We decided to have a traditional Japanese lunch in the Nakamachi District, just south of the Metoba gawk (river).Nakamachi used to be a former merchant district with many narrow lanes and old warehouses, which of many now have turned into shops showcasing locally produced arts and crafts and restaurants.It was afternoon and time for us to move on and catch the train to Shin-Shimashima. There, a bus was waiting for us, taking us up on steep and winding roads deep into the mountains. After an hour and a half we finally reached our final destination for the day; Shirahone Onsen.
Shirahone Onsen is set dramatically in a steep gorge surrounded by tall mountains and trees in beautiful autumn colours. Shirahone means "white bone" in Japanese and the healing milky-blue hydrogen-sulphide natural spring water has a wonderful silky feel (and turns all your silver jewellry black, but I have learnt the trick to polish it back to normal with toothpaste!).
In the evening we changed into our yukatas, (cotton kimonos) and were served dinner in our tatami room. There was no end of little odd bowls and plates with local delicatessen, so fresh and delicious! Different kind of fish, pickles mountain vegetables, all kind of tofu, a small table grill for beef, mushrooms....Everything is down to detail and the table decoration match the season, with little leaves here and there. We had some hot sake with the food which prepared us to go naked outside into the onsen.
After the dinner, in the late evening, we went outside, still in our yukatas and wooden geta sandals to the big rotemburo, the outdoor bath. This is a mixed gender onsen, but no worries, the light blue water is so milky that you can't see much through it. We think women were supposed to wrap a small towel around your upper body when entering the water to cover the upper body, but we couldn't be bothered. But we didn’t expect quite so many naked men awaiting us once we opened the curtain and got outside into the water…. We had a giggle and tried to ignore them. But soon enough 3 Japanese ladies of order came shocked up to us and pointed upset at their towels and then at us in disbelief… After a while we had the whole bath to our selves and it was so quiet and beautiful. We really enjoyed soaking in the hot water surrounded by the cold mountain air and looking up at the moon and the stars…The next morning we took the bus down the mountains for a bout half an hour with spectacular views, to a place called Kamikochi. It is said to be the most beautiful spot in the Japanese Alps. Our plan was to do some hiking along the river and cross the famous Kappabashi wooden suspension bridge along to Myojin -ike.
We were there only a few weeks before they closed off the whole area due to the risk of snowfall, so luckily there weren't too many people around. The view of the snow covered mountains with peaks above 3000m was stunning. As we walked along the clear river, some wild monkeys crossed our path really up close. They found some mushrooms and sat down to eat while we were watched them, but they didn't seem to mind our presence. At the other end of the valley was Myojin-ike, a small beautiful lake dotted with small moss covered rock islets with a few trees on. It was an incredible scenic setting, almost magical. No wonder there was also a small Shinto shrine for the sacred mountain kamis (spirits).
We came across a small, old mountain hut, peeked inside and saw a few men sitting around a log fire on the floor, drinking sake and grilling trout. It looked so cosy that we decided it was time for a well deserved break. It was quite dark and smoky inside,
but warm. They looked a bit surprised to see foreigners but they gave us a welcoming smile and pointed to sit down next to the fire and join them.
There wasn't much of a menu, there was trout, sake and beer. We ordered the lot and the man by the fire disappeared outside. We could see him standing by the mountain stream that passed just outside the hut, catching the trout for us. It can't get any fresher than that!! He knocked their head on a rock and came back in again. He put a wooden stick through the length of the fish and speared them down into the ground by the open fire to grill them.
Once they were done, he put them on a plate and put in front of us. As there weren’t any chopsticks or cutlery, we weren’t really sure of how to approach the fish. He looked at us and told (showed) us that first you bite off the head and eat it and then you just eat everything all the way down to the tail – simple, no fuss. Hmmm…the head was very crispy, specially the eyes and there were some harder bits, the jaw I think, but I tried not to think too much, just kept on chewing and swallow… The sake and beer helped! The middle bit of the trout was really tasty and the bones not too big, only the fins tickled a bit in the throat… After some more sake it was so much easier to chat in Japanese and the people in the hut relaxed too and opened up talking to us and asking questions. He had never had anybody from Sweden in his hut before.
Eventually, it was time to leave the warm and cosy hut, put back on our walking shoes and reluctantly return to civilization and Tokyo.
Tokyo was only five hours away, but still a world apart.
These little escapes make Japan such an exciting and incredible place to live in!
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