Rokudaime

Haven't had time to update lately. The day before yesterday (March 14th) we left Kyoto and went to Hakone, a nice and smaller town close to Mt. Fuji. We went to a ryokan (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ryokan_(inn) some way up in the mountain heights of Hakone, and stayed there overnight, in order to be able to see Mt. Fuji up relatively close, and in order to bathe in the natural, geothermal hot springs that are there. The ryokan is built around one of them. The journey was long, and the weather was bad (so we couldn't see the mountain or much of anything else either), so we didn't do much else that day except to bathe in the hot spring for hours, which was great. I also went and got a massage in the spa. The ryokan gives everyone yukata to wear while you're there, so that was kind of cool. No pictures of the hot spring, as we (understandably) couldn't bring cameras or cellphones into the hot spring area.

Yesterday (March 15th) we had amazing weather (YES!), so we got a perfect view of the mountain, and took lots of pictures. We then left the hotel, and went down the mountain in cablecars, which gave us a great view. We then went across the nearby lake in a boat that looked like an old pirate ship, which was cool. Lots of beautiful nature to see along the way. We then went to eat, visited a park, and I saw more eagles again. We then started on our long journey back to Tokyo, where we will be spending the rest of our trip. So there might be less attractions in the nearby future, and more shopping and eating. Oh, and I forgot to mention, we visited the Evangelion shop in Hakone (since the anime has scenes that take place there, or in an area that looks like it/is based on it) briefly, but we didn't have time to take pictures, and anyway, I'm not into the series.

Today we had no special plans, and needed to recharge after yesterdays's long journey, so went to eat okonomiyaki (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Okonomiyaki) at a restaurant that let's you eat and drink as much as you want for 90 minutes (though you have to order the last portion 30 minutes before the time runs out), for only 1500 yen. After that we mostly just spread out in different groups and went shopping. We spent some time in Harajuku, Ikebukuro, and Akihabara. The latter of course being a place we will be going back to a lot more.