From Ginza to Hakone: upmarket shopping extravagance to serenity

What a delight to have Yutaka Kimishima join us on an excursion! Yutaka was a university classmate of my son and became a close family friend.

As our tour guide of the day, he gave a list of options; we chose Ginza, an ultra-high market shopping and entertainment area--We can look, can't we! And we did!

But to reach Ginza we rode the train and saw this little fellow across the aisle from us; his baseball-style cap, photographed imperfectly and hopefully not understood by his parents, reads "drunken!"

We visited the new  Tokyo Events Center with its multi-storied atrium--

IN the outside courtyard below, there were food trucks!  Many, mini-food trucks!!

You can tell the quality of the fabrics by how they drape, not just hang, on the hanger. It was intriguing to see how beautifully distressed and shredded clothing could be in pricey establishments! But the stores were SO clean and smelled SO good! They had high ceilings and were spacious, not like the crowded shops in Shinjuku with merchandise stored from floor to ceiling. 

We had a fabulous lunch of udon, each enjoying the thick noodles in various sauces. Alas, the picture of our lovely meal on the tenth floor.

After a enjoying a peaceful meal and Yutaka's pleasant company, we rushed through the train station, to catch a train for Hakone that left a little sooner than we had anticipated! Though the rush was frantic, we made it aboard the Shinkansen, the super-fast 'Bullet Train!' After transferring the much slower train climbed a mountain, changing direction to employ switchbacks through forest of Japanese pines, maples--Japanese maples, of course!--and vast areas of hydrangeas of various colors. I hope the words relay an impression, because they often went by before I could twist around to photograph them. Besides I was tired and slow.

A mountain town is naturally built on a slope and we slogged our way uphill through rain to our peaceful ryokan, where Sam, Hideko, and James enjoyed soaking in the hot pools (here they are dressed in yukatas )

and an incredible feast of possibly ten courses!  

I kid you not! Some of the unusual items I ate and some I did not, but I tried most and often found them acceptable, even good! Overall, it was fantastic!

Before bed, since it was still early, we played Jenga until it was time for our private hot pool,which I enjoyed with Hideko and Sam. Thence to bed to the sound of rain. How restful is that!