Sunrise Meiji-ya

We could have chosen one of the fancy lodges or hotels to stay in, but we wanted a Japanese Ryokan experience - and we certainly got it! Finding the place was quite difficult as there are no signs in English that signal this place or the streets. It was just a luck of the draw that we had a picture and nervously knocked on the door of the right building. It's located on one of the main streets of the town, so really handy to some shops, restaurants, onsens and the bus stop. The hosts tried so hard to make us welcome - they didn't speak a speck of English and we didn't have an ounce of Japanese other than greetings. We did alright though, they managed to show us on the map a few places to eat and even figured out that what we needed etc. One thing we didn't figure out though is the showering facilities situation, as there are only communal hand basins and toilets on each floor. We expected to bathe in the local onsens anyway, so it didn't really matter. Sleeping on the futons was more comfortable than we expected and even enjoyed the hard pillows. I think it's sorted out a few crinks in my back! Yes, there is no wi-fi, but that's the glorious thing about choosing a place like this. Removing yourself from the technological world really did us some good and I appreciated the basics of this place. We LOVED our time in Nozawa Onsen; snowboarding all day, eating great food in local restaurants, bathing in public onsens, Japanese language, no internet, sleeping on futons - all part of the real deal experience.