Hamanako, Shizuoka

We take advantage of more prefecture sponsored travel promotions to get about 40000yen ($300 USD) in discounts for staying in Hamanako! Hamanako is located in Shizuoka Prefecture, which is only about 50 minutes by Shinkansen (bullet train) from Nagoya.

Hamamatsu and Hamanako, Day 1

We arrived in Hamamatsu in the early afternoon after riding the Shinkansen from Nagoya. From Hamamatsu station, it was about a 45 minute bus ride to the hotel we were staying at, which is connected to an amusement/water park. The parks are geared towards smaller children, and the hotel also has onsen (hot springs), so something for the whole family.

The Hotel Wellseason Hamanako is a convenient hotel being connected to the amusement park, and a bit pricey with some nice dining and a well maintained onsen. We found that there are only a limited number of hotels that qualify for the max promotional discounts, as there are minimum price per person/stay requirements. In the end though, we got about 30% off the bill so it was well worth it!

We headed to the lazy river pool and mini water slide area to cool off and enjoy the afternoon in the sun. It was small for a water park, so we only spent a couple hours before heading to the onsen and cleaning off before dinner. The onsen was pretty large, and was open for day use customers too. There were orange and clear water baths, indoor and outdoor too.

Hamamatsu is known for Unagi (eel), Gyoza (pot stickers) and Shirasu (mini/baby sardines)… so naturally the hotel ‘viking’ had all 3! The food was high quality, and we were extra hungry after skipping lunch!

They were grilling the eel over coals and serving them fresh so I went for thirds. The gyoza seemed pretty standard, they served them with bean sprouts and upside down, which was about the only unique thing I could find about them, but they were quite tasty too. We also got the large beer jockeys with a Shizuoka brewed Kirin special.

M enjoyed a little bit of unagi, but she preferred the steak, cheezy pasta and pizza.

The hotel had some variety for rooms, and we ended up with a mixture of western and Japanese. That meant we had beds and a tatami area where they laid out 1 futon for M.

Hamanako, Day 2

We started the day with the Kanzanji Ropeway (tram ride) to the view point for looking out on Hamanako. There was a gift store and some music boxes for sale, but not too much else to do up there except take a few pictures.

The rest of the day we spent in the Hamanako Pal Pal Amusement Park (Japanese site), which was not very crowded. The park is small sized, with just one big roller coaster and a ferris wheel. They had plenty of sun umbrellas to borrow for free, which was a nice touch. M had a lot of fun, and she enjoyed her chocolate parfait off the extensive kid’s menu at the park!

After another dip in the onsen, we were back at the dinner ‘viking’ and ate a lot of unagi again. While the food was still yummy, they were serving mostly the same stuff. I branched out to some items I skipped the night before.

We bought some drinks at the convenience store nearby, and some odd offerings caught my eye.

• Wine Soda, wth!? It was more like a wine + club soda, not a sparkling wine. They were also using some cheap wine, it felt watered down, so I wouldn’t recommend. In general, local wines are not very good… better stick to cheaper Norcal or European wines which you can find in larger supermarkets or liquor shops.
• Manly Ume (Pickled Plum) Sour!? Sometimes drinks/food get classified as ‘for men,’ which is an odd designation, but it usually means the taste is more intense and/or less sweet. In this case, it was more ‘pickled plum’ which is a salty and sour taste. I could go for this again, cause I’m a man. haha.
• Fujisan (Mt. Fuji) Sake! Mt. Fuji is nearby, so a local sake brewer is taking advantage! Like there is a huge variety of local wines in Europe, there is a large number of local sakes emphasizing the locally grown rice and/or mountain spring water. Honestly, I can’t remember how good the sake was, but was probably average.

We will have to do some sake tasting once we settle in, there are many grades and styles of sake, so I have a lot to ‘study.’ hic.

Nagoya, Day 3

After loading up on the breakfast ‘viking,’ we took a quick walk over to Kanzanji Temple just a few minutes away. Along the way we noticed a bunch of smaller ryokan (inns) and unagi specialty restaurants. I bet for couples without small kids, they would probably stay in one of these to avoid the crowds. The temple was up a flight of stairs and there was a large statue behind it. Not surprisingly, there is also a shrine next door. What’s the difference? Well, temples are Buddhist and Shrines are Shinto. The two religions coexist in Japan, sometimes occupying the same grounds. That lack of exclusivity also translates to people using both for different occasions/holidays. However, overall I would say people aren’t terribly religious, nor are things like abortion or evolution controversial topics.

Anyhow, we headed back to the train station by bus, took the Shinkansen back to Nagoya, and walked over to the Courtyard by Marriott about 15 minutes walk from Nagoya station. I had a bunch of Marriott Bonvoy points that we redeemed for the night. The hotel seems brand new, and felt nicer than a Courtyard back in the states, we just wished it was closer to the station.

We took the opportunity in Nagoya to take a look at a furniture store and get some ideas for our new place. Otsuka Kagu has a big showroom in Nagoya, so we got to see a a good variety of mid price to expensive furniture. We are thinking of a modern Japanese feel to our living/dining room, so it was fun to see and try various couches and tables.

For dinner, we wanted something non-Japanese, and we found an English themed pub. Hub looks to be part of a small chain, and while the decor and feel of the place could pass for an English Pub, the food was a bit sus. We got the fish and chips and some other appetizers, let’s just say we’ll try to find a better place next time.

End of the trip

And the next day, we headed back home to Mie which is actually pretty close to Nagoya. This was our last vacation during M’s summer break, it’s also nearing Obon holiday, which is a few days holiday for most companies and thus travel/hotel gets crowded and expensive. For us, we’ll switch gears and prep for moving into our new place and getting ready for school! Our home closing date is set for Aug. 19, and school starts on Aug. 22!