Something I was most excited to do in Japan was stay at a traditional ryokan. We decided the time to stay at one was in Nagano, more specifically Shibu Onsen. Shibu Onsen is a traditional hot spring town in the mountains. We chose this spot because of the beauty and it's proximity to Jigokudani Monkey Park. That was one of the first things Christian had on his must-do list. It was a bit of a trek coming out here from Tokyo but in the end it was worth it because we stopped in Kanazawa on our way to Kyoto. Plus we got to see what a smaller more rural area was like. It was fun seeing the scenery change while we were on the train.

This was another planned "break" in the middle of our trip. We knew our evening at the onsen would be relaxing and spent in a hot spring, relaxing in our room and eating a delicious Japanese meal. Two out of 3 were great, ha ha! The following day we would be hiking up to visit the bathing snow monkeys but the rest of the day would be traveling to our next location.

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Day 8 (Sunday)

Where We Stayed

Shibu Onsen Kokuya

I booked this stay through Agoda, because it had better pricing than other hotel booking websites. We stayed in the Sakura Room with private onsen. Our stay included train station pickup, drop-off at the Snow Monkey Park the next morning, and both a traditional Japanese (or Western) dinner and breakfast, all for $465. It was our most expensive accommodation, but worth it for everything we got.

The hotel, opened in 1925, is one of the oldest in Japan! Walking around the building was interesting because it is basically a maze with tons of hallways and places to discover, very easy to get lost on your way to and from your room. In addition to rooms with private baths there are other baths in the building. At the time of our stay you had to reserve the baths in advance until 10pm, then you could use it if no one was inside. There are also 9 public baths in the town of Shibu Onsen. When we checked in we were given a key to be able to access all of the baths for free - more on that later.

Upon entering the hotel we had to remove our shoes and change into provided slippers. Our shoes would be put aside until we checked out or needed to venture away from Shibu Onsen. After check-in were told about the hotel and given a quick tour of where to find the baths and dining room before being brought to our room. We also got a piece of paper telling us what time to meet at the front of the hotel for our bus to Snow Monkey Park! Unfortunately we got a later time slot of 9:15am. I was hoping to arrive at the park when it opened to avoid crowds, but beggers can't be choosers when it comes to free transportation, ha ha.

Once in the room our guide showed us how to properly put on our yukata and tanzen. It is disrespectful to not wear correctly so she told us to be very careful when putting them on. The left side should be wrapped over the right side and then the yukata is tied with a sash. Because it was winter we were also provided with a tanzen which is a padded version to keep you warm, like a coat. We also had tabi socks in our room to wear with the slippers indoors.

During the day our room was set up with a zataku table and zaisu (legless chairs) and during dinner was transformed into a bedroom with futons set up for us to sleep.

Traveling to Shibu Onsen

We spent the morning making our way to the onsen town with some pit stops along the way to break up the day. A shuttle would be picking us up at 3pm so that was our deadline to arrive at Yudanaka Station. The train journey was pretty straightforward. We left our hotel just before 8am and took the Yamanote Line from Shinjuku Station to Ueno Station where we changed to the Hokuriku Shinkansen to Nagano. The Shinkansen left at 9:28am and arrived in Nagano at around 10:45am. In Nagano we put our bags in a locker at the train station and did a bit of shopping.

We explored Nagano for a bit and got back to the train station around 12:40 and took the Nagano-Dentetsu Line to Yudanaka Station. For this ride we had to buy a special ticket at the gate because our Suica Cards wouldn't work for that particular line. A lovely worker helped us figure out what ticket(s) we needed to be able to get to our destination. We arrived at Yudanaka Station just after 2 and sat in a waiting room until our shuttle arrived at 3.

Where We Went

Hard-Off

Christian was on the hunt for old video games and video game consoles so we walked to a Hard-Off which was full of old electronics, cameras and video games. It's part of a chain that also includes Book-Off, Hobby-Off and a few more. He bought a couple but none of his big games were there so we knew we'd have to find some more stores during the rest of the trip.

Don Quijote

One of the main chain stores in Japan is Don Quijote and it was WILD. There is so much going on we had some sensory overload. Bright colors, lots of merchandise, loud noises, this store had it all and on multiple floors! We did a quick walk around and ended up buying some snacks to eat later in the day. Christian almost bought a couple Nintendo Switch games but decided to wait and see if he could find them cheaper.

Yudanaka Station

I wasn't going to include this as a place we went but decided I need to because of a cute story! As mentioned above we spent about an hour in a waiting room at the train station for our ride to the ryokan. While there an older Japanese couple in bright ski gear came in to wait for their train. The husband started a conversation with us, we assume he was excited to be able to use English, and we chatted with him for a while. They were from Hokkaido and there on a ski trip. He asked us if it was our first time in Japan, where else we were going and some other questions about the trip. All the while he was sharing some of his tasty snacks with us! We found that not many Japanese people like to speak English so it was fun to have someone purposefully talk to us. When we left we said goodbye in Japanese. Such a cute memory!

Shibu Onsen

After we had dinner we decided to put on our warm outer layer - the tanzen - and explore Shibu Onsen town. The ryokan also provided us with geta, wooden sandals, to walk around outside so we swapped our slippers for those!

The only way to enter the 9 bathhouses is to be a local or an overnight guest at one of the many ryokans in the area. I believe one of the baths can be accessed by non-overnight guests by paying a fee. The waters of each bath are said to help with different ailments:

Hatsu-yu: gastrointestinal issues
Sasa-no-yu: skin conditions
Wata-no-yu: cuts, injuries to the skin, and other skin conditions
Take-no-yu: gout
Matsu-no-yu: nerve pain and spinal issues
Mearai-no-yu: eye diseases
Nanakuri-no-yu: injuries and trauma
Shinmeidaki-no-yu: women’s health and gynecological diseases
O-yu: joint and nerve issues

Japan is known for stamps at shrines and other locations and the baths are no different. Visitors can collect stamps on a “wishing hand towel” at each public bath house while trying out different baths. We didn't buy the towel because we weren't going to have time to visit all the baths and had little desire to use the public baths (we're very shy, ha ha.) But we did walk around to see the outsides of some of the bath houses and collected a few of the stamps on our map of the area. Sadly we didn't get to all 9 because it was getting dark, late and cold. If we had planned on staying more than one night I definitely would have wanted to visit them all! But we were on a tight schedule!

Another ryokan in the area, that I would have loved to stay at, was Kanaguya as it is said to be one of the places that inspired Spirited Away. It was a little more expensive and we wanted to have a private bath with our room so we chose Kokuya instead. At least we were right across the street to look at it from the outside! Sooo gorgeous all lit up in the evening.

While we were out we popped into a couple stores that were still open. I almost bought myself a pair of zori but decided against it. Now I wish I had because we didn't see anything else like them the whole trip...ugh! Zori are sandals made with cloth, and are typically handmade. These were being sold for ¥2500.

It was a little dark but we walked the Yokoyugawa River before heading back to the hotel. There are also some bars and cafes but we didn't go to any.

Where We Ate

Chirimen-tei Nagano Ekimae

We tried stopping at a couple ramen shops around Nagano station but all of them had pretty long lines and we had a train to catch so we ended up at one directly outside the station. This was probably my second favorite ramen of the trip. I got the dandan noodles, a salt-based soup with special chimajan (Chinese sesame paste,) minced pork, shredded green onions, and fragrant chili oil on top of the noodles. Christian had a traditional pork ramen and we also got 4 veggie gyoza and 4 pork gyoza.

We ordered everything on a screen so we didn't have to worry about figuring out what was in every dish since it was right there for us. We also got to pay at a machine after our meal, which was very fun! Sometimes you pay on a machine before you order, but that was not the case here. Our total was ¥2,070 or $13.36.

Seventeen Ice Cream

When we got to Yudanaka Station we did a quick walk around to see what the area was like before going back into the waiting room. Outside there was an ice cream vending machine so we grabbed a couple! I had Chocolate Chocolate Chip while Christian tried the Blueberry Cheesecake.

Kokuya

Included in our stay was the option for a western dinner or traditional Japanese kaiseki dinner, made from local ingredients and changed based on the seasons. We decided since we were staying at a traditional hotel we would do it right! Unfortunately for me, this means I wasn't sure what we would be eating ahead of time. I am a picky eater but getting better at trying new things. We were dressed in our yukatas and made our way to the restaurant!

When we entered the dining area one of the employees noticed that Christian's provided clothing was too short. During checkin they asked for our heights so they could provide proper sizes. So during the middle of the meal they brought him a long enough yukata and I had asked for a shorter outer garment because mine was too long, ha ha!

Sadly half of this meal was a little too fishy/adventurous for me. It was a lot of tofu, raw fish and soups, which I am not a fan of. I do eat fish, but mostly whitefish and not raw. I was looking forward to trying sushi in Japan because I knew it would be amazing, but after this experience I chickened out. I did try most of the courses but by the end of the evening I was in major "new food" fatigue. Luckily they had shades blocking our table from other's views so it felt like we were dining alone, until the server came with our next courses.

I was underwhelmed by the wagyu beef, I think I would have preferred it to be prepared another way because it was a little chewy. Unfortunately we didn't get a chance to try it during the rest of our trip either. Another thing to add to the list for our next trip.

There were a couple dishes I really enjoyed. One being "grilled pork and apple in a pie" which was basically pork inside some tasty puff pastry! Nagano is known for their apples so we were excited to be able to try some fresh and prepared in the area. The other was dessert, which also included apples!

Don Quijote Snacks

We had some snacks we bought at Don Quijote for dessert and saved some for the next day too. I got some chocolate covered chocolate cakes that were really tasty and Christian had Cream-O's, their version of Oreos. We spent $3.37.

Day 9 (Monday)

Where We Went

Jigokudani Monkey Park/Snow Monkey Park

After an early morning (6:30am) soak in our private onsen and breakfast it was time to head to the hotel entrance to catch our shuttle to Jogokudani Monkey Park! Everyone's shoes were lined up in front of their room name for us to put on. We also left our luggage in the lobby for them to transport back near the train station.

The van dropped us off at the base of snow monkey park at 9:30. It took us about 25 minutes to "hike" up the snowy mountain paths to the main gate. It was a little slippery at some points so I imagine during really snowy times it is necessary to have more winterized boots with spikes to walk up. Chrisitan was able to make it up in his sneakers and I had my Grandma's winter boots (that do have some grip.) Then we climbed some stairs up to the entrance and paid ¥800 each for access to the park.

Because the park had already been open for over an hour it was a little crowded by the main pool. Luckily all the guests were very considerate and would get their views/photos/videos and then move to a new spot or to the back to let others have a turn. We spent about a half hour watching the monkeys bathe, snack and argue until it was time to make our way back down the mountain.

We wanted to catch a 12pm train so we could make it to our next location for check-in and dinner so we didn't spend too long at the park and opted to take a taxi instead of figuring out a bus. We were able to go into the Enza Cafe and have them call a taxi for us, very convenient!

Yudanaka Station

We left snow monkey park at 11:08am and got to the train station around 11:15. Once there we bought our tickets on the machine and then went to go find our bags which the hotel had transported to a local cafe for us. I thought it was pretty neat that the cafe lets them bring a ton of luggage every day. I bet they get a lot of customers that way. We decided to grab food at the Lawson's convenience store across the street and hang out at the train station instead. It got VERY crowded about 10 minutes before the train was due to arrive so we were very glad we had bought our tickets way before and were ready to go! We hopped in line and off we went! Back to Nagano Station to transfer to Kanazawa. We got there just before 3:30 and made it to our next accommodations by 3:45.

Where We Ate

Kokuya

Breakfast was also included with our stay and unfortunately for me (again,) it was a lot of foods I just was not into eating. Once again I was wishing I had chosen the Western breakfast versus traditional Japanese. What we should have done was have one of us get the Japanese meal and the other Western so we could try new things but also have something familiar. I was overwhelmed from the day before so I just ate the delicious rice, a salad and fresh apple juice. Probably the best apple juice I've ever had. I was pretty embarrassed to be one of "those" Americans, but I knew going into both meals that I would have trouble because of my selective eating habits. Heck, I'm like that back home in the US!

Lawson

Instead of eating at one of the couple cafes near the station we opted for convenience store food to eat in the station so we wouldn't be rushing. We got some chips, fried chicken and a couple drinks. Total? ¥1152 or $7.43!