March 10: Yunohira spa
by Mie
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I was to be visiting to Yunohira hot spring
with some of the members of "Group of
Friends" to have a study today. Yang
and my husband joined it as well. We drove
up the destination for 40 minutes from home
through the occasional warm drizzling. The
hotel, "Shimizu", is located in
a small valley. It is run by Mr. and Mrs.
Shimizu, one of my close families of Yufuin
Music festival. |
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As our "Group of Friends" is closing
its fiscal year, we have planned to have
a sum-up meeting in a pleasant atmosphere.
As usual, we picked up some lines titled
"Work, rest, a life of man" from
a sentence "From the heart of an infant"
written by Motoko Hani, the founder of the
Group of Friends. After the meeting was over,
we walked out to the street. Yang looks like
pleasant to go with us. |
 
Yunohira hot spring features its old- style
slopes paved with stone on the both sides
of a gorge called Kagono that merges into
Oita river. Old stone paved slope under drizzling
rain provides us of a lot of atmosphere.
We enjoyed looking around the slope by chatting.
(Left picture) From the left, Keiko Inohara,
Yang, Etsuko Kouno, Rumi Aso, Mie, and Noriko
Takeuchi.
"Visitors staying at a spa to cure diseases
enjoy walking around the stone-paved street
in the spring drizzle."
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We dropped in a famous shop that sells
special
"Spa essence dumpling", which
is
so popular that always be sold out
before
the noon. We bought them quickly. We
taste
them and found the hot-soft skin made
from
black sugar was very delicious. |
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We stopped at another shop that displays
many unusual souvenirs such as bamboo crafts,
Konnyaku balls (jelly-like food made from
the starch of devil's tongue), buckwheat
noodles, and other rare items. We are busy
looking around this and that. We found a
piece of cake made from sugared grains of
millet. Yang said she can have a similar
cake in Korea as well. |
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After walking around the narrow slopes of
the spa streets, the lunch was ready to take.
The lunch box called "Shouka-dou Box"
contains a lot of spring-like ingredients
such as grilled Ayu fish, beefsteak, steamed
vegetables in an earthenware pod, and marinade
of fresh bud of Udo and octopus. We have
fully enjoyed the feast of the lunch.
"When I opened the lunch box, I found
a lot of spring ingredients packed densely
in it."
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After the lunch, we took the famed "Cave
Spa" that features the hotel. The spa,
surrounded with massive natural rocks, makes
us feel as if we were embraced in Mother
Earth. Abundant hot spring welling up from
the underground gently warms up my body.
I also enjoyed an open spa tab viewing a
small fall running down the rocks and beautiful
flowers of Ume and andromeda swinging in
the early spring wind.
"Pieces of Ume pedals drift down through
the hot spring river."
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We finally enjoyed a relaxed time in a wonderful
tea room.
"Vivaldi music quietly resonates in
a tea room with a fireplace of spring."
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A picture with , from left; Miss Yang, Mrs.
Shimizu (the landlady of the hotel), and
Mie.
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Today's extra
An unexpected COARA off-line meeting
at my
house in Fujimigaoka |
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I had a lot of guests this evening, it became
an unexpected off-line meeting at Fujimigaoka;
Mrs. Miyase in a blue coat who came to see
Yang, her kid Yuuri, and Miss Yang. |
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Left front is Mr. Kuboki who is scheduled
to visit Chicago next Sunday. He asked me
to see some maps and paper materials on Chicago.
Mr. Miyase, next, and Mr. Matsumura wearing
a suite. Mr. Matsumura came here to pick
up two copies of the book which was recently
published in Korea as an English textbook
used in a college in Masan, Korea. The book
quotes a part of "A personal record of Hiroshima A-bomb
survival" by the late Mr. Terao.
He will hand a copy of the book to Mrs. Terao.
The forward of the book was translated from
original Korean into English by Miss Yang,
then into Japanese by my husband.
I have had a pleasant day today. |