Checkout from the Toyoko Inn was at 10am as usual, but I made sure to take advantage of the complimentary breakfast beforehand. I went downstairs at 9am with Seth, and Derrick caught up with us later. This Toyoko Inn had the largest breakfast selection out of any one we have stayed at thus far. They had green salad, three types of tsukemono, four types of nigiri, bamboo shoots, kamaboko, toast, scrambled eggs, sausage, and teriyaki meatballs. They also had a drink machine that made cappuccinos, café au lauts, and plain coffee, along with hot tea and water. I was so full after finishing my meal, but it was so good!
We met with Don at 10am, and he planned to take us to see one more of Hitoshi Abe’s projects and return back to Sendai Mediatheque to visit the two library levels that were closed last night. We departed on foot to visit the Sasaki Office Factory for Prosthetics and Orthodics by Hitoshi Abe, but Norio, Shae, Derrick, and I got separated from the group and got a bit lost early on. Luckily, Norio was finally able to find directions to the building, and we took a bus for 180 yen to get to it. From the outside, the Sasaki Office Factory was not very impressive, but we went inside to get a short tour, and the interior of the building was much nicer. It was really hot and humid outside again today, so it was a nice break to be inside as well. After visiting the Sasaki Office Factory, we walked to the Sendai Mediatheque to meet the rest of the group. It was almost noon, so we had to start heading back to the hotel if we wanted to catch our 1:44am Shinkansen to Omiya then Echigoyuzawa. Norio and I, on the other hand, had plans to possibly visit another one of Hitoshi Abe’s interior design projects, Aoba-Tei. It was less than a block from the Sendai Mediatheque, but since it was highly exclusive, we couldn’t get into the building until 4pm. It was a major decision as to whether or not we would be able to visit it, but it was pretty much a once in a lifetime opportunity. We were split into two groups to separately visit the next two areas, so the other group didn’t even have the option of staying since the train schedule didn’t allow for them to leave any later. Norio and I, however, decided we would probably stay to get the exclusive tour. We went back to the Toyoko Inn to make sure no one else had changed their mind, and surprisingly, five people from our group wanted to stay and go with us. We hung around the hotel for a couple of hours, then walked back to Aoba-Tei to meet with one of the workers at that time.
Visiting the Aoba-Tei restaurant and being able to see the interior was absolutely amazing! I can’t even put the experience into words, but as a whole, I’m completely glad that I went. From talking with one of the workers, Norio found out that only the owner’s friends and friends of friends were allowed to eat at the restaurant, and reservations had to be made in advance in order to visit and eat at the restaurant. It was extremely high class, and I still can’t believe we were allowed to go in there and photograph the space. Wow! We got done around 4:45pm, then happily walked back to the Toyoko Inn to pick-up our luggage and catch the next Shinkansen to Omiya. We grabbed some snacks in the station to hold us over, since we didn’t have time to eat dinner. The total trip time from Sendai to Omiya was about an hour and a half, and I slept for the majority of it. The next train ride from Omiya to Echigoyuzawa was about an hour, and I didn’t sleep at all on this shorter trip.
We arrived in Echigoyuzawa around 8pm and experienced some difficulty in finding our onsen. It was up a hill and down some smaller streets, so Norio ended up having to call the onsen in order for them to come find us. The guy from the onsen ended up giving us a ride back to the accommodations, so that was really nice after a long day of travel. The rest of the night, Shae and I enjoyed the hot spring public bath and relaxed in our room. The room is similar to the one we stayed in at the ryokan in Miyajima, so it has so far been a very pleasant experience. There is no internet here, but luckily I have full service on my phone. Once again, I am very glad that I have it. Tomorrow, checkout is theoretically at 10am, but since the other group will be staying in our rooms tomorrow night, we don’t actually have to leave at any specific time if we don’t want to. Japan’s largest ropeway is supposedly a few blocks away from here, so we might go check that our in the morning. I looked it up on my phone, and it doesn’t open until 10am and it only costs 300 yen. What a deal! Hopefully that works out, and then we will head to Tokamachi to stay at James Turrell’s House of Light tomorrow night. I am definitely really excited about that since I am a huge fan of James Turrell……
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