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Daily Journal
Tuesday, November 28th and Wednesday, November 29th, 2000 What was the one thing I said I wouldn't eat in Japan? Blowfish... guess what? I ate blowfish! I'm still alive. Actually it was pretty tasty. It tasted like rubbery herring in cream sauce. How did I let this happen? Today's adventure was a stay at a traditional Japanese inn, a ryokan. Have you ever wanted to stay in pajamas all day and night, sleep on the floor, eat your meals at a long coffee table and stay in the hot tub as long as you want? Well, if so, this is the place for you! Our ryokan was on the outskirts of Kobe (pronounced Ko-bay), a mountainous village outside of Osaka. At the bottom of the hill leading to the inn, we needed to get out of our comfortable motor coach and take mini buses (vans) up the final steep incline. The "bellmen" were ladies in kimono who lugged my suitcase up two flights of steps after we checked our shoes at the door.  Rooms were
assigned to groups of three people.
 My roommates for the evening were Mrs. Planner and Mrs. Salzman. Do you remember them? Mrs. Planner is the one I said I would never sit next to again, because we get in too much trouble together. Needless to say, we did a lot of laughing that night.  We weren't in the room three minutes before there was a knock on the door; that kimono lady came in to serve us tea.  To complete the ambiance, we changed into yakatas (summer kimono) and haori (jackets worn over kimono to keep warm.) This was to be the official dress for the remainder of our stay.    Soon it was time for dinner. We entered a tatami room (slippers off) with two long low tables with cushions at each place setting.   We were served a nine course traditional Japanese ryokan meal. This is where the blowfish comes in. For those of you who don't understand my aversion to blowfish, let me explain. Blowfish is a very expensive delicacy in Japan. However, its internal organs are poisonous to humans. You will die if the blowfish has not been prepared correctly! Our guide, Wakako, was asked about the contents of the small blue bowl. Unfortunately, the question was not answered until it was too late: the blowfish had already passed my lips! We also had Kobe beef (world famous) and some type of mushroom, which is one of the most expensive in the world. I guess that made up for the blowfish scare. The women went off to the hot springs after dinner. The water comes from natural springs found in volcanic areas. The water is very hot! It was the most relaxed I've been in a long time. When I returned to my room, three futons were laid out on our tatami floor. (I kept forgetting to take my slippers off before walking on the tatami mats!) Breakfast the next morning was a traditional ryokan breakfast. Miso soup, rice, a custard type thing with chicken in it, a hotpot with meat and veggies, salad, cooked salmon, and many other unidentifiable foods. Immediately after breakfast, we rode to the Shinkansen (bullet train) for our return to Tokyo and the final days of this adventure. We were lucky that the weather was clear, for we were treated to a one-minute glimpse of Mt. Fuji. Clouds that mimicked the shape of the peak surrounded the snow-capped mountain. It was the perfect end to our Toyonaka group adventure! 
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