Late Autumn at Okutama Lake: Healing & Strength

I checked into the Okanamachi Ishinoyu Onsen Ryokan the night before. 🍃🌸 A special shout-out to their morning hot spring, which starts at 5:30 AM! 🌅 🍃 The bathhouse window frames golden and red leaves gently swaying in the sunlight, with the misty steam rising from the hot spring water. It's incredibly soothing! ❤️‍🩹 🍃 My room overlooked a picturesque valley. Each window was like a painting. Opening the window to listen to the sound of the stream instantly recharged my energy! 🌿 🍃🌸The Ome Line to Okutama is quite long, and every station along the way is a hiking paradise—whether it's a lakeside trail, a dam, or Mount Mitake. Today was a Sunday, and there was a relay race happening, so only two JR trains were heading towards Okutama each hour. As a result, the trains were packed! 🍃🌸 But as soon as we got off the train, the crowds dispersed into the mountains and became sparse (compared to back home), almost like a deserted landscape. Okutama is Tokyo's water source and also a famous wasabi-producing area. The water here is crystal clear and rich in minerals, which makes the wasabi grow really well. 🍃🌸 You can easily eat a whole bowl of wasabi-topped rice with freshly grated wasabi! 🌿 #Tokyo 🚂