Family trip to Japan - Tokyo and ski adventure

[QF WP]

After getting kitted out, time to head to the first resort - some photos from the trip to Inowashiro.

Here’s the resort slopes in the distance - off we go!





As we got closer, it started to get real. What would my body remember after 20 years break?



Nice snow depth in the town below the slopes :



Some of the snow on the roofs defy gravity. Don’t be standing underneath:



Seriously getting deep snow:



Views of the Urabandai lake:













Finally we got there! Urabandai Lake Resort

View from our window



View from our kids room - better

 

[markis10]

Was at Gala on the 18th Jan 2019 with jr, until that trip I thought going to the snow was the same as having a cold shower and ripping up $100 bills, great memories and I bet your making heaps!

 

[QF WP]

To give an idea of where we are:



More of the room:







Yes, it’s hiding a Toto bidet toilet:



A step down to the bath/shower:



Time to have our first group dinner at a local Urabandai restaurant especially opened for us. Two of these on the table for our group of 10 (2 tour leaders including @rugbyskier and 8 participants):





Whilst it looked unusual it was very tasty. Reminded me of shabu shabu:



My bowl was full, it was cold outside:



We had us QF WP’s, a couple from Canberra and a couple from Adelaide/Noosa. Was a great time to start to get to know each other.

 

[rugbyskier]

As the organiser of the tour that QF WP and family came on, I can add a bit of background to the area and the recent photos.

The region where we skied is called Aizu and is located in the western part of Fukushima Prefecture. The regional centre is Aizuwakamatsu, which has a similar population to Toowoomba, and is where Tsuruga Castle is located.

Inawashiro, which has a population of 13-15,000, is the local town for most of the ski areas in Aizu and is famous in Japan as the hometown of the man on the (now old) 1000 yen note, scientist Hideyo Noguchi. The local symbol is Akabeko, a red cow, which is everywhere as a toy with a nodding head.

Urabandai, where we spent the first night is a small village located in a highland region north of the volcano Mount Bandai. The Urabandai region was created from the 1888 eruption of Bandai and contains the famous Goshikinuma (5 coloured) Ponds.

I described the decor at the Urabandai Lake Resort hotel as "Nanna chic".

I'll hand back to QF WP to continue his story.