Kinosaki-Onsen and Takeno-Beach

That was a very peculiar event. After our trip in the Nozomi 500 series and arrival in Kyôto without any delay - what´s unusual compared to German trains - after approximately 580 kilometres, 3 stops at Shinagawa, Yokohama and Nagoya and exactly 2hours and 20 minutes later I finally understood the meaning of a Superexpress and I realised also why the German ICE can not be classified as such one. Like in a plane you are rushing through the prairie complemented with the outstanding service of the whole personnel. That´s definitely worth the money! By the way the Nozomi Shinkansen is still running the former Tôkaidô, an extremely important business route not only of the medieval age connecting the former Edo (nowadays Tôkyô) with the Kansai area, more precisely Ôsaka and Kyôto. Another vital route has been the Tôzandô, leading from Edo to Niigata prefecture. After arriving at Kyôto the trip was continued in an excursion train-like vehicle with the destination Kinosaki-Onsen, a very well known getaway of Western Japan. There you find a traditional street running through the little village seamed by scores of small shops and restaurants - every now and then you find a beautiful house of the Onsen among them. Each Onsen has its own topic e.g. there is the Mandala Onsen, reminding the visitor of a buddhist temple whereas another one is connected with a storck legend or is claiming to had been visited by the emperor in former times. The most outstanding feature though is that you are normally staying in one of the hotels of Kinosaki street and taking it as your base you are visiting the Onsen scattered throughout the village dessed with Yukata and Geta. This is a very notable feeling which should provide some sense of medieval Japan. In doing so the entrance fee of every Onsen is not needed to be paid as it is covered by the hotel you are staying in - no matter how often you want to go inside. That relieves the initial concern a bit as the hotels of Kinosaki are not cheap at all. Visitors arriving without a place to stay or being on short trip have to pay 600 Yen when entering which shall be around 5US$ or 2,50 GBP. That appears to be acceptable as you will hardly be able to visit more than three Onsen a day, also regarding the effect to the cardiovascular system and because the Onsen here are truly peculiar. The springs here are fairly hot, around 50 degrees or more. Every Onsen has got an own Rotenburo (outdoor spring) in their garden which is one of the most beautiful things in Japan at all to my mind. There are also great variations in the design of those Rotenburo. Thus you can enjoy the feeling sitting in a cave or having a bath in the rainforest. This is an absolute must to my mind!

After that I had the chance to swim in the Japanese Sea for the first time in Takeno-beach, only 10 minutes away from Kinosaki by train. The Japanese Sea is comparable with the Baltic Sea or North Sea in the northern part of Germany but the environment surrounding it is completely different as there are always some mountains or hills in the vicinity. At any rate it is a quite nice feeling swimming there. Unfortunately the Japanese consider the beach as a kind of party meeting rather than going there to enjoy some quiet time. Therefore one won´t be able to feel being around a nice beach somewhere far away in the Caribbean...