Exploring Suimeikan in Gero, Japan
After dinner and enjoying my final hot spring bath, I headed down to the first floor to look around the building. It's a ryokan (traditional Japanese inn) that offers as much to see as its massive size suggests. (Honestly, they call it a ryokan, but it's no different from a five-star hotel. It's only called a ryokan because of the rooms and the hot springs.)
Suimeikan is, of course, a place the Emperor of Japan has visited. A whole wall is completely covered with a series of photos from his visit. And as expected, elderly Japanese guests were looking at them closely and chatting about it.
Taking the escalator up to the second floor reveals an entertainment area that has everything, from karaoke to a club. At a quick glance, it seemed like families were heading to the karaoke rooms while middle-aged women were mostly going to the club.
He must be a really famous singer because his posters are plastered everywhere you can stick a notice, starting right from the elevators. A group of middle-aged women hurried over and roughly asked the ticket taker,
"How long has it been?"
"It just started."
After this brief exchange, they shouted "Yokatta~ Yokatta~" (Thank goodness!) and went inside looking incredibly excited.
The most interesting thing to me was the old photos of Suimeikan. They are in black and white, but looking at them makes you think,
'So this is what it used to be like~'
There are so many fun and well-taken photos that really capture the past.
Since I'm heading back tomorrow, and have to wake up early to do so, I figured I'd have a quick glass of whisky before bed and stopped by the bar.
Since I'm in Japan, I had a glass of Nikka Whisky. I don't really like whisky, so it was just okay. I just wanted to do a little something extra on my last night before leaving.