Analogue Adventures – Orient Escapade 1982 – Kamakura and Hakone

All photos taken on April 28, 1982.

Today, we were leaving Tokyo and hitting the road to Kamakura and Hakone in the Fuji-Five Lakes Region. Our breakfast buffet was again in the 3rd floor Azalea Room of the New Otani.

After breakfast, our luggage was collected and we were quickly loaded onto a bus for the one hour drive to Kamakura, the ancient capital of Japan from 1185-1333. Our main stop in Kamakura was at the Kotuku-in temple with its giant 700 year old bronze Buddha. I have written about this in my 2009 post on Kamakura, so will not say much else here. I was surprised to see the photo that showed we actually made it inside the giant Buddha on this trip.

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Back on the bus, we continued on through Odawara and on into the Fuji 5 Lakes Region, arriving around 1 PM. The shore was lined with school groups on field trips and we were quickly loaded onto a ferry for a cruise on Lake Ashi.

This cruise was similar to the one we did in 2009, except it did not include a trip up the Mt. Komagatake Ropeway.

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At the end of our cruise, we waved to this load of school children heading out on their cruise…

Patty by a cherry tree near Lake Ashi -it was blossom time

… and boarded a bus to the Hotel Kowaki-en, where we checked into a Japanese style room and went down to the Garden Restaurant for special soup in the Poolside Restaurant.

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view of the garden out our window

After lunch, those who were interested were pointed in the direction of the nearest onsen (hot spring bath). Bathing at that time was segregated and no bathing costume was required. On arriving at the men’s section of the spa, clothes were placed in lockers and everyone was instructed on proper spa protocol, scrubbing yourself completely clean, before entering the pools and about not staying too long in the hottest of pools, which that day was at 130 F. Many in our group were of retirement age and us younger folks had to make sure they heeded the time limitations on the hot pool.

Back at the hotel, we exchanged stories as we wandered about the hotel and grounds during free time before supper.

ship carved from ivory on display in hotel lobby

a nearby house – this was a resort area, so some of the houses were quite elaborate

Back in our hotel room, our room attendant assisted us in getting dressed in kimono, before dinner. She instructed us that the correct direction to wrap the kimono was left over right. The only exception to this rule is when dressing a deceased person for burial, when it is right over left. It is bad luck to get this protocol wrong and you will also appear to be a member of the “walking dead”.

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Our dinner that night was sukiyaki, prepared at our table. When it was ready, our waitress cracked a raw egg over top as is tradition. Trust me, that addition did not become part of our tradition.

Dinner over, we all headed off to bed to get ready to move on to Kyoto tomorrow.