The Gora Kadan

The Gora Kadan

When you walk off of Mt Fuji, there are many words to describe you. Weary. Sweaty. Dirty. Messy. Aching. When you walk into the Gora Kadan, you can forget all that. It is like walking into another world. 

DAY ONE- GORA KADAN EXPERIENCE (A SOAK IN AN ONSEN AND AN AMAZING DINNER)

Well, to start things off, I was pretty nervous. The hotel staff were dressed in traditional clothes. The building was old, but well preserved. The hidden oasis of the hotel seemed so fragile. One wrong move… I’d break it. All of this feeling melted away when I was warmly welcomed by all of the hotel staff. We were an hour early, so we walked around the town surrounding the hotel. We found a small park with a waterfall. There were also 7-Elevens and Family Marts everywhere we looked. We got an ice cream treat from one of the Family Marts and then we explored the local train station. The town was very small and manageable- filled with pockets of fun. We returned to the hotel after an hour. A nice woman named Kaku showed us the various amenities and led us too our room, which would have been very hard to find on our own. At our room, we took our shoes off and replaced them with Japanese slippers. Everything is different at the Gora Kadan!!! There was the sound of a sliding rice paper door and our room was revealed. Tatami mats covered the floor. Sliding doors covered with elaborate paintings separated rooms. One room was set up with mats laid out for sleeping. Also in that room were our bags, which we had shipped from Tokyo so that we would not have to take them on Mt. Fuji. In the main room, there was a low table set with cooled green tea and a Japanese sweet, wagashi. Wagashi is a sweet made of gelatinous rice, so it is a bit like a gummy, just larger. It was sweet and gooey. We had a private onsen in our own little backyard, and a great view of it from the main room. We ate the sweets while reading a bit about the Gora Kadan. We learned that the Gora Kadan used to be a summer villa for the Imperial Family. It is a tradional Japanese Ryokan. A Ryokan is a Japanese style hotel that has tatami mats, onsens, long 10-course dinners and so forth. It is no wonder that an old villa for the Imperial Family became a Ryokan. We picked the time we wanted dinner and told Kaku. We got settled as Kaku left, taking with her empty plates and cups. I wandered in our small outside terrace and checked the temperature of our onsen. An onsen is a bath with water from hot springs. It relaxes your muscles and mind. I wanted to dive right in, so I showered. My brother came shortly after. We both eased ourselves into the warm water. We took our weariness and sweat off like a coat. The dirt, mess, and aches disappeared like a magic trick. I let my muscles relax and float up to the top of the water. It felt so good after climbing Mt. Fuji!!! After what seemed like forever, I got out of the onsen and put on my Yukata. A Yukata is a light type of Kimono. It is a bath robe, but the material is cotton. After our relaxing onsen experience, I settled down to do some reading. At 6:00 PM sharp, Kaku came to help us find our dining room for dinner. We were led to a separate room with tatami mats and a table. The table was right over a gap, so thankfully, we were able to sit like westerners with our legs hanging into the gap. The meal was amazing. It was a nine-course meal. Me and my brother were served all of the courses at the same time. My parents found it harder to pace themselves with so many courses separately, so I’m so glad that I’m a kid. The meal started off with plum wine (or orange juice for me and my brother). Appetizers with tofu, asparagus, prawns and sea urchin flew into our mouths, melting with glorious flavors into our stomachs. Soup, sashimi, tempura, grilled and simmered dishes all went from our plates to stomachs. One of the highlights was the amazing rice. Though it seems like a simple thing, rice has to be perfect, and perfection was achieved by the cooks of the Gora Kadan. It was sticky, but it also melted in our mouth. Another highlight was the small dish, wagyu roasted beef with steamed veggies. The cook on the meat was superb and I happily embraced some fresh vegetables. When the meal was done, we returned to our room. There were two more beds set up for us in the main room, and the table was moved to the side. We lay in the beds and slept in our Yukatas. They were very comfy and soft. The pillows had a rice filling inside that was great for sleeping, though it was a bit noisy when ever I tossed or turned. It was a bit like the pillows at Mt. Fuji, but these were a lot bigger and softer. I lay in bed awake for a while, listening to the soothing sound of the rice pillow rustling under my brother, tossing and turning. After the exertion of climbing two mountains (physical Mt. Fuji and mental Mt. Fuji), I was ready for sleep, but something kept me awake. It had been such an amazing day, I wanted it to go on forever. I lay there, thinking of the trip. We were one week through our time in Japan. How we had packed a week with so many wonders, I didn’t know. Another thing I didn’t know: If I ever would be hungry again after that dinner.

DAY TWO- THE GORA KADAN EXPERIENCE (A GREAT BREAKFAST AND ANOTHER SOAK IN AN ONSEN)

Early in the morning, I woke up. My first thought was: What on earth am I wearing? In those first groggy minutes of newborn kitten eyes (and brain), I processed what had happened last night. The soak in an onsen, the amazing meal. I was wearing a Yukata. My second thought was: how will I eat breakfast? I was so full from last night. I woke up and changed my Yukata. I brushed my teeth and showered. As I was doing all of this, my stomach emptied and I felt a bit of nagging hunger. Wait… did I just write “hunger”? Even as I write this, I’m still wondering how it came to be that I was hungry. Kaku came again to lead us to our breakfast. My family ordered the Japanese breakfast over the western option. I mean, we were in Japan, so it was an obvious choice. We started with some tea and then were each brought a heaping plate of fish, rice, and seaweed.  My favorite part of breakfast was the make your own sushi part of the plate. We were given dried seaweed and rice, so we made small rolls with the toppings provided. Some of the toppings were salt, sweet soy sauce, and my favorite, katsuobushi! Katsuobushi is a dried fish that is shaved down to make fish flakes. I knew them before as bonito flakes, but I did some research later and I found out that they are called Katsuobushi. They are made of shaved skipjack tuna. They are really delicious on rice and dried seaweed. Roll it all up and… YUM! Salty, crunchy, melt-in-your-mouth goodness. After a delicious breakfast, we headed to the family baths. We had reserved a bath for the four of us, so we could relax together. The bath was way more spacious and luxurious than the one right outside of our room so that our family could spread out and enjoy more. I sat in the steam room while the bath filled up. I am SUPER sensitive to heat, but the temperature was perfect when I eased myself in. The family bath also had a shower and towels. It was completely closed off and private, which was great. We got our western clothes on and left our yukatas in the room. As a parting gift, we picked out toys from a basket at the counter. You could just tell that the Gora Kadan was attuned to our every need. They had washed away all of the dirt from climbing Mt. Fuji and just left the pride. They had changed us and showed us all about the culture in Japan. We gathered our bags and finally… we would say good bye to the Gora Kadan.

Parent Corner

Dora is right… the Gora Kadan was a magical respite… The perfect place to go after our Mount Fuji climb.

Tip number one: we shipped all of our luggage from the hotel in Tokyo so that it was waiting for us at the Gora Kadan when we checked in.  This was easily arranged through the business center at the Grand Hyatt Tokyo and seems like common practice in Japan. This way we were able to travel to Mount Fuji with just what we needed for the climb…

Second tip: there seems to be no easy way to get from Mount Fuji to Hakone.  We just went to the Kawaguchiko bus station which was actually a stop on the Mt. Fuji tour we took and easily found a taxi at the taxi stand… It wasn’t cheap, but it got us there hours faster than dealing with bus routes.  We’re generally a public transit family when we travel — we find it a great way to experience the local culture – but in this case it just added so much time and we knew we would be so exhausted from the climb, a taxi seemed like the best option. And it really worked out smoothly…

Parents tip number three for the Gora Kadan (or any Japanese ryokon / Onsen experience, really): private baths versus public baths… because this was going to be our first Japanese Onsen experience, we splurged for a room with a private Onsen bath. We’re very glad we did. First of all, it’s beautiful and relaxing. Secondly, the kids were more comfortable just being with the family – we doubt that they would have jumped into the bath naked with strangers all around, even though that’s common practice in Japan.  Third, we all got to be together rather than being separated boys and girls. Nice for the family experience.  Finally, and most importantly, we got to control the temperature of the water, which was really important for the kids.  Generally speaking, the public baths are kept HOT — jacuzzi temperature, which is too hot for the kids. Because we had our own Onsen we were able to make the temperature just right. The next day, when we went to the “family bath,” which was larger than the one outside our room, the staff had set it up at the usual hot temperature and it took some time to adjust for the kids, so if you are going to go to the family bath with kids, remember to ask them to make it a little cooler than usual.

The town itself, Hakone, is absolutely beautiful and seems very focused on art.  What appeared to be an amazing new outdoor museum had recently opened but unfortunately we didn’t have the time to explore it.  If we are lucky enough to go back to Hakone one day we will definitely check it out.

Finally, the Gora Kadan ain’t cheap — this is probably the most expensive hotel room we have ever booked in our lives.  It’ll be a long time before we do it again – but for us it was really worth the indulgence after our Fuji climb. They truly know how to make it a special experience…

Oh, and if you’re traveling without kids… uhm… well, thinking back on life before kids, we think we can safely wager this could be one of the most romantic getaways of your life.

About the Author

Dora