Day Trip to Nagano

Today was an eleven hour round trip car ride to the Nagano mountains to see the snow monkeys in the hot springs at Jigokudani Yaen-Koen park. Our Get Your Guide taxi driver, Alex, met us at the hotel at 8 am and away we went. Tokyo is so huge, it took us an hour driving at full highway speed just to get outside the city.

There was rain in the forecast for the day and we did get some on us at times. However, we were lucky at the park and the rain held off long enough for us to get close and personal with the monkeys. They are very tame and will stroll around and through your legs if you stand still. When the weather is cold, they will lounge in the hot springs. However, today was mild and the monkeys were busy foraging for food.

Next we stopped into the quaint town of Obuse (pronounced Ob-oo-say). Charming and less crowded with tourists than other spots in Japan. This town is known for its chestnuts and the dreamy back alleys are lined with the trees in full fruit. We had lunch at an authentic Japanese restaurant where Jake and I both enjoyed a sake tasting with our meal.

After lunch we visited the Hokusai museum. Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849) is one of the most famous and celebrated Japanese artists. He popularized wood-block printing and produced many prints off each original carving. This essentially brought his art to the masses. The colors in his and other edo-period artists works are exquisite. “The Great Wave Off Kanagawa” is one of the world’s most recognized paintings and I have a photo of me standing beside it. Hokusai lived his final years in Obuse ergo his museum is here.

Then back to Tokyo. A wonderful day it was. Tomorrow we are planning a day trip to Yokohama for something less natural and less artsy but just as interesting and way more fun. Stay tuned! 🍺