心穏やかな時間をお過ごしください。

yuzanso.co.jp

Yes, that's the one. Has virtually the same photo of the outside onsen without the cherry blossom.
Maybe I should send them mine... which I think is definitely more pretty

 

[Quickstatus]

They switched the male/female public bath

For the view?

How many times do they change the water?