Minakami

After returning from Thailand, Michael and I spent a long weekend in Minakami. Minakami gets some of the highest snowfall in Japan. When we arrived there was about 3 feet on the ground, and at least 2 more feet fell while we were there. Another great thing about this trip was that it was our first experience with the Shinkansen (bullet train).

Our "hotel" had traditional, Japanese style rooms, which consisted of tatami mat floors, and futons to sleep on. The futons are not like in the States - they have no frame - it's more like sleeping on several feather beds. As a side note, I think Michael is allergic to either tatami mats or futons because he was just miserable the entire time we were in the room, poor guy. Good thing we had lots to do!

One of our activities in Minakami was to go on a snowshoing tour. We had a great time and met some really nice people. Our tour guide brought hot tea along - this picture is of our tea break.

Here is the top of the mountain where we were snowshoing. The snow was in a huge drift and was way over our heads.

After all our outdoor adventures, Michael and I went to a local Onsen - a natural hotspring. This particular onsen is very well known for being one of the largest outdoor onsens in Japan, and is mixed (both men and women in the same pools).

We don't have any pictures because, you know, there were naked people there, and we didn't want to look like weirdos with the camera out. I wish I had pictures, though. It was more amazing than I can describe, sitting outside in the steaming water with snow piled all around. To top it off, the day we went it was snowing in big beatiful flakes. Heaven!