We stayed in a relatively high-class onsen resort here. After a hike in the area, I got my first soak. After that, we had a sumptious dinner, made up of several dozen small dishes, many of them regional specialities. We were in our own tatami room, and had several kimono’d ladies attending to us.

I must commend Emma for being game to eat nearly everything set before us, including some sort of blobby lake-weed in a bowl that you were supposed to slither down, a miniture crab that you
were supposed to crunch on whole, and many other culinary horrors. The whole meal was magnificant, really a sort of life-experience that you don’t expect to have repeated very often.

I then took a second soak after that in the onsen, and fell asleep like someone hit me with a hammer.

The next morning I woke up probably too early, and had another onsen soaking. Eventually we all gathered ourselves up and went back to our tatami room for breakfast. I made the observation that it was like a Japanese version of the Snoqualmie Falls Lodge – dish after dish of sweet and savory things.