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After leaving Narita City on May 16 our first stop was a three night's stay at Naruko Onsen, some three hours north of Tokyo by train. Our ryokan had two public indoor onsens (one for men, one for women) and one private outdoor onsen (which you reserved in half hour increments, so both of us could use it together); our room also contained a hinoki (cypress wood) o-furo, so we weren't short of options for a good soak.
During our stay at Naruko Onsen, we saw the Kokeshi Doll Museum on May 17 (when it was raining all day), and Sendai, Matsushima & Matsushima Bay on May 18 (when we had great sunny weather all day). In addition, we celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary on May 16 (which also happened to be the only day in which Jane had Japanese food that she did not care for -- salmon stomach).
Naruko Onsen
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Naruko Onsen is famous for its Kokeshi dolls.
A kokeshi doll is made of two pieces of wood: one for the body, and one for the head. It was fascinating to see a skilled craftsman take a chunk of wood, attach it to a lathe, pare it down into the shape of the doll's body, and then paint it while it was still on the lathe.
There is a "classical version" of the kokeshi dolls, which you see in the five large ones and the wall hangings; there are also "modern versions", which you see in the four very small and one medium size kokeshi dolls in the foreground.
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