Golden Week 2019 in Yamanashi🎏

Edit: Went to this place and wrote this a year ago but never really published it for some reason. Now, I’m too lazy to edit stuff I’ve written so please do me a favor and keep in mind that this is me talking from a year ago hahahaha! Thank you!😆

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It's not a secret that Japan recently changed its emperor and with it came a change in the era name from Heisei to Reiwa. Along with those changes was an extension of Golden Week, from a series of four national holidays in a week (that is usually extended to a week)... to ten days! Yay! Of course being the go-getter (more like the vacation-getter lol) that I am, I took advantage of it and went to one of my go-to prefectures near Tokyo... Yamanashi! It is probably my most-visited place outside Tokyo but what made it different from all my other visits was that this time, I was with the beau's family. *confetti* Also, in spite of my numerous Yamanashi visits, most of the places we went to were my firsts~ So let's start this travelog of some sort, shall we?

Right! We stayed for 3 days and 2 nights there. The beau and I rode the train/s from Tachikawa to Kawaguchiko in Yamanashi which set us back ¥3,000~ each. The beau's family went by bus from Shinjuku since they came from Narita Airport. I would recommend buses if you have big luggages and if you have time. If you're traveling light and you want lesser travel time, then go for the train.

The beau and I arrived past 5PM at Kawaguchiko Station and of course, I had to get my ultimate soft cream fave- shingen mochi soft cream!!! It is sold in the cafe right inside Kawaguchiko Station. After the soft cream fix, the beau and I headed to the place we rented via Airbnb and waited for his family to arrive. It was raining so we really couldn't wait for anywhere else. The station has a waiting area with seats but then since it's Golden Week, lots of people were there. Good thing the place was just around 10min by foot. You might wanna keep that in mind when you travel to and in Japan during holidays. It really gets packed, like packed packed heh~

So yup, that was Day 1 lol. Nothing much done except for settling in the Airbnb and planning for the places we'll go.

Day 2 began with a very beautiful view of Mt. Fuji from the window. I think I've said it before, but take a snapshot or snapshotsss right away if you ever see it in full cos most of the time it hides behind large masses of clouds! Anyway, our first stop was the Fuji Shibasakura Festival and for that, we got a ¥2,000 combo ticket inclusive of the entrance fee and roundtrip bus fare. During the shibasakura/moss phlox season, there's a small kiosk right outside Kawaguchiko Station.

After 30minutes or so, I was presented with this view! Yassss for Reiwa colors in moss phlox/shibasakura form!!! Unfortunately, Mt. Fuji was shy that time so yup, no Mt. Fuji x shibasakura photo was taken.

It was a big place to roam around and there were other flowers except for the shibasakura. There were a few food and souvenir stores inside but not a single vending machine (which came off weird to me cos they are everywhere in Japan so there should be one, at least ). I found one outside the entrance while waiting for our bus back to Kawaguchiko Station. So yeah, you might wanna consider bringing your own drink if you ever go.

Next stop was Fujiyama Onsen aka my fave onsen (cos I have been there multiple times and recommended it to multiple people lol). Please take note that tattoos are not allowed in this onsen. Taking photos inside the public bath house itself is prohibited but in other areas of the vicinity, it’s fine. There are massage chairs, rest areas, and a restaurant, too. Below was my yummy ebi fry dinner! It rained again so I guess it was a perfect way to end the day before heading back to our Airbnb.

Day 3 and also our last day in Yamanashi. We checked out of the Airbnb and was again greeted by Mt. Fuji. Since we still wanted to roam around, we put our bags in coin lockers. There are a couple of them in Kawaguchiko Station but it gets occupied easily. Good thing there were coin lockers in front of 7-11 near Kawaguchiko Station, too. This set us back ¥400 to ¥500 (bigger lockers for suitcases).

We then went to Saiko Iyashino-Sato Nenba/Healing Village and enjoyed every reconstructed traditional house as much as we can. Each of the 20 thatched roof houses has something unique (from kendama to glassworks and more) to offer so I recommend this for those who'll be visiting Yamanasahi for the first time. There's an entrance fee of ¥350 for adults/¥300 children and it's open all year round!

Last but not the least, we impulsively went to Kawaguchiko Herb Garden to kinda see what's in it for us. I ended up buying ice cream, edible flowers, and a lavender pillow. How random lol???

Just across the street is Kawaguchiko/ Lake Kawaguchi so I sat down (and wept... we can be friends if you get this reference lol). Kidding, I just sat down and savored the brief silence and the nice view. Ain't that a beautiful ending for a trip? ♡

Hope you had fun browsing! Any recos to where I should go for the next Golden Week? I know it's still too early to ask but the early bird catches the fat worm, am I right? *wink*

Another edit: Right now I’m stuck at home being a responsible citizen and quarantining. No Golden Week for me this 2020 but I’d rather stay home than contract covid-19. I hope my fellow citizens are staying home as well (as much as possible) during this Golden Week. Please don’t risk your health and other people’s health in exchange for a few days of vacation/travel. Thank you very much and take care! We will get through this!♡ But yup, I still need recos on where to go next Golden Week (2021)! 

xx,
Alyssa

A Day in Kagurazaka

Tokyo has a myriad of pretty neighborhoods- there’s Shimokitazawa aka the hippie and vintage shop-clad neighborhood (which I frequent,) there’s Daikanyama aka the calm version of Shibuya that has its fair share of beautiful cafes and Japanese-owned shops, Yanaka Ginza aka the street of nostalgia cos it still has that old town “shitamachi” atmosphere and oh, an abundance of cats, literally and figuratively. 

And then there’s this neighborhood called Kagurazaka.

I first came across with it on a brochure I got from an information center somewhere in Ginza. I took the brochure home with the thought of visiting it if I ever have some time. Fast forward to a year later, last Saturday, I impulsively went with the beau cos our original plan of going to Shimokitazawa to meet a friend was cancelled. And so I thought of that Kagurazaka brochure hidden in the deepest and darkest pile of brochures of places in Japan and other countries I’ve visited throughout the yearsthat I keep in my  house  (yes, I’m that person lol). I didn’t find the brochure but yes, you guessed it right, I went.

Going was a good decision, I’d say. Scroll over the pictures from my visit and maybe, just maybe, you’d want to get lost in Kagurazaka one day, too. A good kind of lost, of course. *wink*

Coming out of Kagurazaka Station Exit B3 and heading left away from the main street, I saw this restaurant with a Kagurazaka name plate. From there, I can already see the first thing on my Kagurazaka list...

Akagi Shrine

This shrine was designed by Kengo Akuma which is the primary reason I went heh~

Details

Ema plaques

Coming out of the shrine from when we entered it, you can see a pretty restaurant on the left. If it was not too cold that day, I would have dine here al fresco~

Main Street

Picture cos matchy matchy lol

I find random shop facades so aesthetic for some reason

Atelier Kohta

Even the vending machine matches the *feels* of the area.

Found this pretty building while exploring the alleys of Kagurazaka.

A random house which reminds me so much of the windows I saw in Taiwan

Interesting window~

Kobo-chan statue dressed as a mouse~ 

Kobo-chan is a cartoon character from a popular column in Yomiuri Shimbun, a national newspaper here in Japan.

Baikatei, a small yet famous desserts shop along the main street of Kagurazaka

There are lots of sweets inside it was so hard for me to choose what to buy when I visited lol

I settled with this pretty dessert made of beans and sweet potato.

Throughout Kagurazaka Dori/ Main Street, there are maps like these. It’s quite helpful, I wish other touristy places in Japan have something like this.

Another food store

Side street

At the end of the Main Street, you’ll see a まん shop and of course, the beau and I tried it. We got the kuro buta man (黒豚まん) and it was delicious!

Ahhhh yummy!

Above the まんshop is an interestingly-named hair salon 

And that’s the end of the main street for you. 

It’s busy in the afternoons but it’s not too crowded, which makes up for a great afternoon stroll with some food trip on the side.

Other places to visit when in Kagurazaka:

-Canal Cafe

- Notes Kagurazaka

-Is Kagu

-Masanao Cosmetics

-Geisha Alley

-Bishamonten Zenkokuji

Hope you had fun scrolling over the photos cos I definitely had fun exploring the streets of Kagurazaka! It’s an old neighborhood but that’s definitely where the charm is! I wanna go back soon to explore more! Lemme know if you visited and what your favorite spots are, yes?

Alyssa