My Journey South To Ito

Date	Sunday March 15th
Days in Japan	Day 12
Location
Hotel
Steps Walked	16,040
Daily Objective
Daily Tip

English	Pronunciation	Japanese

I somehow managed to get up the following morning quite early and slowly made my way for Shinjuku Station. I had plans to explore a little, visit a money exchange booth, and eventually meet up with Rui before finally leaving Tokyo and making my way to my next destination.

My overall plans were to head south to Hakone for the evening with the goal to explore it fully the next day; stay one more evening, and then travel to Ofuna which is close to Kamakura. After exploring Kamakura for a full day, I’d make my way to Yokohama and spend an evening and the following day there.

My initial plan had involved going from Yokohama to Osaka via the famed Shinkansen but I made some last second changes when I received an invite from Matthew to join a high level soccer session on the upcoming Friday evening. My new plan would put me back in Tokyo for 2 more weekend nights before leaving Tokyo to go to Osaka.

I arrived to the station and proceeded to wander around a bit trying to locate where the specific station was for my next long-distance train. I was heading to Hakone on a different line than I was used to and needed to also purchase an “all access pass” for transportation around Hakone. The pass would allow me to take all the local buses and transportation without any issues.

I was now beginning to realize just how large this station was with all the different lines, and to add to the confusion, most of the buildings didn’t connect to one another. This meant you had to leave one building to find the entrance to another right next to it. After quite a bit of exploring, I was able to find my way to the next line and was able to purchase my “all access” pass as well as a ticket for the train. Google Maps helped me a lot in Japan but with the stations practically being small cities on 3-4 different floors (including 1-2 basement levels), it gets pretty confusing to figure out which floor your destination is located on.

After getting everything I needed for my next journey I headed to the meeting point to see Rui. I had some extra time so I bought her some chocolate from a little shop as thanks for all the help she’d been providing thus far in Japan. We met up and were find some lockers nearby where I could store my luggage while we went to lunch and explored around the station some more. There are lockers located at almost all of the stations in Japan that you can use to store your luggage which are pretty convenient, cheap, and easy to use. Rui also let me know that one of the few “rules” posted on the lockers is to not store dead bodies inside them – Japan can be so weird… After dropping the bags off I was able to move more freely and we began to explore one of the larger shopping areas in Shinjuku.

While Shinjuku houses the “red light district” of Tokyo in the evening, it also has an abundance of brand-name stores that are filled during the day. We went into one shop in particular where Rui wanted to purchase some spray that would basically kill any odor from your mask (masks were hard to get so people were having to reuse them quite a bit). The store was pretty cool and reminded me a lot of a Japanese Ikea. It had an area with lots of snacks and most of the product was simple colors with simple designs. After exploring the store and making our way through a few other stores, we decided to grab some lunch. We were able to locate a pretty popular sushi restaurant in the area that seemed to meet our needs. Upon entering, we were greeted by the server as he requested permission to spray our hands with disinfectant. While there are “disinfectant stations” pretty much at every entrance to anything, this was the first time the staff actually requested it and did it for you. The inside of the sushi shop was pretty standard but nice and clean. We were able to order ourselves some donburi. This would be my first time having that particular style of sashimi, although it’s not too much different from the basic way, it was sooooo delicious. We took our time eating all of our food before exiting and moving along to retrieve my bag and say our goodbyes.

Once we got back to the station, we took one last stop at a local coffee shop for some coffee and desserts before I needed to catch my train. The spot we visited had some delicious desserts but it took the “smoking inside” to the next level. Pretty much every patron in the spot was puffing aggressively on some cigarettes. I decided to look into the directions a little more thoroughly as I’d just been putting in directions to Hakone into my phone knowing my destination was the onsen known as “K’s Hostel Onsen”. I opened up my Hotels.com app and briefly looked over the reservation while clicking on the “directions” link. It quickly opened up my Google Maps and shock began to set in. I’d actually booked a different “K’s Hostel Onsen” which was located in Ito, not in Hakone. Somewhere along the way I’d chosen the wrong hostel and would actually be traveling much more south than where Hakone is located. I accepted my fate and without stressing too much, decided it may be a great opportunity to experience something new. I’d continue in the direction of the Ito onsen for the evening and take 2 trains and a bus the following day to arrive at Hakone.

I said my farewells to Rui even though I’d be making my return to Tokyo relatively soon to play soccer. I was excited to not only get to play soccer more but Matthew had also invited me and a few of the players to go out after to a party and eventually to the clubs. It sounded promising enough that I moved around my schedule a little so that after going to Hakone -> Enoshima -> Kamakura -> Yokohama, I’d return to Tokyo for 2 days to play soccer, party, and then proceed even more south to Osaka.

I was finally ready to go as I hopped onto the Romancecar which would be a pretty direct shot to Odawara Station and then I would get on another train and continue along the coast to the small town of Ito which is known for its onsen and relaxing atmosphere. My plan during this portion of my trip was to travel to the most southern city I wanted to visit and then slowly creep back up to Tokyo while staying in the other cities from my list. The ride was pretty relaxing and absolutely beautiful as I traveled through the Japanese countryside. Rui had loaded me up on a bunch of refreshments and snacks so I was able to stay full and happy (even though there was also a person walking through the cars selling alcohol and other refreshments). The total trip would take me about 2 hours to get to my hostel. I did some studying on the train and finally arrived at Odawara after a little more than an hour. I needed to transfer here to a more local and smaller train. Odawara station is a pretty large hub for trains in this was an area and I’d be revisiting again the following day on my way to Hakone.

The train for Ito wasn’t too difficult to find and I was starting to feel a little more comfortable in the stations and could find the right trains. The train to Ito was pretty empty and traveled along the coast which had even more amazing views of lots of smaller villages that were probably rarely visited by any tourists. I finally arrived in Ito which was all I had imagined. The town was super small and surrounded by mountains while being located right on the coast. There were very few people and the station was the smallest station I’d seen thus far. I looked up directions to the hostel and began my 15 minute journey through the small town. One of the largest building in the town was a casino which are pretty popular in Japan. They play this slots game and it’s quite popular for older men to hangout in there for long hours just playing, smoking, and avoiding their wives. Unlike in the US, these slot casinos can be found in just about every town and as Ito was a bit of a Japanese vacation destination, I imagine lots of people visited the onsens here to take advantage of the amazing seafood and gambling in the evenings.

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I made my way through what seemed to be main street. As I walked I passed by some cool artwork on the walls and ground but most things were closed, probably because of the large lack of tourism to the area. I noticed a couple a few yards ahead of me checking their phone often while wandering and my first assumption was that they were heading to the same destination. As it turns out they were! I sort of crept behind them for a few blocks until both of us arrived at the onsen for check-in. I hadn’t thought many people would be staying at this small town hostel and I’m not the most friendly when sharing a room. The idea of having to share the room with 4-5 other people made me a bit nervous that there may be a ton of guests here. I got to the check-in desk after removing my shoes and putting on some interior slippers. The women working the front desk was pretty cute and definitely caught my attention. After chatting a little, she gave me the full rundown of the hostel rules and place. My room would have 4 futons – I’d be staying in slot #4 and I guess there was someone staying in slot #1.

There were 3 total available onsen in the hostel. There was a mens, womens, and a private onsen which was smaller and provided hotter water. I was starting to get a bit excited as she walked me through the historic building. There were tons of cool traditional Japanese carvings in the woodwork and it turns out that the hostel is located right next to one of the oldest Ryokan in all of Japan. I actually asked if it was worth checking out and she said that the interior was actually almost identical to the hostel which was pretty cool. After getting the grand tour of the onsen, kitchen, common areas, and rooms, I was ready to drop off my bag and relax a little. My travels for the day had finally finished without many issues but still took a toll on my overall energy levels. I got to my room and it appeared that the other roommate was out and about. I took advantage of this opportunity to get all of my things situated. The room was pretty cool and had a small atrium which overlooked the canal that ran through the city.

Pretty much every city I visited in Japan had at least one large canal running through it which made for some nice photos. It meant that every city had some waterways and bridges that you could visit. I relaxed on the atrium for a little soaking in the warm sunlight and admiring the scenery. After feeling pretty settled I decided to make my way out and grab some dinner. I was pretty confident there wouldn’t be many options given the initial impression from my arrival was that this city was relatively deserted. I did some research on my phone for apps that could show me open places, much like Yelp but specifically for Japan. I’d noticed by this point that some of the best places I’d visited actually didn’t come up on Google Maps or Yelp and I wanted to find out how to locate more of those types of places. I wasn’t really trying to visit tourist hot spots and to show my hypocrisy, I actually think tourists kind of ruin a lot of places. I stumbled upon an app called Gurunabi which seemed to be the Japanese version of Yelp, although it was in Japanese, it specialized in locating Izakaya and even featured a ton of specials that each one offered. The language barrier would be a small hurdle as I leaned heavily on Rui for translations based off screenshots of each place that looked interesting. Tomorrow I’d be making my way through Hakone and take on a pretty long day full of travels and sightseeing. I figured I’d grab myself some drinks and explore the small city for the evening. My plan was to grab some dinner, drinks, explore some places, and then proceed to a bar to meet some locals and finish the evening at the onsen which was open allllll night.

I headed down to the front desk and now there were two girls sitting there, I asked them what they recommended for dinner and they gave me directions to a small mom and pop izakaya located just around the corner. The spot had some set menu options which made it easier for foreigners to order without the language barrier.

The izakaya was pretty filled with fishing artifacts and once again, being a solo patron, I was placed at the bar seating. There was another couple that seemed to be aussie sitting at the bar as well. They were working hard at communicating in Japanese with the older couple that ran the Izakaya. I wasn’t very confident with my Japanese but had to snicker a little at the many errors they were making in their attempt. I ordered up “Set A”, some beer, and some sake. The food came out and looked pretty promising, although in the end it was pretty basic. The food wasn’t bad but didn’t quite meet my expectations given the seafood hype surrounding this small town. I came to the conclusion that this place probably had a pretty good agreement with the hostel and it was the “go-to” recommendation for the staff to suggest. Not really too interested in those types of places, I quickly finished my food, drinks, and decided to return to the hostel to pick the brains of the two cute girls at the desk. I was determined to find some local gems and knew this small town had to be hiding a few.

The hostel actually offered several locally brewed beers which had caught my eye upon check-in. I figured I could get me a few of those while chatting with the staff in order to get a better feel for the area. I ordered a local lager upon my return and conversation was going smooth. It turns out neither of the girls were really from Ito and didn’t have a lot of knowledge of the local places. Regardless, I was able to find out a bit about them and exchange some light flirting since both spoke pretty good English. I posted up at the front desk for almost an hour before heading to my room to change into some evening clothes and do my own research of the area. After using my newly acquired app, I found an Izakaya located closer to the station that looked promising and pretty entertaining. On my departure the women were just finishing their work and the evening caretaker was taking over. I extended an offer to the one I had been chatting with the most to join me in my evening endeavours. She took me up on the offer and was willing to explore some new places in the area. I was determined to educate her on some cool spots so that future guests would be offered some more options! We took off down the street and exchanged some small talk. I hadn’t yet ran into my roommate but she did tell me about one person who was staying at the onsen who’d apparently gotten suuuuuper drunk in the common area each evening and had been socializing with a lot of the other guests. I wasn’t as excited to meet other travelers as I was to meet locals so I wasn’t too interested in running into him.

We approached the Izakaya and made our way upstairs to a super cool looking area filled with some private rooms and some booths for guests. While the city resembled a ghost town, the Izakaya was boasting a loud and energetic atmosphere. We secured ourselves a table and I began to get super excited to order up some snacks and drinks, pretty pleased with my findings. My guest was also pretty impressed with the find and even admitted that she wasn’t aware there was an izakaya such as this located in the town. I let her handle the food ordering and I got myself a highball. The prior dinner hadn’t really hit the spot but the gyoza and other snacks we ordered here were completely fire. It was delicious and with the accompany of a few highballs, really was the perfect nightcap. After finishing our food and partaking in good conversation, the Izakaya was finally preparing to close. We made our exit and said our goodbyes as I headed back to the onsen to soak a little (although you shouldn’t go to onsen after drinking!). I had planned on making my onsen stay pretty short given the amount I’d drank and the fact that I would have a full day the next day. As I got to my room, the lights were off and my roommate was already sleeping in his futon which meant I didn’t have to have any interactions with him. I was able to grab a change of clothes and sneak out to the onsen without making too much noise.

My overall plan for the next day was to wake early, go for a run along the coast, hit the private onsen, and then make my way to Hakone. I’d arrive in the southern part of the lake by bus, grab lunch, explore a little, then catch the boat across the lake to the gondola which would take me to the top of the mountain. Here I could get some amazing views of Mt. Fuji and then make my way down the backside of the mountain to Gora where I could grab dinner and catch a return bus to the station with my final destination being my hostel.