Weekly Topics/Archive
April 2023 |
On April 16th, I went on an overnight hot spring trip to Miyanoshita in
Hakone with my wife.
The following day we went to see the 10th anniversary exhibition “Jakuchu
and Isson －Transcending time －”at the Okada Museum of Art in Kowakien.
I was back at my home in Yokohama for the past week to enjoy golf with
my old
co-workers.
My wife suddenly asked me to go to a neaby hot spring in line with my returning
to Kusatsu
on the 16th.
[Note] Jakuchu ; 若冲(江戸時代の絵師、伊藤若冲)、一村(昭和期の画家、田中一村)
transcend time ; 時を越える、 in line with ～ ; ～に合わせて、～に一致して
So, the day before, I tried to search for a hot spring inn on the internet.
I thought I wouldn't be able to make a reservation for tommorrow, but to my surprize, I was
able to find a room available.
It was the KKR Hakone Miyanoshita.
This is a recreational facility of the National Public Servants Mutual
Aid Association, but
recently the general public seems to be welcomed as well.
According to KKR, only the general “kiga Kaiseki” plan is available, so
I made a
reservation immediately.
April 16th was a Sunday, so it might have been vacant.
[Note] hot spring inn ; 溫泉宿、 the general public ; 一般人
National Public Servants Mutual Aid Association ; 国家公務員共済組合
Since we were not in a hurry, we headed to Odawara station from Yokohama
station on
the JR conventional train line.
From here, we took the Hakone Tozan Railway to get to Miyanoshita.
Forein tourists were conspicious at Odawara Station and Hakone Yumoto Station, which
are bases for Hakone.
Is it because the border control measures for Covid-19 have been relaxed
and inbound
tourism has resumed?
[Note] be in a hurry ; 急いでいる、 conventional train line ; 在来線
conspicious ; 目立つ、人目を引く、 border control measures ; 水際対策
inbound tourism ; インバウンドの観光旅行、 resume ; 再び始まる、再開する
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| At Hakone Yumoto Station on the Hakone Tozan Railway (2023.04.16_15:06) |
Hakone Tozan Railway is the only full-scale mountain railway in Japan.
Moreover, it is said that the train climbs the second steepest slope in
the world.
Among them, the section between Tonosawa Station (165 meters above sea
level) and
Miyanoshita Station (448 meters above sea level) has the largest difference
in elevation.
The switchback method is adopted in three places in this section due to the continuous
steep slope.
[Note] full-scale ; 実物大の、本格的な、 mountain railway ; 登山鉄道
steep slope ; 急斜面、 section ; 区間、 ～meters above sea level ; 標高～メートル
difference in elevation ; 標高差、 switchback method; スイッチバック法
After leaving Tonosawa Station, the train crossed the Deyama Railway Bridge
and
turned sharp to the left before arriving at the Deyama Signal Station.
This is the first switchback point.
There was an announcement in the train saying , “you can see the Deyama
Railway
Bridge you just crossed. You can't get off here because it's a signal station.”
We can see the train driver and conductor taking turns.
The picture is Deyama Railway Bridge(official name:Hayakawa Bridge) taken
from
the train stopping at Deyama Signal Station.
This is a scenic spot where you can see the railway bridge, the valley
and deep forest.
[Note] Deyama Railway Bridge ; 出山鉄橋、 turn sharp to the left ; 左へ急カーブする
Signal Station ; 信号所、 conductor ; 車掌、 take turns ; 交代する, scenic ; 眺めの良い
Pls click the picture to see a full-size version
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| The view of Deyama Railway Bridge on the Hakone Tozan Railway (2023.04.16_15:22) |
The Deyama Railway Bridge is an iron bridge built at a height of about
43 meters above
the riverbed of the River Hayakawa and it seems to be the oldest existing
iron bridge in Japan.
The train slowly weaves its railroad through the steep mountain.
The mountains of Hakone are completely covered in fresh green and refreshing.
After this, switchbacks were made at Ohira Station and Kami-Ohiradai Signal
Station.
[Note] riverbed ; 川床、 existing ; 現存する、
weave its way through ～ ; ～の間を縫うように進む、～の間をねくねと通り抜ける
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Kamiohiradai Signal Station at a height of
346m above sea level (2023.04.16_15:32) |
The train that switches back at the Kamiohiradai Signal Station (Same as left) |
We arrived at Miyanoshita Station about an hour after leaving Odawara
Station.
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Miyanoshita Station at a height of
436m above sea level (2023.04.16_15:39) |
The mountain train leaving
Miyanoshita Station (Same as left) |
We were picked up by a. courtesy car at Miyanoshita Station to get to
KKR.
KKR Miyanoshita was in such a place.
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| One-night hot spring trip(KKR Miyanoshita & Okada museum of Art) route
(2023.04.16-04.17) |
KKR Miyanoshita is located in a forest of gresh greenery, and has the
appearance of a
recreation facility of the National Public Servants Mutual Aid Association.
The room was 8 tatami mats in size, and it was brand-new and clean as if
it had just been
renovated.
Immediately, we went to soak in an open-air hot spring called “Seseragi
no Yu”.
It was about 200 meters' walk through forest corridor (small path) from
the front door.
I enjoyed the hot spring water flowing from the source in a relaxed manner.
[Note] fresh greenery ; 新緑、 8 tatami mats in size ; 広さ8畳
renovate ; 改装(リフォーム)する、 soak in an open-air hot spring ; 露天温泉で浸かる
_ meters' walk ; 歩いて_メートルのところに、 corridor ; 回廊、 free-flowing hot spring
flowing from the source ; 源泉掛け流し、 in a relaxed manner(way) ; ゆったりと
The address around here is Kiga, Hakone-machi, Ashigarashimo-gun, and
the source is
Kiga Onsen.
The spring quality is a week alkaline simple hot spring, and the spring
temperature is
57.5℃.
Kiga Onsen has a long history, and is said to have opened between the end
of the Heian
period and the beginning of the Kamakura period.
It is selected as one of the Seven Hot Springs of Hakone during the Edo
period, and it is
said that the hot water was presented to the Tokugawa Shogunate.
Accoding to Wikipedia(Hakone Onsen), threr is a legend about the origin of Kiga Onsen
as follows.
During the Jisho-Juei War, Yoshinari Kiga who served Minamoto no Yoritomo,
was injured in a battle.
But he returned to the battle after healing his wounds with the hot spring
water that gushed
out from thie land.
After that, Yosinari, who became the head of the land, named the place
Kiga, and the name
of the hot spring came to be called Kiga Onsen.
[Note] legend ; 伝承、伝説、 Jisho-Juei War (Genpei War) ; 治承・寿永の乱(源平合戦)
be injured ; 負傷する、 heal one's wounds ; (人の)傷を癒す
gush out ; (液体が)流れ出す、(温泉が)湧き出る、 become the head of the land ; 地頭になる
For dinner at the restaurant, we enjoyed a creative cuisine called “Kiga
Kaiseki”, featuring
flavors from the mountains and the sea.
Of course, I enjoyed local sake,“Hakone no Shizuku”.
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| Kiga kaiseki cuisine (2023.04.16_18:08) |
Local sake “Hakone no shizuku
(2023.04.16_18:32)” |
Before going to bed, I soaked in an indoor hot spring called “Hyotan no
Yu”.
It was a small indoor bath and I had the place to myself.
Along with the ingredients list of the hot spring, ther was a poster about
the legend of
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Legend about the origin of
Kiga Onsen |
Kiga Onsen.like this.
As an aside, I decided to check the facts of this legend
in the original text.
Recently, chatGPT has become more and more noisy in
the world.
So, I asked this AI about the source of this legend.
The Q&A is shown below.
Surely, there are limitations to extracting answers to such
questions from the principales of this AI, aren't there?.
However, the AI has made it clear that it can't answer my
question honestly and has given me advice on how to
elicit an answer.
AI is also becoming a great tool, isn't it?
Pls click the picture to see a full-size version
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Q&A on ChatGPT about the place (volume) of “Miyakino Village” where
the legend of
Kiga Onsen is recorded in the Sagami Fudoki |
Tomorrow, we are going on a field trip to the Okada Museum of Art.
[Note] I(We) have the place to myslf(ourselves) ; 貸し切り状態です
along with ～ ; ～と一緒に、 ingredients list ; 成分リスト(一覧表)、 as an aside ; 余談として(だが)
original text ; 原文、原典、 there are limitations to ～ ; ～には限界がある
extract answers from ～ ; ～から答を引き出す、 elicit an answer ; 回答を引き出す
Sagami Fudoki ; 相模国風土記稿
(Fudoki=Ancient geographical and cultural records of each Japanese province)
go on a field trip to a Museum ; 美術館を見学する
To be continued Wtopics-2.307 / “Enjoying hot spring in Hakone and visiting
the Okada Museum of Art (2/2) －Visiting the 10th anniversary exhibition “Jakuchu
and Isson at the Okada Museum of Art”－” (Coming soon)
Japanese diary-2.1123 / 「箱根の温泉を堪能して岡田美術館へ(1/2)
－箱根登山鉄道で宮ノ下温泉へ－」
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