Japan Travel – Visiting Cup Noodles Museum

March 8, 2016 by 4 Comments

During our first week staying in Japan, we stayed in Shinjuku, a busy area known for lots of shopping, entertainment, and Shinjuku Station is Japan’s busiest railway station. This was great for us in that it was super easy to get food and drink (varying from department stores to lots of restaurants and nightlife establishments), and the train station is a hub for many train lines.

So it was very easy to decide that morning to take a day trip to Mount Takao, or on another day, we took a day trip to Yokohama and made it a Ramen Day! Our first stop was visiting Cup Noodles Museum, also known as the Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum. This is one of the 2 branches of the museum – the other is in Osaka.
Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum - this is one of 2 locations, one is here in Yokohama and another in Osaka.

Not far from Tokyo – about 40 km south, or about an hour by train, is the city of Yokohama. If you recall vaguely from your history books, this is the fishing village that became the epicenter of foreign trade when Commodore Matthew Perry landed around here  in 1853 and Japan opened itself for the first time to the outside world. Today, Yokohama is the second largest city outside, and the foreign influence shows in that is a port town, and it is also home to the largest Chinatown in Japan. It is still home to lots of trade and visitors, though now the focus is more on amusement and tourism then foreign trade and military presence. This includes the Cup Noodles Ramen Museum, Cosmo World Amusement Park, Hakkeijima Sea Paradise aquarium and amusement park, Kirin Beer Village, and other activities. You could easily spend a whole day, and it would be a great family trip together.
Yokohama in Japan - once the epicenter of foreign trade when Commondore Matthew Perry landed here and Japan opened itself for the first time to the outside world. Now home of the Cup of Noodles Ramen Museum, Cosmo Clock 21 (at one point the tallest ferris wheel in the world) and the Cosmo World Amusement Park, Hakkeijima Sea Paradise, Kirin Beer Village, a large Chinatown, this is the second largest city outside Tokyo. You can see to the left Minato Mirai 21 whose name means harbor of the future. It has many large high-rises, including the Landmark Tower, which was Japan's tallest building from 1993 until 2014 Yokohama in Japan - once the epicenter of foreign trade when Commondore Matthew Perry landed here and Japan opened itself for the first time to the outside world. Now home of the Cup of Noodles Ramen Museum, Cosmo Clock 21 (at one point the tallest ferris wheel in the world) and the Cosmo World Amusement Park, Hakkeijima Sea Paradise, Kirin Beer Village, a large Chinatown, this is the second largest city outside Tokyo.

As you are walking from the train station to the Cup Noodles Ramen Museum in Yokohama, you won’t help but notice the huge Cosmo Clock 21, at one point the tallest ferris wheel in the world and the world’s largest clock with a height of 112.5 m / 369 ft and diameter of 100 m / 330 ft and 60 cars each carrying 8 people. The presence of the tall ship as we walked along the waterfront past Cosmo World was a modern nod to the ships that might have docked in the area more than 150 years ago. Other modern skyscrapers also compliment the skyline here.
Cosmo Clock 21 (at one point the tallest ferris wheel in the world and world's largest clock with a height of 112.5 m / 369 ft and diameter of 100 m / 330 ft and 60 cars each carrying 8 people) in Yokohama Cosmo Clock 21 (at one point the tallest ferris wheel in the world and world's largest clock with a height of 112.5 m / 369 ft and diameter of 100 m / 330 ft and 60 cars each carrying 8 people) in Yokohama

Both Cup Noodles museums in Yokohama and Osaka have an instant ramen workshop allowing visitors to make their own “fresh” instant noodles (fresh as in just made the noodles at least!). Reservations must be made in advance for this fresh ramen making activity called Chicken Ramen Factory. There is also a My Cupnoodles Factory where visitors can assemble their own personal Cup Noodles from pre-made ingredients for a small fee.  You can decide to do this when you buy your admission ticket if there are times available, so much easier to add to your schedule. We decided to only do the personal Cup Noodles container since making noodles is a lot like pasta making so that workshop didn’t seem worth the time… especially since we were planning to go to another Ramen Museum after this (I’ll cover that next week).

At least in the Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum we visited – there are 5 floors of ramen fun. Well, really only 4 since the 5th is for events. The 1st floor is the Museum Shop, 2nd is a theater explaining the history of instant ramen’s invention, the 3rd has activities like making ramen noodles or your personal Cup Noodles, and the 4th is a Noodles Bazaar with various ramen from around the world to eat in a food hall.
Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum - very clean, simple design reflected throughout the museum except in the Noodles Bazaar. This is reflective of the philosophy that you don't need state-of-the-art facilities to research and invent things because it’s the knowledge in your head that’s important Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum - 5 floors of ramen fun! Well, really only 4 since the 5th is for events. The 1st floor is the Museum Shop, 2nd is a theater explaining the history of instant ramen's invention, the 3rd has activities like making ramen noodles or your personal Cup Noodles, and the 4th is a Noodles Bazaar with various ramen from around the world to eat in a food hall.

The way of the flow of the museum goes, you start with the history area, which is on the second floor since the first floor is the lobby with Entrance Hall to buy your admission or make activity reservations and the Museum Shop.

Visiting Cup Noodles Museum – Second Floor

It’s a pretty cool visual sight to see what they dub the Instant Noodles History Cube that displays the original Cup Noodles Chicken Ramen from 1958 through the approximately 800 product packages that were created to now. The breadth and depth of different packages really demonstrates how a single product has grown to the 100 billion servings of instant noodles that are consumed every year around the world now.
Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum - the Instant Noodles History Cube shows the instant noodles lineup that started with the original Cup Noodles Chicken Ramen. Approximately 800 product packages shows how a single product grew to te 100 billion servings of instant noodles that are consumed every year around the world Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum - the Instant Noodles History Cube shows the instant noodles lineup that started with the original Cup Noodles Chicken Ramen. Approximately 800 product packages shows how a single product grew to te 100 billion servings of instant noodles that are consumed every year around the world Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum - the Instant Noodles History Cube shows the instant noodles lineup that started with the original Cup Noodles Chicken Ramen. Approximately 800 product packages shows how a single product grew to te 100 billion servings of instant noodles that are consumed every year around the world Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum - the Instant Noodles History Cube shows the instant noodles lineup that started with the original Cup Noodles Chicken Ramen. Approximately 800 product packages shows how a single product grew to te 100 billion servings of instant noodles that are consumed every year around the world

It’s fascinating seeing the various flavors that have been created and changes in marketing over time and how it varies internationally.
Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum - in the Instant Noodles History Cube, see rare products from the past. Take a trip down memory lane as you search for a favorite instant noodles package from your past or kinds you never saw before from other places in the world Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum - in the Instant Noodles History Cube, see rare products from the past. Take a trip down memory lane as you search for a favorite instant noodles package from your past or kinds you never saw before from other places in the world

You can then watch a 15 minute film about the history in the Momofuku Theater of how Momofuku Ando came up with the idea for instant noodles. It is a pretty fun film using animation with big bobble headed versions of people and a little humor to walk through the thoughts that led up to the invention of instant ramen and then of Cup Noodles.
At Cup Nooodles Museum, watch the 15 minute Cup Noodles history in the Momofuku Theater with animated episodes demonstrating the thoughts that led up to the invention of Cup Noodles

Momofuku Ando invented the world’s first instant noodles, Chicken Ramen, in 1958 after an entire year of research using common tools in a little shed he had constructed in the backyard of his house. Right after the short film, a wall opens to a narrative timeline of the instant ramen invention (Creative Thinking Rooms) that starts out with a replica of his little shed (Momofuku Work Shed). You can step right into the shed, which is very humbling to see as the origin of such a vast empire and a savior to many a poor student. The giant wok pot of oil he was experimenting with definitely seemed to be very unsafe lab conditions for the year while he was inventing instant ramen!
Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum - On August 25, 1958, Momofuku Ando invented the world's first instant noodles, Chicken Ramen, after an entire year of research using common tools in a little shed he had constructed in the backyard of his house. Cup Noodles was invented then in 1971 Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum - On August 25, 1958, Momofuku Ando invented the world's first instant noodles, Chicken Ramen, after an entire year of research using common tools in a little shed he had constructed in the backyard of his house. Cup Noodles was invented then in 1971

One of the things I really enjoyed about the museum is also the philosophy it tries to teach to its visitors. Momofuku Ando was 48 years old when he started Cup Noodles. It involved a huge bounce back from personal hardships which they kept sort of vague, but I found he was raised by his grandparents because his parents died when he was an infant, and as an adult he went to jail convicted of tax evasion in the form of providing scholarships to students, and his company went bankrupt and he lost all his assets except his house.

There is no such thing as too late in life and don’t give up, the museum tries to message. Given the era of time this was also in (end of WW II), you can see how this optimism was really reflective of the rebuilding the whole country was going through too.
Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum - On August 25, 1958, Momofuku Ando invented the world's first instant noodles, Chicken Ramen, after an entire year of research using common tools in a little shed he had constructed in the backyard of his house. There is no such thing as too late in life and don't give up, the Momofuku Ando Cup Noodles museum tries to message.

The museum aesthetic is very clean, simple design reflected throughout the museum rooms except in the Noodles Bazaar. This is reflective of the museum’s other message that you don’t need fancy or expensive facilities to research and invent things because it’s the knowledge in your head that’s important. The museum goes into detail in finding inspiration from every day things and thinking outside the box. Charming doodle like drawings accompany the narrative from the original instant noodle ramen invention in 1958 to the Cup Noodles initial invention in 1971 to Cup Noodles for consumption in outer space and carried on the Space Shuttle Discovery. It does seem though those who know Japanese get a lot more info than those who just know English from the placards.
Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum - look at things from every angle. Part of the overall philosophy the museum is imparting of If you have an idea, along with the passion and tenacity to bring it to fruition, and the seeds of free, open-minded thinking and creativity, you can invent something that will change the world. By putting it upside down, the noodles don't get stuck when you drop into the cup and mess up the assembly line Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum - there's an actual vacuum pack of Space Ramen, the instant noodles developed for consumption in outer space and carried on the Space Shuttle Discovery

Visiting Cup Noodles Museum – Third Floor

On the next floor is the area for the Chicken Ramen Factory I had mentioned earlier where you done bright yellow bandannas with the Nissin chick mascot on it and make noodles, as well as the area where you make your own custom Cup Noodles – My Cupnoodles Factory. It’s pretty cheap to sign up for the custom Cup Noodles experience and it will only cost you 300 yen. The admission is for set times during the day, so make sure you keep an eye out for when your time slot is. As you can see, this is appropriate for pretty much ALL ages.
Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum - Here at the My Cupnoodles Factory, you can create your own completely original CUPNOODLES package. In a cup that you design, select your favorite soup from among four varieties and four toppings from among 12 ingredients. Altogether, there are 5,460 flavor combinations.

There’s just 8 steps to the process:

Get a cup from the vending machine (300 yen) and sanitize your hands.
Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum - Here at the My Cupnoodles Factory, you can create your own completely original CUPNOODLES package. Get a cup from the vending machine (300 yen) and sanitize your hands. The cup will have a lid on it for now to keep it clean Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum - Here at the My Cupnoodles Factory, you can create your own completely original CUPNOODLES package. Get a cup from the vending machine (300 yen) and sanitize your hands. The cup will have a lid on it for now to keep it clean

You will be directed to empty seats at communal tables that have markers to decorate your cup. You will also see a preview of the ingredients you can choose to fill your custom cup with a custom ramen noodle combination. There are four varieties of soup and you get to choose four toppings from among 12 ingredients. Don’t worry, there is a lid on your cup as you are decorating to keep it uncontaminated inside.
Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum - Here at the My Cupnoodles Factory, you can create your own completely original CUPNOODLES package. A lid is put on top of your container so it stays uncontaminated until the ingredients are added while you decorate your cup Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum - Here at the My Cupnoodles Factory, you can create your own completely original CUPNOODLES package. A lid is put on top of your container so it stays uncontaminated until the ingredients are added while you decorate your cup

Next you will be directed to one of the lines to fill your cup. I have to hand it to the ladies who man those cup filling stations, they were super cheerful and patient with guests of all ages and languages, and always had a bright smile on their faces and clear gestures to show you the process. In the first part, you will turn a lever to place the noodle cup over the already flash fried noodles upside down – one of the big discoveries as part of the Cup Noodles invention. By putting it upside down, the noodles don’t get stuck when you drop into the cup and mess up the assembly line.
Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum - Here at the My Cupnoodles Factory, you can create your own completely original CUPNOODLES package. By putting the cup upside down onto the noodles, the noodles don't get stuck when you drop into the cup and mess up the assembly line. Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum - Here at the My Cupnoodles Factory, you can create your own completely original CUPNOODLES package. By putting the cup upside down onto the noodles, the noodles don't get stuck when you drop into the cup and mess up the assembly line.

The designer in me loved the clear simple explanation in multiple languages on the glass of each station, and when you’ve reached the end of turning the cup to place the noodles in the right part, the crank gives this satisfying click and you can feel it click in the handle too.
Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum - Here at the My Cupnoodles Factory, you can create your own completely original CUPNOODLES package. By putting the cup upside down onto the noodles, the noodles don't get stuck when you drop into the cup and mess up the assembly line.

Now you choose one soup flavor from among 4 varieties and four toppings from among 12 ingredients. Altogether, there are 5,460 flavor combinations possible! Soup flavors include original, seafood, curry or chili tomato. Ingredient options include kidney beans, crab flavored fish sausage, corn, shrimp, egg, cubic roast pork, garlic chips, kimchee, Hiyoko-chan fish sausage (the chicken face chips), cheddar cheese, and green onion, and one seasonal limited edition additional ingredient that varies.
Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum - Here at the My Cupnoodles Factory, you can create your own completely original CUPNOODLES package. Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum - select your favorite soup from among four varieties and four toppings from among 12 ingredients. Altogether, there are 5,460 flavor combinations. At the top left to right is kidney beans, crab flavored fish sausage, corn, garlic chips and second row shrimp, egg, and cubic roast pork Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum - select your favorite soup from among four varieties and four toppings from among 12 ingredients. Here you see corn, garlic chips, kimchee, bottom row left to right cubic roast pork, Hiyoko-chan fish sausage (the chicken face chips), cheddar cheese, and green onion Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum - Here at the My Cupnoodles Factory, you can create your own completely original CUPNOODLES package. Select your favorite soup from among four varieties and four toppings from among 12 ingredients. Altogether, there are 5,460 flavor combinations.

The next portions the staff perform for you to observe – the packaging of the cup where you seal the cup,
Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum - Here at the My Cupnoodles Factory, you can create your own completely original CUPNOODLES package. Staff will seal your cup after adding ingredients Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum - Here at the My Cupnoodles Factory, you can create your own completely original CUPNOODLES package. Staff will seal your cup after adding ingredients

then you shrink wrap the cup
Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum - Here at the My Cupnoodles Factory, you can create your own completely original CUPNOODLES package. Staff will seal your cup after adding ingredients Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum - Here at the My Cupnoodles Factory, you can create your own completely original CUPNOODLES package. Staff will seal your cup after adding ingredients Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum - Here at the My Cupnoodles Factory, you can create your own completely original CUPNOODLES package. Staff will seal your cup after adding ingredients Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum - Here at the My Cupnoodles Factory, you can create your own completely original CUPNOODLES package. Staff will seal your cup after adding ingredients

Then you inflate a protective bag using an air pump
Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum - Here at the My Cupnoodles Factory, you can create your own completely original CUPNOODLES package. Inflate a protective bag using an air pump as the final step Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum - Here at the My Cupnoodles Factory, you can create your own completely original CUPNOODLES package. Inflate a protective bag using an air pump as the final step

Now you can wear it as a ridiculous necklace accessory.
Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum - Here at the My Cupnoodles Factory, you can create your own completely original CUPNOODLES package. You decorate it yourself and choose the ingredients for a custom ramen mix

Visiting Cup Noodles Museum – Fourth Floor

The Fourth Floor is the Noodles Bazaar, which is essentially a food court offering instant ramen flavors from around the world at various stations that you then eat in an open cafeteria area. Our goal was to go to another Ramen Museum which had ramen representations of different prefectures o eat, so I only have a few pictures to show you the atmosphere here since we didn’t eat any ramen.

All around the Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum Noodles Bazaar eating area are multiple booths with various kinds of ramen from around the world to try in a setting like an outdoor food court market All around the Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum Noodles Bazaar eating area are multiple booths with various kinds of ramen from around the world to try in a setting like an outdoor food court market All around the Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum Noodles Bazaar eating area are multiple booths with various kinds of ramen from around the world to try in a setting like an outdoor food court market All around the Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum Noodles Bazaar eating area are multiple booths with various kinds of ramen from around the world to try in a setting like an outdoor food court market

So, what did you think of this Ramen Adventure part 1? Is it what you expected from an Instant Ramen museum? Would you visit this museum or not, and what would you decorate or choose for ingredients in your custom Cup Noodles cup?

Next week- Ramen Adventure part 2 to Shin-Yokohama Raumen Museum.

If you’d like to read a little more on Momofuku Ando, it was his 105th birthday on March 5 2015 and Google had a cute doodle for him you can read here!

Here’s a summary of my Japan Travel post series:

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Japan Travel: Dining at a Ryokan

March 1, 2016 by 13 Comments

I had previously shared some of the details about onsen (hot springs) and staying at a ryokan (Japanese inn) by Lake Kawaguchiko and Mount Fuji – Wakakusa no Yado Maruei. One of the incredible parts of the ryokan experience besides the onsen was the elaborate traditional Japanese meals I enjoyed. Dining at a Ryokan is a highlight of visiting Japan you should definitely try to enjoy.

When you check into the ryokan, you will be asked to choose a dinner dining time, and in our case a breakfast dining time as well – at Maruei these were certain time slots we could select from. With a traditional Japanese meal, you should expect lots of little dishes, all beautifully arranged and balancing options of raw and cooked, hot and cold, rice and soup, different cooking techniques like pickled, with sauce, steamed, etc. The dishes focus on being very fresh and seasonal, highlighting local specialty ingredients while conscious of colors and textures in the careful presentation. You can see a great breakdown of what are the kinds of foods you would see in a kaiseki here at Japan Guide and Japan Talk.

Traditional Japanese Dinner

Our dinner was served in our traditional Japanese room, with us sitting at low tables sitting or kneeling on the tatami mats that comprise our room floor.
Dining at a Ryokan: Traditional Dinner in our room at our ryokan Wakakusa no Yado Maruei, photo she took from the sliding door to our traditional tatami mat room Dining at a Ryokan: Traditional Dinner in our room at our ryokan Wakakusa no Yado Maruei, photo she took from the window side of our traditional tatami mat room

The placement of the multiple dishes, each one with artful presentation, was meticulous where she would adjust the bowl or chopsticks to exactly the right place. There were so many dishes she took multiple trips to bring them on her tray, and food just kept appearing unexpectedly! Below is NOT all the dishes we ate for dinner… just the first setup, and she has just lit the flames underneath the kettles and the cooking stone in the middle.
Traditional Dinner in our room at our ryokan Wakakusa no Yado Maruei, there were so many plates I would take a photo and then she'd be back with another dish to add!

Ok, now here are all the dishes! I should note at this point all the steak has migrated to my hot plate while vegetarian F has all the vegetables on his (and eaten quite a bit of them already). If you are vegetarian or otherwise have a special diet, definitely let them know when you first book your reservation. Unfortunately not all ryokan can make substitutions in their dishes so you may need to have backup food that you bring – I know we had rice balls and bakery goods we brought just in case.
Traditional Dinner in our room at our ryokan Wakakusa no Yado Maruei, there were so many plates I would take a photo and then she'd be back with another dish to add! She mostly spoke Japanese so it was a bit mysterious eating each dish because I didn't know what everything was... and I ate a lot because the dinner was included and couldn't be modified for any diets so it wasn't vegetarian so I ate Fred's portions too! Here the steaks have all migrated to my hot plate already while all the vegetables are on his (and he's eaten quite a bit of them while I'm taking photos)

I didn’t take a specific photo of it (I didn’t of the soup or rice dishes either – got too excited to eat!), but the miso soup was soooooo good. It gets poured it out of the kettle you see there over the flames in the corner. Towards the end I opened the lid to find it had all these little clams in it, which is probably why it was so delicious.

Traditional Dinner in our room at our ryokan Wakakusa no Yado Maruei, there were so many plates I would take a photo and then she'd be back with another dish to add! She mostly spoke Japanese so it was a bit mysterious eating each dish because I didn't know what everything was... and I ate a lot because the dinner was included and couldn't be modified for any diets so it wasn't vegetarian so I ate Fred's portions too! Here the steaks have all migrated to my hot plate already while all the vegetables are on his (and he's eaten quite a bit of them while I'm taking photos)

The server, who always gracefully would slide the door while kneeling, mostly spoke Japanese so it was a bit mysterious eating each dish because I didn’t know what everything was. A true food adventure.
Traditional Dinner in our room at our ryokan Wakakusa no Yado Maruei, there were so many plates I would take a photo and then she'd be back with another dish to add! Fred both both plates of this since it was vegetarian Traditional Dinner in our room at our ryokan Wakakusa no Yado Maruei, there were so many plates I would take a photo and then she'd be back with another dish to add!

The little basket of lightly fried vegetables was adorable. And I can’t complain about double steak helpings…
Traditional Dinner in our room at our ryokan Wakakusa no Yado Maruei, one of my favorite dishes and that little basket of fried veggies is adorable I had two servings of the steak and F took all the vegetables since he's vegetarian as part of our Traditional Dinner in our room at our ryokan Wakakusa no Yado Maruei

Raw seafood dish. I still don’t know a graceful way to eat whole shrimp like this without going all in with my hands, so I was glad to eat it in the privacy of our room with no spectators except for disgusted F… hey at least it wasn’t live.
Traditional Dinner in our room at our ryokan Wakakusa no Yado Maruei, was glad to eat the shrimp in the privacy of the room because it was messy to eat! Traditional Dinner in our room at our ryokan Wakakusa no Yado Maruei, was glad to eat the shrimp in the privacy of the room because it was messy to eat!

Dessert
Traditional Dinner in our room at our ryokan Wakakusa no Yado Maruei: Dessert

After this dinner F and I went to soak in the private onsen we rented (making it my 3rd onsen visit of the day since I had already visited the indoor and outdoor onsen segregated for women earlier to try those before they switched out the next day to the other 2 of the 4 at the ryokan). Then we opened some sake from our ryokan in room fridge and snuggled into our futon cover while watching TV.

They didn’t have many channels and so for our Christmas show they seemed to be showing a local feed of those holiday shows at elementary school where kids perform for parents, which was a hoot because it seemed the classes were sized at only 8-10 kids all under the age of 7 and of mixed understanding levels of the dance routine they had learned. Super cute and funny.

Traditional Japanese Breakfast

I woke up early to visit the last two indoor and outdoor onsen, and then we went to breakfast at our designated selected time. Breakfast was served in a communal dining room, and when we entered after giving our room number they already had a table with part of our breakfast set up. They also had another long table to the side where anyone could go up and pick up a few additional sides to add to breakfast.

Breakfast at Wakakusa no Yado Maruei. Breakfast came in specific time slots that we could select from. When we arrived, it was a combination of a set meal already ready for us, we could choose whether we wanted white rice, brown rice, or porridge, and there was also a small buffet of side dishes to choose from.

Here’s a better look at my specific setting. The main course you can see is the salmon in the upper left, and in the top middle is a tofu hot pot dish with mushrooms that is being heated from a small fire below. There is also fruit, some sort of custard thing in the yellow bowl, and a trio of three little bites in a lacquered tray.
Breakfast at Wakakusa no Yado Maruei. When we arrived, it was a combination of a set meal already ready for us, we could choose whether we wanted white rice, brown rice, or porridge, and there was also a small buffet of side dishes to choose from. The main course you can see is the salmon in the upper left, and in the top middle is yudofu (a tofu hot pot dish) that is being heated from a small fire below it. Breakfast at Wakakusa no Yado Maruei - a tofu and mushroom broth, salmon, fruit, some sort of custard thing in the yellow bowl and a trio of three little bites in a lacquered tray

For the tofu hot pot dish with mushrooms, there is another accompanying dish of sauce as well to further flavor it. There also is another dish that seemed to have some sort of melon soup.
Breakfast at Wakakusa no Yado Maruei - For the tofu and mushroom hot pot dish, it is being heated by a flame underneath it and there is another dish with sauce in it to add more flavor A melon soup as part of Kaiseki Breakfast at Wakakusa no Yado Maruei

You have the option of white rice, brown rice, or what I selected which is a rice porridge along with your breakfast.
You have the option of white rice, brown rice, or what I selected which is a porridge along with your kaiseki or traditional Japanese breakfast set at Wakakusa no Yado Maruei You have the option of white rice, brown rice, or what I selected which is a porridge along with your kaiseki breakfast at Wakakusa no Yado Maruei

Part of the breakfast were these two dishes, an egg and a custardy mayo tomato lettuce thing you see in the shiny silver foil wrapper. And yum there’s more of that miso soup with lots of little clams in it.
Part of the kaiseki or traditional Japanese breakfast set at Wakakusa no Yado Maruei Part of the breakfast at Wakakusa no Yado Maruei - egg and a custardy mayo tomato lettuce thing in the shiny silver foil wrapper

I didn’t take a photo of the side buffet, but here are some of the items I picked out to add to my rice and soup set: eggplant, tofu, some fried vegetable.
Eggplant, tofu, some fried vegetable from the side buffet at breakfast at Wakakusa no Yado Maruei

And here’s our view next to our table during breakfast of Lake Kawaguchiko
Wakakusa no Yado Maruei: our view next to our table during breakfast of Lake Kawaguchiko Wakakusa no Yado Maruei: our view next to our table during breakfast of Lake Kawaguchiko

Staying at a ryokan was one of my biggest highlights of my trip to Japan. We got so relaxed at Wakakusa no Yado Maruei and it was such a much needed break after a week in Tokyo and before our next week in Kyoto and Osaka. Generally F and I are the kind of travelers who like to go out a lot – our lodging is just a place to sleep and can be no frills, and usually it’s location that matters most to us. In this case though, we went out of our way to visit this ryokan and it was so worth it that we wish we could have stayed another day just to do more nothing but eating, soaking in Onsen, and resting. We had made a choice when planning our trip to either have one night in a ryokan like this, or spend one night at Mount Koya at a Buddhist Temple – and we obviously picked the more pampering ryokan onsen experience over the spiritual and simple commune to try a monk’s life for a day.

The simple serenity staying at the ryokan nourished us in a way we didn’t know we needed, and it wasn’t just about the food (although definitely wonderful) that I shared above. The hospitality was warm yet also gave us our own space. There was no hustle of crowds or noises within the ryokan walls, and it seemed everyone was speaking in whispers to maintain the peacefulness of the atmosphere. And there’s the way onsen water heat just melts your body balanced with the chiller outside air and while gazing at the wind blowing snow off Mount Fuji that is somehow mesmerizing at the time and unforgettably memorable to me still now looking back.
One of the rotenburo, or outdoor onsen, at Wakakusa no Yado Maruei
One of the rotenburo, or outdoor onsen, at Wakakusa no Yado Maruei that I visited, during a brief 10 minutes when I had it all to myself
What did you think about the traditional dinner or breakfast I shared – do you think you could eat it? Would you rather dine in your room but sit on the floor at low tables, or be able to sit at tables and chairs like in the dining room at breakfast? What is your ideal view for an outdoor hot tub?

Here’s a summary of my Japan Travel post series:

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Japan Travel: Onsen by Mount Fuji

February 23, 2016 by 5 Comments

In my last Japan Travel post, I highlighted our visit to see the Jigokudani Snow Monkeys famous for keeping warm and bathing in natural hot springs in part of the Japanese Alps. A few days after that day trip from Tokyo to the monkey hot springs, F and I headed to human hot springs in the mountains. Here’s a look at how I researched an onsen for us and where we stayed – Wakakusa no Yado Maruei by Mount Fuji.

In the early morning Wakakusa no Yado Maruei will swap the men and ladies' indoor and outdoor onsens. So, there are 4 and you can experience 2 the first night and you can experience the other 2 (1 outdoor, 1 indoor) in the morning since they are always gender segregated. This is the indoor one downstairs, which was the better indoor one since the other one was just like a swimming pool. This indoor one had 2 - a special vitamin mineral bath in one room, and in the other one it was all rocks and had a waterfall!
In the early morning Wakakusa no Yado Maruei will swap the men and ladies’ indoor and outdoor onsen designations from the evening.  So, there are a total of 4 onsen and you can experience 2 the first night and you can experience the other 2 (1 outdoor, 1 indoor) in the morning since they are always gender segregated.

Finding an Onsen Experience Right for You

First, a few definitions and traditions that you need to know as you are searching for an onsen to visit:

  • Ofuro: a deep soaking tub and you usually do not change the water between people who use it (you usually use it one after another in the evening) because it takes so much water to fill, plus it’s more for relaxation than cleaning yourself as you need to wash before entering. Think of it sort of like a hot tub but without the bubbles and jets. Some ofuro are for one, but others can fit two people.
    Ofuro in our room at Wakakusa no Yado Maruei
    Ofuro in our room at Wakakusa no Yado Maruei
  • Sento: a public bathhouse with many ofuro, the water used may be heated tap water or hot spring water
  • Onsen: a term meaning hot springs in Japan, aka the water is naturally heated from within the earth. Keep in mind that just because an onsen has the hot water doesn’t necessarily mean the bathtub itself is a natural hole in the ground, it includes man-made facilities that pump hot spring water into them.
  • Rotenburo: a term meaning an outdoor hot spring bath, the tub may be natural (like a waterfall) or man-made with a view to natural surroundings and open to fresh air.
    Example of the upstairs rotenburo at Wakakusa no Yado Maruei. When we checked in this was the rotenburo marked for women. Then by morning it had switched over so I was able to visit the other rotenburo which was smaller but had a direct view of Mount Fuji instead of of Lake Kawaguchiko like here. Photo from Wakakusa no Yado Maruei
    Example of the upstairs rotenburo at Wakakusa no Yado Maruei. When we checked in this was the rotenburo marked for women. Then by morning it had switched over so I was able to visit the other rotenburo which was smaller but had a direct view of Mount Fuji instead of of Lake Kawaguchiko like here. Photo from Wakakusa no Yado Maruei. I have a great memory of sitting in it alone shortly after a mother and her two kids had left so I had it to myself, and looking out into the lake and seeing a crane fly low, skimming over the water. This was the first onsen I went into and after that I got over the naked requirement because it was clear no one was looking or cared.
  • Ryokan: a traditional Japanese inn. They usually have tatami floors in the room and no bed as instead the staff will set up futon mattresses in the evening for guests to sleep. There are no chairs either – instead there will be a low table where you will kneel to enjoy tea or dine if meals are brought to your room. Many times onsens are offered by ryokan so that you can stay the night after your legs feel like jelly from all the soaking and relaxation.
    At our ryokan Wakakusa no Yado Maruei, this is the main room after removing our shoes in the foyer and walking through our sliding door screen. You can see a little closet with onsen supplies (robes, a plastic bag for carrying things to the onsen rooms) on the left, and our private onsen with a view of a small rock garden and Mount Fuji to the back behind the glass, after the massage chair
    At our ryokan Wakakusa no Yado Maruei, this is the main room after removing our shoes in the foyer and walking through our sliding door screen. You can see a little closet with onsen supplies (robes, a plastic bag for carrying things to the onsen rooms) on the left, and our private onsen with a view of a small rock garden and Mount Fuji to the back behind the glass, after the massage chair
  • Yukata: a casual kimono robe where the left side is folded over the right and then the robe is tied closed with a sash. Many ryokan will provide yukata for their guests so you can change and stay in them, wearing the provided yukata and slippers wherever you go inside the Ryokan. The robes are unisex – just make sure to tie it with left over right as the opposite way is for the dead.
    Us in our yukatas on the observation deck of Wakakusa no Yado Maruei - yes the yukatas were provided by the ryokan. I mapped it and from Wakakusa no Yado Maruei, a walk Mount Fuji is only 30 km away from here
    Us in our yukatas on the observation deck of Wakakusa no Yado Maruei – yes the yukatas were provided by the ryokan. I mapped it and from Wakakusa no Yado Maruei, a walk Mount Fuji is only 30 km away from here
  • Hot Spring Resort Town: This is an area that offer many facilities with onsen, and often you can visit multiple of these facilities as they are all part of a network for that town, traveling between each one in your yukata! Two famous resort town areas are Kurokawa Onsen (by Mount Aso, south of Fukuoka) and Kusatsu Onsen in Gunma (200 km north of Tokyo in the montains)
  • Hot Spring Theme Park: Essentially a modern take of a Hot Spring Resort Town but built as a single large business instead of a destination of many cooperating businesses.  Some parks are traditional like Ooedo Onsen Monogatari in Odaiba just outside Tokyo and Japan’s first hot spring theme park. Others are more themed and allow bathing suits and have specialty baths like Hakone Kowakien Yunessun/Mori-no-Yu that offers green tea spa, coffee spa, and wine spa (Seriously! You can see photos of these on Atlas Obscura); and meanwhile Spa World in Osaka recreates hot springs from around the world in its amusement park.

Onsen are a huge popular activity in Japan, and has been part of Japanese culture for a long time as individual homes did not use to have individual ofuro. So people went to a communal public bath to not only wash but also socialize. Ok technically, the washing happens individually at small stations with faucets and a hand held shower head and a stool for sitting along with provided soap and shampoo products, which you see to the right of the photo below. Then the socializing happens while soaking in the shared tubof some sort  (natural or man made) after cleaning yourself. This is still true today – I saw families staying here for mother / daughter and also small groups of girlfriends who came and enjoyed onsen, chatting while relaxing in the hot water.

One of the indoor onsen I visited during my stay at Wakakusa no Yado Maruei. When we checked in this indoor onsen on the first floor was for women and there was another indoor one for men. Then by morning it had switched over so I was able to visit the other indoor one previously marked for men- it was even nicer because it was styled as an indoor waterfall, and also had an additional mineral bath onsen and a sauna. Photo from Wakakusa no Yado Maruei.
One of the indoor onsen I visited during my stay at Wakakusa no Yado Maruei. When we checked in this indoor onsen on the first floor was for women and there was another indoor one for men. Then by morning it had switched over so I was able to visit the other indoor one previously marked for men- it was even nicer because it was styled as an indoor waterfall, and also had an additional mineral bath onsen and a sauna. Photo from Wakakusa no Yado Maruei.

Meanwhile, the sento that are still in business, since ofuro are more common in homes, are now upgraded by often adding minerals or infusions to their tap water, or additionally having saunas, massages, and other spa services available (one example I considered was Spa LaQua in Tokyo Dome City open 22 hours a day- there’s a great blog entry about it by GaijinPot).

It is totally possible to visit and enjoy a relaxing hot bath wherever city you are staying as there is so much volcanic activity in Japan (doh, islands formed by such activity) that there are literally thousands of establishments with access to water heated naturally by the earth.

The questions you need to ask yourself in choosing your onsen experience are

1. How long do you want to stay? It is totally possible to visit some onsen as part of a day trip where you do not spend the night, such as at the Hot Spring Theme Parks (some outside Tokyo and also Osaka), or by using day passes you purchase at some Onsen. There are some where instead of bathing, you can just soak your feet for a partial experience via foot bath called ashiyu. You can find ashiyu in a variety of places, including even in public parks, airports (example: Kagoshima) and trains like the Yamagata Line Shinkansen.

On the other hand, devoting a whole day to the onsen experience will give you the full relaxation that will help you understand why onsen are so important and popular in Japanese culture that they love even bathing at home in the ofuro to get their fix until they can go to an onsen.

2. Will you be ok being naked? Most onsen are segregated by male / female, and you must be naked – no bathing suits. If you don’t feel comfortable enough, then you may want to choose a Hot Spring Theme Park that allows bathing suits.

There are also a few that have co-ed onsen – if you are hoping to share the experience with your opposite ex partner you don’t necessarily need to seek the co-ed ones.  Instead just rent a private onsen (usually if they are available, you can rent them by the hour). And, with the private onsen rental no one sees you naked except whoever you share the private rental with.
The private onsen that we rented for an hour at Wakakusa no Yado Maruei- we didn't know it had a Mt Fuji view because we went after dinner and it was dark, official photo from the ryokan
The private onsen that we rented for an hour at Wakakusa no Yado Maruei was less than $15 an hour for use by both of us. Photo from Wakakusa no Yado Maruei.

3. Finally, where do you want to be? You might browse based on looking for one that is within a day trip away from a major city you are in like Tokyo or Osaka. You could search based on a rotenburo view you want (such as a mountain, or the ocean, or forest and rivers, or of cherry blossom trees). Another filter might be because you want to try lots of different kind of onsen you would go progressive onsen visiting in a location that has multiple onsen in the same facility,  or an onsen town.

One additional note: tattoos are still viewed as subversive in Japan. This is changing with newer generations but many Onsen ban tattoos. They may enforce this rule with no exception even though it’s clear you are not yakuza (Japanese gang members) or they may look the other way if no other patrons complain. One way to help this is to cover any visible tattoos with bandages, or inquire if the Onsen is strict with this rule.

Onsen by Mount Fuji

For us, the answers were that we wanted to stay overnight, we wanted a view of Mount Fuji, and we wanted a private ofuro or rotenburo with a view of Mount Fuji to enjoy as part of the room. I also looked for a ryokan that had multiple onsen on the property so I can experience different set ups, and a private onsen that we could rent just for the two of us.  F has an upper arm tattoo he didn’t try to cover up, so the in room Onsen and time we rented at the private Onsen were his main experiences while I visited every one on property, so the in room and private ones were important criteria.

I found all of this with Wakakusa no Yado Maruei. As my previous spreadsheet planning post could probably help you guess, I totally used a spreadsheet to check off different amenities to compare them with the name, location, url, price, and various features of course. There’s a section at the end of this post of the websites I used for research.

The location of Wakakusa no Yado Maruei is technically alongside Lake Kawaguchi, but with Fujisan only 30 km away,  it felt like we were only next door. After we arrived at the train station (Kawaguchi-ko Station), we followed instructions to go to the Information Center connected to it where the woman behind the desk called Wakakusa no Yado Maruei for us so they could get us using their shuttle. They run their shuttle so you use it to get to the train station after check out and they bring you to the ryokan for check in.

I was already super stoked even at the train station because the train you take to get here (Fujikyu Railway, not covered by JR pass) passes right by Mount Fuji: look at the view from the train window at the Fujisan stop (2 stops away), and at Kawaguchiko station when we got out! The stop in between Fujisan and Kawaguchiko is Fuji Q Highland – a roller coaster amusement park with Evangelion World, Thomas the Train land, and just a casual view of Mount Fuji. The train stop is closer to the park than even the handicapped parking spots for cars in amusement parks in the US.
View of Fujisan from Kawaguchiko Station when disembarking the Fujikyu Railway car View of Mount Fuji from the Fujisan stop while taking the Fujikyu Railway View of Mount Fuji from the Fujisan stop while taking the Fujikyu Railway

When we checked in, we were asked what time slot we wanted our dinner brought to our room, and also what time slot we wanted for breakfast in a common room. The front desk is also where you can inquire about renting the private onsen. After checking in, they brought us to seated area with windows overlooking Lake Kawaguchiko and welcomed us with green tea and a tea snack.
At our ryokan Wakakusa no Yado Maruei, after checking in at the front desk they took us to a room that seemed like an empty cafe with tables and chairs, and sat us at a table with a view of Lake Kawaguchiko to welcome us with tea and a tea snack At our ryokan Wakakusa no Yado Maruei, after checking in at the front desk they took us to a room that seemed like an empty cafe with tables and chairs, and sat us at a table with a view of Lake Kawaguchiko to welcome us with tea and a tea snack At our ryokan Wakakusa no Yado Maruei, after checking in at the front desk they took us to a room that seemed like an empty cafe with tables and chairs, and sat us at a table with a view of Lake Kawaguchiko to welcome us with tea and a tea snack

Then, we were taken to our room and given a small tour of the room including showing us how we shelve our shoes to wear slippers, how the toilet room had slippers to change into (this was also true even of the public restroom in the ryoken – there were just washroom slippers awaiting anyone who went in), and where to get the yukatas and also our little plastic drawstring bags to carry the complimentary washcloth, hair brush, scrunchee, etc. to the onsen. In the back past the massage chair there was a 3 part wash area – a tiled room with a sink area, another tiled room with the ofuro tub you could fill with hot spring water and open the window into a rock garden area and a view of Mount Fuji, and one final tiled room with a shower. Here’s a look at the tatami floored traditional Japanese room.
After opening our front door, there is a small foyer for us to remove our shoes and change into our slippers at our ryokan Wakakusa no Yado Maruei After opening our front door, there is a small foyer for us to remove our sheos and change into our slippers at our ryokan Wakakusa no Yado Maruei. On the right is a bathroom, with bathroom slippers. Looking into our main room from the sliding door at our ryokan Wakakusa no Yado Maruei At our ryokan Wakakusa no Yado Maruei, this is the private onsen with a view of a small rock garden and Mount Fuji to the back. You can see the wind blowing some of the snow off Mount Fuji back there behind the trees

After dinner, staff snuck in while we were at the private onsen and moved the table and set up our futon.
Our futon setup by staff at our ryokan Wakakusa no Yado Maruei

Going up to visit the observation deck (just one floor above the rotenburo floor) gives you a preview of what the rotenburo what the Lake Kawaguchiko view and the other rotenburo with the Mount Fuji view would be:
View from the rooftop of the lake at our ryokan Wakakusa no Yado Maruei. Later when I went into the outdoor women View from the rooftop of the lake at our ryokan Wakakusa no Yado Maruei. Later when I went into the outdoor women's onsen for the day, it was also a view of the lake from this side View from the observation deck at our ryokan Wakakusa no Yado Maruei. Mount Fuji, Fujisan! The viewfinder was free and pretty cool to look at the details of the the mountain View from the observation deck at our ryokan Wakakusa no Yado Maruei. Mount Fuji, Fujisan!

As you may have seen me mention above, there were 4 onsen available to visit at Wakakusa no Yado Maruei. They are divided by men and ladies – with each getting one indoor and one rotenburo for the evening, and then by morning they are swapped so you can visit the other two. When we checked in, the rotenburo for ladies was the Lake Kawaguchiko view and a marble indoor one, then in the morning the ones I visited for ladies was a rotenburo with the view of Mount Fuji and the indoor one featured a waterfall setting and also an additional mineral bath. Both the indoor ones also had a sauna room.
One of the rotenburo at Wakakusa no Yado Maruei - they have one with the Lake Kawaguchiko view that is larger, and then a smaller one with this seemingly insanely close to Mount Fuji view. Photo from Wakakusa no Yado Maruei
One of the rotenburo at Wakakusa no Yado Maruei – they have one with the Lake Kawaguchiko view that is larger, and then a smaller one with this seemingly insanely close to Mount Fuji view. Photo from Wakakusa no Yado Maruei

Part of the wonderful experience of the ryokan was also having our dinner in our room. In the next Travel Tuesday post I’ll show you what our traditional Japanese dinner was like, as well as our breakfast the next day.

Have you stayed at a ryokan before, or is staying at a ryokan or visiting an onsen on your bucket list? Would you ever visit an onsen town, or onsen theme park?
At the rooftop of our ryokan Wakakusa no Yado Maruei with Fujisan only 30 km away

More Resources on Onsen and Ryokan

Here’s a summary of my Japan Travel post series:

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Japan Travel – Winter Illuminations

February 2, 2016 by 13 Comments

My trip to Japan occurred during Christmas and New Year’s. For the Japanese, Christmas is not seen as a religious holiday, which makes sense since they don’t share the Christian religion, with Shinto and Buddhism dominating as the national religions instead. But, they have carried over one major thing – the idea of lots of sparkling holiday lights which they call Winter Illuminations.

In the Western world not all those that celebrate Christmas are religious either of course. Nowadays Christmas often leans more towards being a cultural holiday involving family gathering together. It’s also a consumerist holiday involving a lot of shopping and holiday sales in the name of gift giving and holiday parties.

But the Japanese don’t really celebrate Christmas in either of those ways either, with the only 2 exceptions being the pushing of Kentucky Fried Chicken as a Christmas meal, and the promotion of Christmas Cake. You can reserve your KFC meal ahead of time, and there are lines! I was somehow charmed by Colonel Sanders Santa every time I saw him though.
Kentucky Fried Chicken heavily markets its fried chicken as a Christmas meal - so much that you can pre-order family meals, and there are lines for Christmas! Colonel Sanders Santa! Kentucky Fried Chicken heavily markets its fried chicken as a Christmas meal - so much that you can pre-order family meals, and there are lines for Christmas!

For the Japanese, instead it’s New Year’s that is the time for gathering with families – many people close down their shops or leave work for extended holidays to return to their hometowns. Similarly, it’s the rationale of New Year’s for their end of year holiday parties, and big New Year’s sale with heavily discounted grab bags.

As for presents, I won’t try to touch the explanation for gift giving in Japanese culture that has a whole etiquette involved in terms of presentation, social obligation, reciprocation, and the many many reasons and occasions that call for gift giving, including coming back from a trip or as thanks (or even as a thank you for a thank you…). For Christmas, only children who believe in Santa might receive gifts – Santa doesn’t give gifts to non-believers, which apparently includes all adults.
Christmas Cake and more in Japan Christmas Cake and more in Japan
At least everyone gets to eat Christmas Cake, adults and kids

Instead, Christmas Eve and Day are regular work days. Some who might celebrate Christmas view it more as a romantic holiday where a couple goes out to celebrate on Christmas Eve. This explains why when I saw Christmas decorations, hearts sometimes showed up as a motif, and there were mostly couples not families who were out for Christmas.
Heart on Tokyo Tower as part of its Winter Fantasy ~ Orange Illumination from November 23 2015 to February 29 2016
Heart on Tokyo Tower as part of its Winter Fantasy ~ Orange Illumination from November 23 2015 to February 29 2016

The holiday lights are the most noticeable way that the Japanese celebrate Christmas. Most of the holiday lights I saw were in large public areas, often by a lot of stores, often in a park area and/or down entire streets. Though I don’t know if I can really call them Christmas lights, since some of those major light installations go up in early November. Although some of the lights might go down on December 25, others light installations might stay until even mid or end of February!

Christmas Trees are conceptual rather than any real evergreens or full of lots of ornaments.
Winter Illumination of a tree and penguin friends by Shinjuku Terrace City, a version of Christmas lights Winter Illumination of a tree with light projections by Shinjuku Terrace City, a version of Christmas lights

Overall, there are several places that offer holiday lights where I often saw a lot of couples walking and enjoying it hand in hand (and of course snapping photos). During my trip, we made it to 3 Winter Illumination displays.

Shinjuku Terrace City Illumination

Shinjuku Terrace City is sort of an outdoor shopping space that has a small park between the stores. Within this park, they light up 300 globes and 235,000 LED bulbs on the trees.
Christmas lights - though really Winter Illuminations since it goes from November through February - by Shinjuku Terrace City Christmas lights - though really Winter Illuminations since it goes from November through February - by Shinjuku Terrace City

These lights are up from mid November to mid February. So even if you are visiting not in the Christmas holiday time, you might be able to catch them!
Christmas lights - though really Winter Illuminations since it goes from November through February - by Shinjuku Terrace City Christmas lights - though really Winter Illuminations since it goes from November through February - by Shinjuku Terrace City

It also included a “Christmas Tree” which is really more like a sculpture in the shape of a tree. The Penguin tree you saw earlier in this post was from this area. Also, there was another tree at the end of the park. Interestingly enough, it was all white and more of a tree shaped sculpture. It was illuminated with a projector that offered different patterns based on people putting hands on pedestal placed a bit in front of it. Each pattern was animated and used different colors, lasting for 30 seconds or so.
One of the displays at Shinjuku Terrace City Winter Illumination included a white Christmas tree like sculpture. Placing your hands on a globe, you can invoke different projections onto the sculpture with colors and animations One of the displays at Shinjuku Terrace City Winter Illumination included a white Christmas tree like sculpture. Placing your hands on a globe, you can invoke different projections onto the sculpture with colors and animations

You can see there were apparently six different possible patterns on the sign to the left. To the right you can see a globe like pedestal with outlines of two hands that people would place their hands on to start a new projection/illumination on the tree.
One of the displays at Shinjuku Terrace City Winter Illumination included a white Christmas tree like sculpture. Placing your hands on a globe, you can invoke different projections onto the sculpture with colors and animations One of the displays at Shinjuku Terrace City Winter Illumination included a white Christmas tree like sculpture. Placing your hands on a globe, you can invoke different projections onto the sculpture with colors and animations One of the displays at Shinjuku Terrace City Winter Illumination included a white Christmas tree like sculpture. Placing your hands on a globe, you can invoke different projections onto the sculpture with colors and animations One of the displays at Shinjuku Terrace City Winter Illumination included a white Christmas tree like sculpture. Placing your hands on a globe, you can invoke different projections onto the sculpture with colors and animations

Roppongi Hills

Roppongi Hills area has a “Christmas Tree” along with lights within a shopping center, and also all down the street of Keyakizaka. There are about 1,200,000 LEDs that switch from a “Snow and Blue” theme to “Candle and Red”. These lights were up from the beginning of November until Christmas Day, so given when you see Christmas stuff show up in stores here in the US, I could justify calling these holiday lights.

I liked the extra sparkle of the tree.
Roppongi Hills Christmas Tree changes lighting color from the Snow and White theme to Candle and Red theme Roppongi Hills Christmas Tree changes lighting color from the Snow and White theme to Candle and Red theme Roppongi Hills Christmas Tree changes lighting color from the Snow and White theme to Candle and Red theme The winter illuminations at Roppongi Hills - this holiday tree changes color. This is a fashionable area (a bit like Michigan Avenue) and we noticed a lot more women making up the population then usual

In the park area, the darker shady areas with the trees around the pond and which was quieter than the shopping area with the stores made for a romantic walk as couples held hands.
They don't celebrate Christmas in Japan like the west does- it's more a romantic holiday, this park in Roppongi Hills is supposed to be very romantic to walk in with these holiday lights They don't celebrate Christmas in Japan like the west does- it's more a romantic holiday, this park in Roppongi Hills is supposed to be very romantic to walk in with these holiday lights They don't celebrate Christmas in Japan like the west does - it's more a romantic holiday, this park in Roppongi Hills is supposed to be very romantic to walk in with these holiday lights

Roppongi Hills along Keyakizaka street is a fashionable area (reminds me a bit like Michigan Avenue) and we noticed a lot more women making up the population then usual who were dressed really well. The blue and white lights along the classy street were on every single tree. We were on our way to Midtown so didn’t linger long enough to see the change to the Candle and Red theme.
Every single tree on the street is lit up in blue and white lights here in Roppongi Hills along Keyakizaka street. There are about 1,200,000 LEDs turning from a Snow and Blue theme to Candle and Red theme Every single tree on the street is lit up in blue and white lights here in Roppongi Hills along Keyakizaka street. There are about 1,200,000 LEDs turning from a Snow and Blue theme to Candle and Red theme Every single tree on the street is lit up in blue and white lights here in Roppongi Hills along Keyakizaka street. There are about 1,200,000 LEDs turning from a Snow and Blue theme to Candle and Red theme Every single tree on the street is lit up in blue and white lights here in Roppongi Hills. along Keyakizaka street. There are about 1,200,000 LEDs turning from a Snow and Blue theme to Candle and Red. And you can see the hearts here reflecting how Christmas is more a romantic holiday than the US

Midtown Christmas

Similarly, the Midtown Christmas, by the Galleria shopping center, has its display from mid November to December 25 also count as holiday lights to me. You can easily walk between Roppongi Hills to Midtown in order to see both these Winter Illuminations. The ones at Midtown include 180,003 lights and a “starry sky illumination” theme that include lights that appear to be shooting stars or falling stars, all set to music in a park in the back that they call a “Starlight Garden”.

It’s very organized even though it’s extremely popular – there is only one way to enter the park and then you walk counter clockwise, with cones and security there to maintain order. Here’s a look at the Starlight Garden from a balcony to get an idea of the size!
A look back as we walk towards the street of the size of the Midtown Christmas Lights 2015 to get a look of the size of the Starlight Garden A look back as we walk towards the street of the size of the Midtown Christmas Lights 2015 to get a look of the size of the Starlight Garden

The lights – the way they slowly turn on just the blue at the time, and then adding more, the way they move with the music slowly downward while twinkling, upward like shooting into the sky, or fast horizontally on a circular track like a shooting star… it was breathtaking.
The beautiful Midtown Christmas Lights 2015 with 180,003 lights and a starry sky illumination technology light show set to music for its Starlight Garden alt=
The beautiful Midtown Christmas Lights 2015 with 180,003 lights and a starry sky illumination technology light show set to music – in the background from this view you can see Tokyo Tower and its updated lighting that changes over time during the evening

These photos just don’t do it justice. So here’s a video we took, though that still doesn’t do justice to how it looked in person.

This is where I found a listing of the Winter Illuminations:

What do you think of how the Japanese celebrate Christmas? Is there anything you’d miss, or something you like about their view on Christmas? Have you been in a foreign country during Christmas before and how did they celebrate it that was different?

If you’re one of my Portland readers, and do you know there is a FREE Winter Light Festival for us too? Check out the family friendly Portland Winter Light Festival coming February 3-6, 2016 along the East Bank Esplanade and by OMSI.

Here’s a summary of my Japan Travel post series:

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Japan Travel: Japanese Treats at Temples and Shrines

January 26, 2016 by 5 Comments

I wanted to highlight some of the mysterious snacks and treats you may see when you are looking at food stalls nearby a temple or shrine. You won’t necessarily find all of these at a particular temple or shrine, but usually you will find some. This is not a full list- just my personal favorite Japanese Treats at Temples and Shrines.

The big motherlode is at Sensoji Temple in Asakusa, an area in Tokyo, because it boasts Nakamise Dori Shopping Street that almost everyone passes through from Kaminarimon Gate to Hozomon Gate to get to the actual main hall and other buildings. Another great area to look is in Kyoto, in the Higashiyama shopping street between Yasaka Shrine or Kodaji Temple and Kiyomizudera Temple,  also called Sannenzaka and Ninenzaka.

Dango

Dango is a doughy ball served on skewers. In most cases, the dango are each chewy like mochi usually brushed with a sweet sauce. They are usually slightly smaller than the size of a ping pong ball. There are multiple dango balls on a skewer. In some cases the dango are all the same, but there are also multi-colored pink white and green ball that may appear all on a stick too. I’ve also had a black one which was made with black sesame, a Mount Takao specialty.
Black Sesame Dango, a Mount Takao specialty

In most cases the dango are also warmed slightly by a charcoal fire or grill so that parts of it are crisped up a little but on the outside on one side. It may be a modest fire like these
Getting a little crisp edge to the dango, a chewy Japanese dumpling and sweet made from mochiko (rice flour) that are served skewered at a Mount Takao stand Getting a little crisp edge to the dango, a chewy Japanese dumpling and sweet made from mochiko (rice flour) that are served skewered at a Mount Takao stand

Or in the evening a little bit more dramatic with the flames.
Dango stand near Sensoji Temple, this stand was on a side street Dango stand near Sensoji Temple, this stand was on a side street

They are usually plain when they are skewered by the fire, and then when you order a skewer, get the sauce brushed on and may get a quick extra warmed up closer to the heat for a few moments to glaze it slightly.
Brushing the sauce on dango, a chewy Japanese dumpling and sweet made from mochiko (rice flour) that are usually serve skewered at a Mount Takao stand

They are usually very chewy and have a napkin to wipe your face since the sauce may got on it!
Chewy saucy dango, a Japanese dumpling made from mochiko (rice flour) on a skewer. This was almost like a sweet bbq sauce from a Mount Takao stand Chewy saucy dango, a Japanese dumpling made from mochiko (rice flour) on a skewer. This was almost like a sweet bbq sauce from a Mount Takao stand

There is one exception to this, which I have found on Nakamise at Sensoji. You’ll recognize this famous stand by the pink and bunny theme. Even though this is an exception, I always top and get it. Here, the dango are much smaller, more the size of marbles. This is Kibi-dango, a variation of dango made with millet flour. From this same stand you can enjoy with warm sake called Amazake that is very sweet and low alcohol. Here, I caught a few photos of the ladies rolling the kibi dango in the flour. Afterwards, since the flour is still a bit loose they serve the dango in a pink envelope with the white bunny logo on it. I highly recommend with Kibi dango to have it with a beverage as the flour coating instead of a sauce makes it more dry.
Kibi-dango is a variation of dango made with millet flour, which here you can enjoy with warm sake called Amazake that is sweet and low alchohol from the same store on Nakamise Shopping Street at Sensoji Temple in Asakusa Kibi-dango is a variation of dango made with millet flour, which here you can enjoy with warm sake called Amazake that is sweet and low alcohol from the same store on Nakamise Shopping Street at Sensoji Temple in Asakusa Kibi-dango is a variation of dango made with millet flour, which here you can enjoy with warm sake called Amazake that is sweet and low alcohol from the same store on Nakamise Shopping Street at Sensoji Temple in Asakusa Kibi-dango is a variation of dango made with millet flour, which here you can enjoy with warm sake called Amazake that is sweet and low alchohol from the same store on Nakamise Shopping Street at Sensoji Temple in Asakusa

Ningyo Yaki

Ningyo Yaki is a cake filled with sweet red bean paste. You will often see it in the shape of various buildings or animals.
ningyo-yaki (red bean-filled buns moulded into various shapes using iron pans over a fire) in varoius shapes! ningyo-yaki (red bean-filled buns moulded into various shapes using iron pans over a fire) in varoius shapes!

If you are lucky, you will see it being made fresh, either with an iron mold pan by hand, or by an automated machine!

By hand with a mold pan (at Sensoji Temple) – the man will first pour in the dough, add the bean, and then pour more dough on top and then place the mold on the small flames- he was super fast! You can see all the molds he is working with on the right as they are cooking to the right.:
Making Ningyo Yaki (red bean filled busn molde dinto varoius shapes using iron pans ove ra fire) - the man will first pour in the dough, add the bean, and then pour more dough on top and then place the mold on the small flames- he was super fast! Making Ningyo Yaki (red bean filled busn molde dinto varoius shapes using iron pans ove ra fire) - the man will first pour in the dough, add the bean, and then pour more dough on top and then place the mold on the small flames- he was super fast!

Automated (at Himeji Castle):

At this particular machine (I won’t tell you how long I stood at the window, just fascinated each time I come across these…) there are two brushes on the right side of the machine that brush the inside of the molds – each mold’s side gets brushed. Then as it turns counterclockwise, the molds get dough squirted into it, then the sweet bean pellet is added. I couldn’t see all the way around so I’m not sure if then there is a second squirt of dough to cover the sweet bean before the mold is closed.
Automated Ningyo Yaki Machine. On the right side, you can see two pipes that brush the inside of the mold, and then the machine will squeeze the dough into the molds, On the other side the bean is then added, and more dough on top then the molds continue to circle, cooking it on one side until it is flipped by that lever you see on the right to cook on the other side! It ticks more counterclockwise until it gets to the lever on the right which will open and dump out the ningyo yaki

What I do know is then it clicks forward counterclockwise until the mold reaches a lever on the left side, around the 8 o’clock mark. Then, the lever flips the mold over to cook on the other side until around the 3 o’clock mark in the machine, a lever opens the mold and then a claw retrieves the hot now fully cooked cake.
In this ningyo yaki machine, it automatically does the entire process in an automated fashion. The crane carries the cooked cake to the machine on this right side to cool and get packaged down the little slide of plastic you see. On the left you can see the brushing inside the mold and then the squeezing of dough to the left of that

Then, the claw drops it perfectly each time into a new smaller machine that times the cooling of the cake and then slides it into plastic to be individually wrapped.
Automated ningyo yaki machine. The crane on the right side carries the cooked cake to the machine on this right side to cool and get packaged down the little slide of plastic you see. On the left you can see the brushing inside the mold and then the squeezing of dough to the left of that

Since these photos were taken by Himeji (a famous Japanese castle), no surprise that the ningyo yaki looks like a mini castle! When we purchased this, the man ran around the machine to give us a fresh, still warm one.
Himeji Castle shaped Ningyo Yaki - Ningyo Yaki is a cake filled with sweet red bean paste. You will often see it in the shape of various buildings or animals.

Manju

Manju is a batter (usually flour, rice powder and buckwheat) stuffed with some sort of filling (usually sweet red bean paste of boiled azuki beans and sugar). At Nakamise Dori, I was surprised to find more creative fillings, such as cherry, custard, pumpkin, sweet potato, green tea and more. Below, I got a Sesame Manju.
Manjū (饅頭?) is a popular traditional Japanese confection. There are many varieties of manjū, but most have an outside made from flour, rice powder and buckwheat and a filling of an red bean paste, made from boiled azuki beans and sugar. This stand at Nakamise Dori has many creative fillings beyond just sweet red bean Manjū (饅頭?) is a popular traditional Japanese confection. There are many varieties of manjū, but most have an outside made from flour, rice powder and buckwheat and a filling of red bean paste made from boiled azuki beans and sugar.

Nikuman

Nikuman is a smaller version of Chinese buns. They are steamed, and may be filled with meat or other fillings. They are served quite hot, often right out of the steamer, so definitely be carefully biting into it – the floury doughy soft bun may seem warm, but the inside can be piping hot.
The many snacks being made fresh that you can purchase while walking in the Higashiyama District - we stopped for these Nikuman, or steamed buns because there is a beef burdock one and also a bean green tea vegetarian one The many snacks being made fresh that you can purchase while walking in the Higashiyama District - we stopped for these Nikuman, or steamed buns because there is a beef burdock one and also a bean green tea vegetarian one

You will probably recognize it by the wooden steamer trays stacked on top of each other
Nikuman - steamed bun filled with meat and/or other ingedients. This beefy one was juicy by Himeji Castle Nikuman

For instance, I found these in the Higashiyama District – we stopped for these buns because there is a beef and burdock one and also a bean and green tea vegetarian one!
The many snacks being made fresh that you can purchase while walking in the Higashiyama District - beef and burdock one The many snacks being made fresh that you can purchase while walking in the Higashiyama District - beef and burdock The many snacks being made fresh that you can purchase while walking in the Higashiyama District - bean green tea vegetarian one The many snacks being made fresh that you can purchase while walking in the Higashiyama District - bean green tea vegetarian one

Menchi Katsu

Menchi Katsu is a breaded and deep fried cutlet or croquette, usually meat but it could be another protein (in Kyoto we had the vegetarian options of potato or tofu skin).

This meat one below shown from near Sensoji Temple at the stand Asakusa Menchi (you will probably recognize it first by the line) is the best version I’ve ever had, famous for being particularly juicy / greasy depending on your point of view and they use a rare breed pork called Kouza-buta (Kouza pork) from Kanagawa.
In line for famous Asamen's Menchi Katsu, a breaded and depe fried cutlet or croquette Very juicy and flavorful fried pork thing - apparently Menchi Katsu, a deep fried breaded cutlet - found at Asakusa, near Sensoji Temple

I also found some while walking in Higashiyama shopping street towards Kiyomizudera Temple in Kyoto- they had filling options of Kobe beef, soy milk skin cream, and Japanese potato croquette.
As a snack in the Higashiyama District, we purchased some croquettes to energize us for our uphill walk to the temple - they had kobe beef, soy milk skin cream, and Japanese potato croquette As a snack in the Higashiyama District, we purchased some croquettes to energize us for our uphill walk to the temple - they had kobe beef, soy milk skin cream, and Japanese potato croquette

Senbei

Senbei are Japanese rice crackers. There are a huge variety of senbei out there – some are sweet, salty, spicy, or savory, in all sorts of shapes and sizes and flavors. They are usually baked or grilled over charcoal. The mnst common ones you see are round, and may have a little square piece of seaweed wrapped around it and be shiny from a soy sauce glaze.

What has made senbei probably most famous is that they sell them to feed the deer at Nara. There is even a place where they throw large senbei like frisbee and the nburn down a mountain!?? Japan Talk has a webpage listing some interesting senbei trivia.

I admit I don’t necessarily seek out senbei because it makes me thirsty, and that makes me drink, and then I might have to use a public toilet and who knows if it will be the nice ones with buttons or a squat one (although at least unlike China they provide a nice handle on the wall to keep your balance). But I wanted to highlight an interesting one I found in Kyoto, on Higashiyama just across from the entrance to the Kodaji Temple. It was the aroma and seeing them being made fresh that caught my attention. Fresh senbei is always superior to packaged ones.
Senbei store where we observed it being made fresh in Higashiyama District. This senbei has been produced since 1864 and is still hand baked the exact same way. These are different in that they utilize broad bean, wheat, flour and an egg.

This one, according to a helpful English index card in the window, has been produced since 1864 and is still hand baked the exact same way. These are different in that they utilize broad bean, wheat, flour and an egg. The craftsman was super cheerful and welcoming even as he kept working the whole time. He uses those bags to pie in dough, but that rectangle in front of him is an oven full of broad beans that are being roasted – you an see some of the beans there on the cloth and paper in front of him. He scoops the beans from the big pot to his left and into drawers of the oven. Senbei store where we observed it being made fresh in Higashiyama District. This senbei has been produced since 1864 and is still hand baked the exact same way. These are different in that they utilize broad bean, wheat, flour and an egg.

We sampled all the different kinds and the bag we bought did not make it out of Japan because we ate it all.
Kyoto Senbei made with broad bean

Amazake

Amazake is a sweet warmed sake. It is made out of fermented rice and Koji (a special cultured rice – it’s bringing the important fungus that will break down the carb of the rice to sugars) so the sweetness comes naturally, not from any sugar.
Amazake that is sweet and low alcohol from the same store on Nakamise Shopping Street at Sensoji Temple in Asakusa Amazake that is sweet and low alcohol from the same store on Nakamise Shopping Street at Sensoji Temple in Asakusa

It is poured from the pot where it is still kept warm.
="Amazake

The texture is almost like an almond milk. There may be a lot or just a little of the rice left in the beverage.
Amazake that is sweet and low alcohol from the same store on Nakamise Shopping Street at Sensoji Temple in Asakusa Amazake by Kiyomizudera Temple's fountains

It might be made out of white rice, brown rice, or even black sesame (which I found as a specialty at Mount Takao). It is low in alcohol, so even kids drink it. When it’s chilly out, it’s a nice warm drink that is more substantial than just tea.
Black Sesame Amazake at Mount Takao

Which of these treats caught your eye as something you would stop for? Have you had any of these before? Is there a Japanese Temple or Shrine snack I missed?

Here’s a summary of my Japan Travel post series:

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