Day 5 Part 2 - Traditional Japanese Hotel

Konichiwa! To continue my earlier post about visiting the Yamanashi Prefecture, we stayed at Tokiwa Hotel, a traditional ryokan with onsen (traditional hot springs).  The oldest hotel in the world (established in 705 A.D.) is in Yamanashi and these types of places were built for nomadic samurai to stay and are based on hospitality. The architecture is minimalist and soothing with quiet sliding doors and tatami mats on the floors. In the evening, they lay out the futons and bedding for sleep.

This is a view of the Japanese garden outside the lobby window.

This is the door to the room and what you look  into when you first open the door. A beautiful woman in a kimono was there to welcome us and served us tea and snacks. She also laid out kimonos for us to wear.

The little sitting area looked out onto the gardens below.

After tea and settling in for a bit, I headed down to the gardens to check things out. It has been so busy that just the thought of strolling through beautiful Japanese gardens sounded perfect to calm things down a bit. Here are a few photos from that stroll. Take a deep breath, calm your mind and enjoy the walk.

Feel calmer?

And finally, to end the night, we all sat down to a traditional Japanese meal which ended with karaoke! Many of us wore a kimono to embrace the entire experience.

 We enjoyed many courses of food and drink and the college interns began the entertainment including a competition where whoever pulled the stocking off the other person first won the game. They also performed a little skit.

Even the professors joined in and sang for us. What a fun night!!!

This was one of the most amazing days from beginning to end. I got a bit emotional a few times today because I couldn't believe how fortunate I am to be here experiencing such wonderfulness.