Nasu, A Child's Playground
I didn’t always feel that way when I first arrived in Japan, we often did couple sorts of things, a lazy afternoon chardonnay in some poncy restaurant, a lot of selfish ‘us’ time.
That was until we had Sofia. Now we see the world through different eyes, her eyes! The world seems so much more interesting now, the way the sun glints through the overlapping tree leaves, the soft feather left behind on a grass tuft by the wind, even the myriads of tiny wild flowers growing at the bases of trees.
So this time when we visited Nasu in Tochigi prefecture we tailored our trip to her needs and wants. We stayed at a cabin for the night, we visited the hot springs outside so she could wear her togs and splash about, and we even indulged in making tiny snowmen out of the fallen snow, all for her, our little princess.
(Note: The pools visited were Aqua Venus and contain both nude and clothed type of pools. The Sun Valley hotel is adjacent should you wish to stay over night and indulge in their hotel onsenA hot spring, often used for bathing. Bathing facilities are often, but not always, communal. May be outdoor or indoor. , which is nice if you like to see the snow falling around you while relaxing in the water, also their dinner and breakfast buffets are fabulous)
One ideal destination for littlies is the farm styled Minami Gaoka, it hosts a store to buy fresh cheese, cream, milk, ham and so forth as well as wooden souvenirs. Our first stop was to buy some goat food like pellets from a machine and toss them to the swirling carp in the tiny waterway. Sofia was amazed at how fast they moved in the water and indeed how fast they gobbled up our ￥200 worth of pellets!
Next we watched older kids and adults riding donkeys and horses, we chose instead to walk a bunny rabbit around a small grass enclosure for 20 minutes, after 5 minutes had passed by Sofia was far more interested in the kid goats leaping and baying around their mother! Had the weather been friendlier we would have tried our hand at archery or fishing, if you catch the fish you can then cook it in a open house style area with a covered roof at your own little bbq styled oven. We did though enjoy a cup of fresh milk and a cone of fresh icecream at the store.
The next destination we chose was the Nasu Teddy Bear Museum. After paying the entry fee of around ￥1000 per adult we entered the wonderland of displayed Teddy Bears from around the world and from different time periods. A rather large moving Teddy Bear greeted us at the entrance of the museum in both Japanese and then English asking us to please enjoy the museum beyond. Sofia darted on her little legs from display case to display case totally immersed in the world of teddy bears!
Her squeals of delight brought smiles to our faces. After traipsing around and around and around the museum again we parents felt tired thus wanting to slip off to the Teddy Bear café. On the way though, Daddy, who is truly wrapped around his little girl’s finger purchased a rather cute pink teddy chosen by Sofia!
The café itself was so quaint, with a sideboard filled with cups and saucers and various other condiment containers, all of course with Teddy prints on. Wooden tables and chairs filled the room and this looked out to lovely windows which must provide an equally amicable view in the summer months. Our table was occupied by a rather distinguished looking teddy who was rather well behaved during our tea break. We took home the paper napkins as scrap booking material as they too had teddy bears on them!
So if you have a littlie or littlies or just like getting out and about in general, the countryside of Nasu is sure to appeal to you.
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