Enoshima Island from the bridge.
Just to recap, we had to carry our luggage from Shinjuku all the way out to Enoshima Island, where we would be spending our last night in Japan. We made our way from the monorail station out to the island, found the hotel, and were able to leave our bags at the front desk until we returned from the Kamakura adventure to check in properly.
The street entrance to Iwamotoro.
The Iwamotoro ryokan was one of the best experiences we had. I had wanted to end the trip on a note like this, at a “traditional” Japanese hotel, with the tatami floors, the kaiseki food, the ocean view…. I certainly picked the right spot. They even had my name written (in English!) on the board near the door. Excellent!
This was also the time I realized my Japanese was not up to snuff. I thought I was doing pretty well. I can understand a great deal of what’s said on Japanese TV, and movies, and I found I could read quite a lot. But from the very start they lost me here. I don’t know if it was a dialect thing or what. We ended up communicating in broken English and broken Japanese, but it got the job done quite nicely. I’ll have to write another post on the language problem later.
The view. Yes, thats Fuji-san in the distance.
We got moved into our room, and marveled at the ocean view from the room with Mt. Fuji in the distance. The wife decided to go for a swim in the pool, while I stayed behind to take a load off. I sat in the window area with the windows open, the ocean air was actually fairly cool.
Our room at Iwamotoro.
The Mrs. decided to take her bath downstairs in the “roman style” bath downstairs, while I, not wanting to move, just did my business in the room. After that it was the putting-on of the Yukata. Yeah, we both felt rather silly, sitting there on the tatami at the table in these matching robes. But that’s what you’re *supposed* to do, dammit!
Kaiseki Dinner at Iwamotoro.
Then the food arrived. These two smaller, older ladies came in toting these huge wooden trays about 3′ across. They started laying out the dishes, and more dishes, and still more, until they finished and we sat staring at the spread you see in the photos.
Broiled “spiny lobster”, shrimp tempura, sashimi, rice with tiny shrimp, grilled fish, boiled something or other, octopus… and a bunch of things I didn’t recognize but were oh-so tasty anyway. We took our time (just to finish it all) and got dressed again to go out exploring the island.
It was about 7:30pm by now, and already dark as we left the inn (no daylight savings time here!) and the place had shut down. I mean for real. All the shops were closed or closing up already, and the people by and large had vanished. We resigned ourselves to trying to find the lighthouse entrance. Surely that would still be open.
The Entrace to Enoshima Island's "main street."
Flight after flight of stairs took us around and around past countless stray cats (another post!), past the shrine and temple, and past the *closed* lighthouse entrance. Sigh. We did pass numerous couples out for an evening stroll, though. But I don’t think they were on a mission like we were.
We had one more mission. Find a beer in one of the numerous vending machines littered around the island. Everywhere else in Japan practically you could find one. Not here! We finally caught the last guy closing up his shop at the bottom of the hill and bought two beers from him just before he pulled the metal doors down.
Carefully and slowly we made our way back up the main street to the inn, and got back to our room. The table had been moved and the futons laid out, beckoning us to sleep, which we gladly did, for a while.
About 1:30 am our slumber was disturbed by the sound of bottle rockets and firecrackers. WTF?! A few more rounds ensued before we heard a shouting match start and finish, then nothing. Back to sleep. Wonder if this is a regular occurrence in these parts. lol.
Early morning on Enoshima Island.
We, well, OK, *I* awoke somewhat refreshed despite the interruption, and went downstairs for breakfast. Grilled fish, rice, miso soup with clams, a few other things…. oh so tasty.
From there it was a brief walk up and down the main street. It was already getting hot, so we figured we’d just pack up, check out, and get on our merry way. As we were checking out, one of the ladies gave us a rice bowl and tea cup with pictures of the island. And we didn’t bring them anything. Shame on us.
Our adventure was almost over. Now we just had to get home.
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