Run, eat, bathe in Nasu-Shiobara (Tochigi)

I’m a huge fan of hot springs (onsen). So is my family. So we went on an over-night trip to Nasu-Shiobara, a few hours drive or an hour on a bullet train from Tokyo. A family trip for the first time in 10 years.

It wasn’t my first time in Nasu-Shiobara. I’d come here before to hike Mt. Nasu with friends when I was a sophomore at university. It’s located in the northeastern part of Nikko National Park and known for its colorful scenery in the autumn.

It’s also a big hot spring spot. We stayed near Sesshoseki (Killing Stone), a stone that captured the spirit of the Tamamo-no-Mae, an evil spirit from a Japanese folklore. Legend has it that it kills anyone who touches it. Earlier in March, it split in two and rumors went around that the spirit had escaped.

Some images from the area where we stayed

A typical onsen trip (trip to the hot springs) goes like this: We arrive. We go to the bath, nap, eat, bathe, nap, eat, bathe and repeat. The entire area smells of sulfur and for those new to hot springs might find this rather weird but for me and my family, it smells like home.

Hot springs are said to have various health benefits and it’s actually really exhausting just taking a bath. The ryokan (sort of like a B&B, a traditional Japanese inn) we stayed at had tatami floors, comfortable futons and endless supply of hot green tea. And the food, my god. I have to show you.

In my current home (Berlin), when I talk about Japanese food, people talk about Sushi and Ramen. But oh no, to get the full experience please just go to one of these ryokans.

The next morning, my entire family got up at 5am so we can go to the bath again. I went for a quick run in the mountains instead.

I took a quick bath and now we’re ready for breakfast! We’re big on breakfasts in Japan which surprises a lot of my friends in Europe. Since moving to Berlin, I started eating oatmeal over rice then stopped eating breakfasts all together, just a cup of coffee. So it was super nice to be excited about breakfast.

This was a Monday so my brother had to be back in the office by noon. We dropped him off at the station and received a message an hour later that he was already back at the office in central Tokyo. In the meantime, my parents and I hit the road. It took us 4 hours to get back but with some perks too.