Bullet Train
Today was mainly a transfer day, we took a local bus to Tokyo Station to hop on a bullet train to Nagoya. The train traveled about 285 km/hr. We were very lucky to get super clear views of Mt. Fuji. Many people visit for multiple days and never see the peak of the mountain. Once in Nagoya, we picked up some lunch before getting on the express train to Tsugawa.
Tsumago
From Tsugawa we were picked up by a local bus to take to Tsumago. During the Edo period, Tsumago was the forty-second of the sixty-nine post towns, which connected Edo (present-day Tokyo) with Kyoto. In 1968, local residents began an effort to restore historical sites and structures within the town. We spent some time exploring and then had a short hike to our accommodations at the top of the mountain.
Kimono Dinner
We stayed at a small family-run guesthouse. It has been a guesthouse for more than 300 years. They offer a very traditional room with shared bathrooms. Included with the stay was a traditional dinner where you have the option to dine in a Kimono. It was quite funny to see all of the North Americans try to eat while sitting on the floor. After dinner we spent some time learning to make origami cranes to give as part of our visit to Hiroshima. We finished the night drinking saki with our travel companions while talking too much about politics.
