I Say You Yunessun and Relax in Hakone, Japan

If you're headed to Hakone Yumoto in Japan after a hard day of viewing Mt. Fuji be sure to make one of your stops at either an Onsen or the Yunessun.

An Onsen is the Japanese version of a Hot Tub but only sorta. The idea behind an Onsen is that you wash yourself thoroughly prior to entering the Onsen. Then the Onsen is simply a hot water bath. Male and Female are separated as you go 'O Natural'. Although, this is a pleasant experience and and a 'must do' if you're in Japan you can't spend time with your Kids or Partner in the Onsen. Another option in Hakone, Japan is the Yunessun.

The Yunessun is a bathing suit wearing waterpark. However, it's not a water park in the North American manner. Yes, there are three water slides (or Rodeo slides as they're called). However, the real features of the Yunessun come with the water baths. There are over 30 water baths at the Yunessun. These range from simply hot water to Coffee to Wine to Sake to Salt Water. Here's a run down of some of the more popular water baths and my thoughts (pictures from the Yunessun website).

Coffee

The Coffee Water bath, although, sounds good in principal is actually not that well done. I was really looking forward to this bath as it sounded terrific. However, it didn't smell very strongly like coffee.

Wine
The wine bath is neat because it makes everything look really pink. The bath again doesn't have a distinct 'wine' smell but it definitely looks neat.

Green Tea
The Green Tea bath is not suprisingly the strongest smelling bath. It really smells as if you're soaking in Green Tea.

Sake
The Sake bath didn't smell strongly of Sake, however, right above where the water drops into the bath a drip of Sake is released every 20 seconds or so. You can actually go and taste the Sake above the water if you like!

Dead Sea Salt Bath
The dead sea salt water bath was really cool. It made your skin and the pool feel really slimey but the neatest part is the weightlessness. You are literally buoyant in the water and can just lie on your back and float around. It's really cool!

All that being said the highlight of the whole Water Park or Yunessun is the Garra Rufa fish as I mentioned here. It's quite the experience having a group of fish gnawing at your feet.

We went on a Sunday which is one of the busier days and it was actually not as busy as we'd expected. Overall I'd say if you're looking for a nice day of relaxing visit the Yunessun. Be warned that you do need at least 2-3 hours to really see and enjoy everything at the Yunessun.

Mt. Fuji and Garra Rufa (Doctor Fish) - Hakone Yumoto, Japan

Our first day in Hakone Yumoto we did quite a bit of exploring. Instead of doing the whole circle with the buses, boats, etc. we ventured straight for a view of Mt. Fuji. Today we only had to go Bus -> Cable Car -> Ropeway (what we call cable car).

When we got to the top of the Ropeway Mt. Fuji was in full glory, super neat! The funniest part of the whole thing was we took a ropeway (cable car) up to the top. Right when you get to the top Mt. Fuji LITERALLY pops out of nowhere. You seriously can't see the mountain then BOOM Mt. Fuji. Anyway, when we went up this morning we were looking backwards and then suddenly we hear about 15 excited japanese ladies all saying Fujisan, Fujisan, Fujisan.... Which, obviously, means Mt. Fuji and is the respectable way of speaking about the mountain. Anyway, I wish we would have made a video of it because it was so awesome.

The highlight of the day though was the fish eating thing I think they're called Garra Rufa fish or Doctor Fish. Basically, you sit down and put your feet in the water then tons of fish come swimming to your feet and start knawing, eating, devouring your feet, specifically, at the dead skin cells. For those of you who have seen my feet will know that I was definitely a popular man at this pool. Let's just say I could probably feed an entire lake of these Garra Rufa. Anyway, it was definitely an experience not to be missed! I'll make another post about it when I have the picture scanned.

We then headed back down the mountain and off to Kyoto. Be warned that if you're trying to leave Hakone Yumoto around 3pm by bus (on a Sunday) that traffic can be quite heavy. We sat in the bus for about an hour when the bus ride is normally about 15-20 minutes. The solution would be to transfer to the Gora - Hakone Yumoto train ASAP. It was a good time for a much needed nap, however, it did mean we ended up in Kyoto around 8:30pm.

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The Best Time to See Mt. Fuji

Today we were lucky enough to see Mt. Fuji. Sure it wasn't as clear as we would have liked, but it was still surreal to see Fujisan, as the Japanese call the revered mountain.

Based on our limited knowledge we've determined that the morning is the best time to see Mt. Fuji. We were able to get up to the Owakudani viewing area around 10:30 am and were able to have a clear view of Mt. Fuji. When we were leaving at around 11 the haze and cloud were starting to block the view of the mountain.

If you're looking to get an early start the earliest the Ropeway opens (which we call a cable car) is at 8:45am. However, you'll probably need to take the cable car up the mountain from Gora to Sounzan first. The first cable car is also at 8:45 am. If you're looking to be on the Ropeway at 8:45 then ask information which bus to take up to Sounzan.

As a side note from our experience... the mountain is VERY symmetrical which makes picture taking terrific. We took over 100 photos of the beautiful mountain and took some not centered in the middle. Although, these were neat shots the natural symmetry of Mt. Fuji makes taking a centered picture very simple and easy.

All in all seeing Mt. Fuji is one of the highlights of our trip to Japan. If you have a chance to visit Hakone it's worth venturing out just for a chance to see the wonderful mountain. The view that you have at the Owakudani Viewing Area is so close and clear that you'll truly be amazed!

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