At Kinugawa Onsen

The Wisconsin-ALT Mid Year Recontracting Conference is a nice big way to say it, but it's more like a small workers' retreat, since the number of ALTs on the Wisconsin-Chiba program are a handful (this year there are only four of us) and the locations chosen for our get-togethers are usually nice spots for tourism outside of Chiba prefecture. Last year we ventured west to Yamanashi Prefecture and stayed at a ryokan on lake Kawaguchi, which is in the Fuji 5 Lakes Region and has a splendid view of Mt. Fuji; this year, we went north to Tochigi Prefecture and stayed in a cozy little hotel in the resort town of Kinugawa Onsen.

We took a private train from Asakusa in Tokyo and chatted for 3 hours as the landscape changed from urban sprawl to countryside. After changing trains only once, we ended up at Kinugawa Onsen Station, and from there it was about a 10 minute walk to our conference site: the quaint, if a bit run-down Hotel New Sakura. Once we found our rooms and divvied up the beds, we all gathered together for our conference meeting.

I think it lasted an hour, tops.

The rest of the time was spent partaking in intercultural-awareness activities (i.e. touring famous places, eating Japanese cuisine, and enjoying the hot-spring spas).

The hotel is situated along one side of the Kinu river. I got up early on Thursday to walk around and see what there is to see and found that Kinugawa has 5 bridges, and the three that I covered had little stamp stations on them, so of course I got out my trusty notebook and stamped. I asked the front desk workers at the hotel when I got back and they gave me a map with the Kinugawa Bridge Stamp Challenge on it. The brochure said that if I mailed it in to somewhere they'd send me a neat-o little plastic charm, so I resolved to obtain all 5 stamps the next chance I got. I found out Friday morning, while braving the torrential downpours on my noble quest, that the stamp stations don't exist anymore (except on the bridges I'd already been to) and that the Bridge Stamp Challenge was finished who knows how many years ago.

Aside from the Bridge Stamp Fiasco, the town is a nice place to walk. Basically you go up one side of the river gorge and down the other side, crossing bridges whenever the mood strikes. A very scenic place, and I can see how it'd feel even more cozy in the wintertime.

Of course I took pictures.