Some deer at the Nasu Animal Park.
This llama chased our van, wanting a "cookie" from Fred at the Nasu Animal Park.
Edomura is in the most gorgeous setting.
Cheryl and Yuichi with a "ninja," making the "secret" ninja sign.
Me, Cheryl and Hiromi with the oiran and her attendants.
Fred with an Edomura hostess, who greeted us near the entrance.
This is supposed to look like a typical Edo era house.
This is supposed to look like a typical Edo era house.
SATURDAY, MAY 31
My mother and I got up early and went to the spa. We scrubbed up, washed our hair, rinsed off and stepped into the deep tub. It was heavenly.
After a long soak, we got dressed and went back to our room, where Hiromi was waking up. She went down to the bath.
Then we all met up for breakfast.
It was our first "Viking" meal of our trip. The Japanese call an all-you-can-eat meal a "Viking" instead of buffet. I've never figured out why. I still don't know.
It was a strange breakfast.
There were traditional Japanese dishes, as expected. There were traditional Western fare like cereal and milk, bacon, sausage and scrambled eggs. But the bacon is not cooked crisply like we cook it. Then there were strange things like salads and Swedish meatballs. Really. Swedish meatballs.
We ate our fill. Then we packed our things and checked out.
Tsuneo and Hiromi had a full day planned for us.
First was the Nasu Wild Animal Park. It was very much like the Pine Mountain Wild Animal Safari. Like Pine Mountain, we could drive our own vehicle, drive one of their vans or take the bus. The buses are all painted like lions and tigers and are really cute.
Tsune-chan decided to drive one of their vans, which was very much like the 10-passenger van we were in.
It was raining off and on all day. So the animals were wet and looked miserable. But the antelopes, llamas and deer followed us around looking for treats. The giraffe stuck its head in our window, too. We only bought one bag of "cookies." We should have bought more.
We had to laugh when a llama chased our van, begging Fred for more.
After a stop in the gift shop, we left for Nikko Edomura or what's known as Edo Wonderland in English. It's like our Westville or Williamsburg. Actors are hired to be hosts and hostesses and act in the various shows.
While at Edomura, it rained practically the whole time. My mother was in a wheelchair and it was slow going. I pushed most of the time and it was hard dodging puddles of water. The one thing about the rain was that there wasn't a huge crowd. So I didn't have to dodge crowds of people, thank goodness.
This place showcases the Edo period, which lasted roughly from 1603-1867. It shows what an Edo village was like in those days.
Hiromi said it's fun for foreign tourists, but even for Japanese people, it's fun.
By the way Edo was renamed Tokyo in 1869.
Some of the daily performances were canceled because of the rain, but we saw the Traditional Japanese Culture Theater, which featured the beautiful oiran or the "ultimate" geisha. And she was truly beautiful. My mother was impressed with the acting.
We saw the Traditional Japanese Performing Arts Theater, which featured the Mizugei. It's a fun show of water tricks. These actors somehow have hidden faucets in their fans and water is controlled, turned on and off. It's difficult to explain, but something to see. Edo people watched Mizugei at hot springs resorts 1,300 years ago.
But the show we all loved watching was the Grand Ninja Theater. Ninjas appeared from nowhere to fight the good guys. And one of those good guys was eye candy, indeed!
We spent hours there, actually closing the place. Along the way, we shopped and saw the Kodenma-cho Jail House and the Kira-Kozukenosuke Residence. The residence was a Samurai house the enemy attacked. Wax figures showed the violence suffered by residents and enemies alike. It was actually pretty gruesome.
It was about a two-hour ride home.
For dinner, we stopped at a chain restaurant called Saizeria. It's what they call a "family restaurant." Yuichi said it's inexpensive and young people like it. It was filled with young people and young families. And 10 of us.
It was "Italian." And not so good.
When the food came, I looked over to see what Fred was eating and he had this huge bowl of pasta. It turned out that he had two orders of spaghetti! The usual orders must have been too small for him. And he did work up an appetite with all the walking at Edomura.
We got home and fell right into bed.
Tsune-chan, Hiromi and Yuichi had another hour to drive home.
I swear our relatives are the best! They did so much for us. And we were just halfway through our trip.
My mother and I got up early and went to the spa. We scrubbed up, washed our hair, rinsed off and stepped into the deep tub. It was heavenly.
After a long soak, we got dressed and went back to our room, where Hiromi was waking up. She went down to the bath.
Then we all met up for breakfast.
It was our first "Viking" meal of our trip. The Japanese call an all-you-can-eat meal a "Viking" instead of buffet. I've never figured out why. I still don't know.
It was a strange breakfast.
There were traditional Japanese dishes, as expected. There were traditional Western fare like cereal and milk, bacon, sausage and scrambled eggs. But the bacon is not cooked crisply like we cook it. Then there were strange things like salads and Swedish meatballs. Really. Swedish meatballs.
We ate our fill. Then we packed our things and checked out.
Tsuneo and Hiromi had a full day planned for us.
First was the Nasu Wild Animal Park. It was very much like the Pine Mountain Wild Animal Safari. Like Pine Mountain, we could drive our own vehicle, drive one of their vans or take the bus. The buses are all painted like lions and tigers and are really cute.
Tsune-chan decided to drive one of their vans, which was very much like the 10-passenger van we were in.
It was raining off and on all day. So the animals were wet and looked miserable. But the antelopes, llamas and deer followed us around looking for treats. The giraffe stuck its head in our window, too. We only bought one bag of "cookies." We should have bought more.
We had to laugh when a llama chased our van, begging Fred for more.
After a stop in the gift shop, we left for Nikko Edomura or what's known as Edo Wonderland in English. It's like our Westville or Williamsburg. Actors are hired to be hosts and hostesses and act in the various shows.
While at Edomura, it rained practically the whole time. My mother was in a wheelchair and it was slow going. I pushed most of the time and it was hard dodging puddles of water. The one thing about the rain was that there wasn't a huge crowd. So I didn't have to dodge crowds of people, thank goodness.
This place showcases the Edo period, which lasted roughly from 1603-1867. It shows what an Edo village was like in those days.
Hiromi said it's fun for foreign tourists, but even for Japanese people, it's fun.
By the way Edo was renamed Tokyo in 1869.
Some of the daily performances were canceled because of the rain, but we saw the Traditional Japanese Culture Theater, which featured the beautiful oiran or the "ultimate" geisha. And she was truly beautiful. My mother was impressed with the acting.
We saw the Traditional Japanese Performing Arts Theater, which featured the Mizugei. It's a fun show of water tricks. These actors somehow have hidden faucets in their fans and water is controlled, turned on and off. It's difficult to explain, but something to see. Edo people watched Mizugei at hot springs resorts 1,300 years ago.
But the show we all loved watching was the Grand Ninja Theater. Ninjas appeared from nowhere to fight the good guys. And one of those good guys was eye candy, indeed!
We spent hours there, actually closing the place. Along the way, we shopped and saw the Kodenma-cho Jail House and the Kira-Kozukenosuke Residence. The residence was a Samurai house the enemy attacked. Wax figures showed the violence suffered by residents and enemies alike. It was actually pretty gruesome.
It was about a two-hour ride home.
For dinner, we stopped at a chain restaurant called Saizeria. It's what they call a "family restaurant." Yuichi said it's inexpensive and young people like it. It was filled with young people and young families. And 10 of us.
It was "Italian." And not so good.
When the food came, I looked over to see what Fred was eating and he had this huge bowl of pasta. It turned out that he had two orders of spaghetti! The usual orders must have been too small for him. And he did work up an appetite with all the walking at Edomura.
We got home and fell right into bed.
Tsune-chan, Hiromi and Yuichi had another hour to drive home.
I swear our relatives are the best! They did so much for us. And we were just halfway through our trip.
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