Hakone Kowakien Yunessun Hot Springs Amusement Park

 Yunessun is a hot springs "theme park" of sorts in Hakone, an area of Japan known for its beautiful mountain scenery and hot springs baths (onsen). It's about a 2 hour drive from where we live.

At Yunessun you wear swimsuits, which is family friendly but not traditional--most onsen require you to be naked and are separated by sex. It was great fun--there were lots of relaxing, fragrant hot baths (not pictured - coffee bath, charcoal bath, waterslides, and even more!). A very unique experience.

Green tea!

Red Wine!

Sake!

Waterfall near the outdoor baths

Chocolate!

Super salty bath that you could float in really easily

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dr. Fish's "Business" hours

 This is the "Dr. Fish" Turkish foot spa. They are little fish that nibble the dead skin from your feet. Many states in the U.S. do not allow this practice since you have to sterilize tools and/or use new tools for pedicures, but obviously you can't do that with fish!

Igor loved Dr. Fish--and the fish loved his crusty feet ;) I was way too ticklish to handle it for more than a minute at a time!

Akemashite omedetou gozaimasu!

 That means Happy New Year in Japanese! Our neighbor Keiko-san taught us how to say it today :) The New Year's period is known as Shogatsu and most Japanese have several days off work, if not weeks. It is the most important holiday in Japan.

She also brought over some traditional Japanese new year's food, known as osechi-ryōri. Most of the food has special meaning; for example, the kelp rolls (kobumaki) represent happiness ("yorokobu")--it's a play on words. She also provided us with a handy guide to all the foods! She and her mother (Shigeko) made everything--isn't it lovely?

 We also have a little New Year's wreath (shimekazari) hanging on the door. It is meant to ward off bad spirits.

In other news, we have some blooming things in our yard--a camellia tree and an aloe plant. I can't believe it's January!

Our neighbor has an even nicer tree that hangs into our yard