calinpopescu
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We were in Takaoka for the 40th Aniversary of Nishio Style Aikido Foundation (big deal). There were over 180 participants from well over a dozen countries; some of whom stayed at this place, myself included. |They have different size rooms. Families had their own rooms, couples had their own rooms, I shared with another two practitioners, others shared a ten person room. The mats were comfortable, the rooms had little balconies and plenty of storage, individual heaters which did the job at night. This being an old, historical hotel, there were outlets, but not everyone, and not enough. I had a cord with multiple plugs, and it got a lot of action. |The bathrooms were shared. The toilets were few, and with the hotel full, it was a bit of an inconvenience. The runners of the hotel, a family, were super-nice. Although their English was limited, they gave us perfect directions, recommendations, called cabs, and their cooking skills were unparalleled. Their matcha tea is to die for. The corridors and common areas were too cold for my taste (but I live in California, and I'm temperature spoiled). |There is a ramen place, walking distance; once we ate there, there was no point going anywhere else at night. |Being a historical thing, our stay there was somewhat partially subsidized, so it was dirt cheap. |The hotel is walking distance to the Takaoka Budokan, but it was so cold on the first walk, that I suggested taking cabs. The cabs run about 7 bucks one way, and if you share the ride with others, it's like two bucks a head. After we took the first cab, no one walked the 15 minute walk again.|The Daibutsu, across the street, is a free, nicely preserved temple. Don't listen to the crybabies who compare it to other Daibutsu that happen to be built by emperors and shoguns. This one is built by the people here, and it's a testimony to their effort and spirit. On top of that, this Buddha really pays attention. Three years back, on a similar trip, one of my team mates had been injured in a workout at the Hombu Dojo. He had just had eye surgery, and his eye got scratched during training. |I prayed that he makes a complete recovery, and threw some coins into the box. Buddha obliged. |The runners of the ryokan were genuinely happy and grateful the place was full. They worked their butts off to make our stay there as pleasant as possible. And they succeeded. We all loved it. |If you want to experience true Japanese hospitality and rough it up a little, but keep it real cheap and real, take the cab from the rail station straight to this place.
