Kakunodate, Nyuto Onsen Hot Spring, Zuihoden
Trip Start
Apr 02, 2006
1
37
49
Trip End
May 17, 2008
Kakunodate, Tohoku, Japan
Friday, February 25, 2011
Anyway, when I reached Kakunodate, I had only 70 minutes to spend there. Actually, I had only one thing to do in mind: a stroll in Samurai House Street. The street was 15 minutes' walk
from the station and there was no bus available. Kakunodate Samurai House Street is famous for its weeping cherry trees, so the best season to visit there is the cherry blossom season. I expected a different taste from Kakunodate: a black and white street view after a snowfall. I saw a picture of the street under the condition, being so impressed that I decided to come to Kakunodate. Unfortunately, it rained on the day before, so there was not much piled snow left along the street. After I strolled and took some pictures on the street for half an hour, I headed back to the station.
Then I took a train to Tazawako, or Lake Tazawa. The lake is the deepest of Japan at 423.4 meters, but it was not attractive to me. In fact, my destination was Tsurunoyu Inn of Nyuto Onsen Hot Spring Resort. I thought that I had to walk on a snow-covered trail from the bus stop Nuyuto-Onsen-mae until I talked to a tourist information staff girl. She told me to call the inn before I took a bus so that I could get a pick-up service of the inn at the bus stop Alpa Komakusa. The bus was scheduled to depart in a few minutes, so I made a call immediately and hop on the bus. At Alpa Komakusa, eight guests got on a minibus from the inn, but another five had to wait for the next one. On my way to the inn, I thought Nyuto Onsen was bona-fide hidden hot spring, because it was located deep in the snow-covered mountains of Akita (a rustic prefecture). Actually, if I had walked in the mountain from the nearest bus stop to the inn, it would have taken 40 minutes. Anyway, when I got off just in front of the gate of the inn, I was so impressed by its tasteful appearance that I took some pictures right there. After I paid 500 yen admission fee, I headed for the outdoor mixed bath, which was the most famous bath of the inn. I didn't lack common sense, but I took a few pictures of the bath, too. Fortunately or unfortunately, most of the guests were men. I took the bath in birthday suit just like the others. Although I took a picture of the bath a few minutes ago, I was not afraid that someone took a picture of me.... Surprisingly, there were a lot of Chinese and Korean tourists in the bath. Nowadays, you can see Chinese tourists everywhere in Japan, but even in the remote area like Nyuto Onsen, they seem to enjoy travelling.
At Tazawako Station, I took the Shinkansen super-express train to Sendai. I always choose a budget mode of transportation, but this time I had no choice but to take it. That was because the local train was not available between 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Tazawako. I mistakenly supposed that I lived in the country, but five or six local trains per hour stop at my nearest train station. Compared with Tazawako, it is obvious that I live in a developed town. Anyway, as soon as I arrived at Sendai Station, I left for Zuihoden Mausoleum. It was the mausoleum of Date Masamune, a feudal lord of the Warring States to early Edo Period. I arrived at the mausoleum in half an hour and paid JPY 550 for admission. Frankly speaking, the ticket was a bit pricey, considering the few displays including three mausoleums and a small museum. The mausoleum sat in the quiet forest Masamune had picked out just like the mausoleum of Tokugawa Ieyasu in Nikko. The main feature of the mausoleum was beautiful decorations influenced by the Momoyama Culture. They were beautiful, but I was not much impressed, because I knew the mausoleum was rebuilt after it was destroyed in the WWII and it was not designated as a national treasure any more. Date Tadamune's Kansenden and Tsunamune's Zennoden Mausoleums were located close to Zuihoden. Zennoden was rebuilt from imagination, because there were no materials enough to rebuild it.
After that, I headed for Tokyo. That was not because I intended to make a tour of Tokyo, but because I had to take a bus to Nagoya from Tokyo to make it to work on the next day.... It was a tight schedule. Of course, I had a choice to take the Shinkansen to Nagoya by way of Tokyo, but I didn't take it, because I was a budget backpacker....
Please proceed to "Shinjuku"
http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/misocutlet/19/1298833808/tpod.html
*The Great Eastern Japan Earthquake hit Tohoku Region on March 11, two weeks after my visit to Sendai. It was the largest earthquake Japan had ever experienced with magnitude 9.0, causing more than 10 meter high tunami. Over 25,000 people were dead or unaccounted for as of the beginning of May. At the site of Zuihoden, more than 100 stone lanterns were toppled and some stone walls were also damaged by the tsunami caused by the earthquake. I was lucky that I was not there at that time. May the victims rest in peace...
