A(nother) rainy day in Yuze.

With the weather forecasting yet more rain all morning, and clearing up by the evening, we chose not to attempt the formidable Mt. Hachimantai in the rain and opted to spend another day in Yuze. Tuesday was supposed to be sunny and warm (finally!), so we changed our reservation (again) in Hachimantai, added a day at Yuze, and slept in.

Once the rain finally stopped around noon, we headed out to check out a old copper mine that was apparently a big deal. It had been continuously operational for almost 1300 years! (709-1978). Being a still cold and rainy Monday, we had no idea if it was even open, but it was worth a shot. Grabbing our bikes, we headed back into Kazuno town (which we passed through in a blur yesterday), this time able to check out our surroundings.

Unsurprisingly, as we are in Akita prefecture, Akita dogs are fairly common. This guy lived across the street from the hotel.

The Yuze Onsen Hotel. It can hold over 1000 guests. I think there were about 75 of us.

Yuze Onsen Gorge is a long, narrow valley carved out by the Yoneshiro river. On all sides are mountains that tower a good thousand feet or more over the river, covered with various types of trees, including the blue Aomori pine. It is very impressive, and quite beautiful.

Inside of the Dainichireiki Shinto shrine in Kazuno

Bridge leading into Kazuno from Yuze

We worked our way back into town and stopped at a 7-11 to pick up something to eat before heading up the mountains to the copper mine. In Japan, many 7-11 stores have a small counter where you can eat what you purchased. For vagabonds like us, it was perfect

A veritable feast, the Chili potato chips tasted nothing like chili, but were quite good.

After refueling, up we rode to Osarizawa Kouzan, the Osarizawa Copper mine. It was a huge place, high up in the mountains about 3 miles outside of town. This was clearly a tourist and field trip destination when it was not a raining Monday during the school year. There was a go-kart track, a 3D movie theater, restaurants, and the mine. It was deserted. I mean not a single person, working or visitor, was visible when we pulled in. Afraid our trip up her was wasted, we went to the ticket counter to find a note asking us to ring the provided button for tickets. Sure enough, a woman came out from somewhere, sold us two tickets, and told us to go on in. So we did.

Everything needs a mascot in Japan. The mine had a cute black bear cub.

The unassuming entrance to the mine

It turned out to be a 1.5 mile walk jnto the mine, going deep under the mountain. It was amazing. Neither of us had ever been in a mine before, and being able to walk, completely alone (no other visitors, no workers, no one) through the tunnels that stretched through the mountainside was really cool.

Some of the galleries (places where a vein was mined, stretched above and below us for hundreds of feet.

Some smaller ore veins were still there, se we could see what the miners were looking for. There were lots of exhibits done in the actual buildings from the latter days of the mine's operation. There was a wine cellar.

Local companies now use the mine as an aging cellar. Temperature is very stable, which I guess is good for wine.

Leaving the mine, we hatched a plan to leave our bikes in town overnight, take the train back to Yuze, then head back into town to continue our trip tomorrow. First, we had to eat a real dinner. Not wanting anything soggy, fish-tasting, fish-like, or wet meat with questionable sauce, we found another Cafe Gusto. They had a seasonal special going on: Hamburger and Steak meal. Now, hamburger in Japan is really more like cheap salisbury steak, but steak can be pretty good, though not in a family restaurant like Gusto. In any case we gave it a try, and were pleasantly surprised.

The steak comes barely cooked, and you have your own, personal burner to cook it to your taste. The garlic sauce was intense garlic. Almost too much. Almost.

After a little shopping, and a few minutes to try out this:

$4 for 2 players, 3 songs. Totally worth it!

we headed to the train station, parked the bikes and took the train back to Yuze, where we got to soak in their famous baths.

Men and women had separate outdoor baths, overlooking the river and mountainside.

A very relaxing end to some not-so-relaxing few days.

I have no idea what one is, but I want one!