Yudanaka Onsen

We flew to Japan on Christmas Day and started our holiday with a couple of days relaxing at an onsen resort.  

We took the Shinkansen from Tokyo to Nagano and then a local train to Yudanaka Onsen village.  This is a nice mountain village near the famous Shiga Kogen ski area and the Snow Monkey onsen where wed had stayed last year  (tourist association website)

We stayed 2 nights at the well-known Yorozuya Ryokan (link) which has a beautiful old building and a rather less beautiful concrete annex across the road, where we stayed.

I was initially quite unimpressed, but the genius of Rika's booking was soon clear.   She had cut the cost dramatically by booking the annex (actually quite nice)...

...and with this package we could still enjoy the top-quality onsen banquets in the mail building.

We had two amazing multi-course kai-seki meals.

And nice wine and sake.

Rika was avery happy to enjoy wa-gyu beef again

Yorozuya Ryokan is known for its beautiful old bath-house building and large outdoor bath set in a lovely garden.

The large wooden bathtub has been designated as physical cultural property of Japan. 

It was very relaxing to sit in the outside bath and enjoy the cold air and the beauty of the garden.  

Especially at night.

Yudanaka town itself was very quiet.  The ski-season had barely started because the snow-fall had been very disappointing.

The town was running a lantern festival.  Children could make their drawings into lanterns and hang them up in a display near a public foot-bath.  Hannah drew a cat for her lantern of course.  

This is the view from our room in the hotel annex building.

Up the road was the DaihiDen Temple where I found a nice 'tai chi court' below the temple bell, and practiced my taichi at dawn and dusk enjoying a view of the valley and mountains

This is the Heiwa Kannon Statue, a 25 meter standing Kannon Statue of World Peace