[Girls' Trip] 1 Night in Atami and a Chance Encounter at the Oiso Book Marche

I went on a trip to Atami over the weekend with a colleague from my first job.
It's a hot spring town that makes you feel a sense of bittersweet nostalgia, as if you've known it forever.

This trip was full of unexpected encounters, like seeing paintings by my favorite artist and visiting the Oiso Book Festa.

Actually, the first thing I ever posted on note five years ago was about a solo trip to Atami. I want to write about Atami five years later.

Saturday afternoon, heading to Atami by Shinkansen

There are several ways to get from Tokyo to Atami.

• Shinkansen (40 minutes, 3,740 yen)

• Odoriko (1 hour 40 minutes, 3,560 yen)

• Tokaido Line local train (1 hour 45 minutes, 1,980 yen. Green car +1,000 yen)

• Romancecar (2 hours, 2,500 yen, via Odawara)

I hesitated until the last minute, but I'm usually tired on Saturdays. I thought, 'Should I sleep in until the last second?' and chose the Shinkansen. It arrives in 40 minutes in a comfortable seat, so 3,740 yen is cheap.

The unfortunate part is that it was pouring rain with 8mm of rainfall that day.

...After going through all that hesitation, I ended up bringing a regular umbrella.
My colleague apparently went through the same dilemma and chose a folding umbrella.

We arrived in Atami while talking about what we had for breakfast and what we were doing for summer vacation.
The sound of the heavy rain hitting the arcade roof echoed with a muffled thud.

We agreed that we didn't want to step out of the shopping street at all, so we lined up for lunch at Isomaru, a sushi restaurant inside the arcade.

I ordered the 'Izu Nigiri 12-piece set' with the wasabi on the side, and my colleague combined individual pieces like fatty tuna and salmon roe. We both added the seaweed soup and steamed egg custard set.
Sushi always makes you happy, no matter when you eat it.

An immersive experience, the Atami Yamaguchi Art Museum

Next, we headed to the art museum. I would have liked to explore the nearby shops as well, but since we had our luggage for the overnight stay and it was pouring rain, a taxi was the only option.

I realized something once we got in the taxi. It was something I regretted on my trip five years ago: many places in Atami only accept cash. My colleague and I only had 5,000 yen each, so the 1,220 yen taxi fare suddenly felt heavy.

Since I went to the MOA Museum of Art last time, this time I'm going to the Atami Yamaguchi Art Museum. I heard it's a place where they've renovated several rooms in an apartment building to use as exhibition spaces.

I discovered Kaii Higashiyama in the exhibition.

Right after entering, I was delighted to see works by the 'Gozan' on display!

I am a fan of Kaii Higashiyama's writing. I was thrilled to see his work again, and my spirits were lifted when the commentary quoted his favorite book 'Dialogue with Landscapes'.

There were also exhibits of the 'Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido' (ukiyo-e), Picasso's ceramics, Buddhist statues, and contemporary art.

Painting and a matcha experience with tea utensils by a Living National Treasure

This museum seems to have a concept of 'experience and learning.' Indeed, in the exhibition area, I was able to ring a gong and sit on Taro Okamoto's 'Chair That Refuses to Be Sat On'.

Also, when I bought my ticket, I was told, 'Please come back for the painting experience after you've finished looking around.' I love the feeling of having excitement waiting for me later.

The painting experience involved drawing pictures on small white plates with pens. I drew my beloved Cinnamoroll standing under the Lady Banks' roses I saw during Golden Week.

It was quite difficult because of the curve of the plate and the ink blobs from the pens, so we both spent 30 minutes finishing it, wiping it off with tissues many times.

Since I don't usually draw, I feel like I used a part of my sensibility that I don't normally use.

After finishing the painting, I moved on to the experience of drinking matcha with tea utensils by a Living National Treasure. I could have chosen orange juice, but since I love 'vessels,' I was curious about the tea utensils, so today it was matcha all the way.

After all, experiences are what stay in your memory.
The Atami Yamaguchi Art Museum was a fun place. The compactness of having 11 small exhibition rooms is just right.
I spent 2 hours there, including the painting experience.

Kiunkaku, a place loved by literary giants

The rain had almost stopped by the time we left the art museum.
Actually, we had planned to go to Kiunkaku first, but my colleague suggested changing the order, saying, "We might not be able to see the garden properly if it's raining." Much appreciated!

We walked for five minutes to Kiunkaku while being buffeted by strong winds.

This is my third time in Atami, but my first time at Kiunkaku.
It was originally built as a private villa in the Taisho era, then became a ryokan, and has remained to this day. I heard the grounds cover 3,000 tsubo.

It seems that literary giants like Osamu Dazai, Naoya Shiga, and Junichiro Tanizaki stayed here during its time as a ryokan.
There was even a bathhouse, and I found myself wishing I could have stayed here too.

The photos were taken with the Fujifilm X-M5 mirrorless camera I bought recently. We took pictures of each other during the trip, andI was glad my colleague took an interest in the camera. She said she travels abroad often. Cameras are fun, aren't they?

The X-M5 is a camera compact enough that even I, who want to reduce my luggage to the absolute minimum, can just barely tolerate it. I have it equipped with the 27mm prime pancake lens that a camera-loving friend recommended to me.

Dinner refugees.

We arrived at our accommodation at 5:00 PM.
We hadn't decided on dinner, but since we had sushi for lunch, I searched Google Maps for Italian or French restaurants to change things up.

There were five candidates, and among them,I was interested in "European Restaurant Clair," which seemed close and offered excellent value for money, but when I called, they were completely booked.

After calling them in order and being turned down repeatedly, it actually started to become funny. When I called "Scott," the staff told me they don't take reservations and that they had space right now, so we headed over immediately. Thank goodness, we were able to get dinner.

We ordered the 7,700 yen course.
The place had a cash-only vibe, which worried me, but it seemed they accepted VISA cards, so we managed.

At checkout,they gave us some choux pastry to have "if you get hungry in the middle of the night." Apparently, they are savory choux for snacks.
(I missed that detail, so I was surprised when it tasted salty the moment I put it in my mouth. It's nice to get a souvenir, though.)

We picked up a 1L bottle of water for the night and returned to our accommodation. We were so active on Saturday that I'm sleepy. We kept talking while lying down, even as we dozed off on the sofa.

The benefits of sports (my colleague does boxing, I do basketball), beauty, how to spend time while traveling abroad, participating in the Literature Flea Market, when to go to the Kansai Expo, updates on my previous job, the ideal way of working I realized after getting cystitis, the future of editors...

How precious it is to have a colleague of the same gender with whom I can talk about anything, and a relationship where we can share new things every time we meet.

Both of us were tired, so we weren't sure whether to take a morning bath and the decision was left to me, but since I am overwhelmingly lazier, this is the kind of situation where if I say NO, we won't go in I panicked.
It was sticky from the rain, and a bath is necessary for quality sleep. I got up and we went to the hot spring together. We only spent a moment in the sauna, too.

Come to think of it, I remember that when I was a college student, I was always tired from early morning part-time jobs and classes, and I often fell asleep without even taking off my makeup...

Now at 29, I definitely take off my makeup, rarely skip a bath, and always dry my hair after washing it.
I don't know if I've grown up, if my aesthetic sense has improved, or if I just have more physical energy every day.

We decided to aim for 8:30 in the morning and that if we weren't up by 9:00, we would wake each other up, and then we went to sleep in separate rooms.

Breakfast at Jonathan's by the sea

We had breakfast at Jonathan's near the sea. It's a place that stands out on Atami Beach, and I'd been curious about it for a while.

I added corn soup to the classic breakfast menu.

My colleague didn't seem to have the habit of going to family restaurants, so she was initially against the Jonathan's idea, haha, but she enjoyed the tea corner with its lineup of tea leaves at the drink bar, and she seemed to like it more than expected, saying, "It's spacious and seems like a good place to stay and work! I think I'll try going to one near my house sometime."

As for me, perhaps because I was trying to act sophisticated from college until my second year of working, I believed that "delicious independent shops are the only way to go," but I gradually grew to love family restaurants.

Among them, I love Denny's. The price range isn't cheap, but it's genuinely delicious, the variety is rich, and the Hisashi Eguchi illustrations on the menu are quite good.

We decided to take a walk by the sea before returning to the inn.

Moving to Oiso

We had planned to go to Akao Garden, where the roses were in full bloom, but we decided to head to Oiso on the spur of the moment.

The reason is that when I told my colleague about "Manazuru Publishing", which I learned about in Atami five years ago, she became interested, and we started talking about going to Manazuru (two stations away from Atami)!

▼ Click here for Manazuru Publishing's note

So, when my colleague looked it up, we found out that on this day, both Manazuru Publishing and a bookstore from Manazuru were setting up stalls at the Oiso Book Marche. What a coincidence.

Oiso is 9 stops away from Atami by local train. It's a bit far, taking 40 minutes, so we wanted to travel as comfortably as possible. An announcement said cars 1 and 2 had box seats, so we hurried to the end of the train.

Oiso Book Marche

Now, Oiso. It was my first time getting off here. My knowledge of it was so shallow that I had even confused it with Ofuna, a town nearby. My colleague and I said, "If it weren't for an opportunity like this, we never would have gotten off here in our lives!"

We left our luggage in the station lockers and headed to the book festival! There were many people walking around with pamphlets in hand. It seemed to be quite lively.

There were so many shops we wanted to visit, so we held a strategy meeting while having lunch.

Because the Book Marche was being held, there was a buzz throughout the town, and it was fun to see so many people gathered there...!

When I looked it up, it seems an event called "Utsuwa no Hi" (Vessel Day) is held in Oiso in October.
Is Oiso that kind of town? I might want to come back.

Former Residence of Toson Shimazaki

While looking at the map, I discovered the "Former Residence of Toson Shimazaki" nearby, so we decided to stop by.

The exterior is open for free viewing.

A colleague who majored in Japanese literature told me that Toson Shimazaki is famous for his novel 'The Broken Commandment,' which deals with the theme of discrimination against the Buraku people (I graduated from the Faculty of Letters, but shamefully, this was my first time hearing about it. I'm intrigued).

When a staff member asked me, 'Where are you from?', I instinctively replied, 'Tokyo,' but is Oiso basically Tokyo? I reflected on whether my answer was too vague... (Am I overthinking it?).

Oiso Geihinkan

During the Book Marche, this wonderful building appeared right after I turned the curve in front of the station!The purple building was surrounded by gorgeous roses, and it caught my eye in an instant.
It seems to be a guest house. I had no idea a place like this existed.

I gave up on Akao Garden, but I didn't expect to see roses today.

ZINE Fes

I found out that a ZINE FEST was being held nearby on the same day, so I decided to head over there as well.

Among them,I was interested in a booth run by a person named Yui, who shares the same name as me, where two women were writing essays together.that caught my attention.

I also sold at the Literature Flea Market for the first time the other day, andI was thinking about whether I could create something with another girl next time,so it really resonated with me.

However, I still haven't read most of the ZINEs I bought the other day, and since I didn't have any prior information this time and couldn't spend too long reading on the spot, I gave up on it.

The same goes for the Oiso Book Marche, butI reflected that what you need for events like this is research and a strong will to buy specific things!

Taking the local train back, in the Green Car

It's one hour from Oiso Station to Tokyo Station for 1,000 yen.
While I thought the 1,000 yen surcharge was expensive, I was at my limit of exhaustion, so I rode in the relaxing Green Car.

The part where you tap your card on the ceiling after sitting in the Green Car seat was actually quite tricky. Since I usually use PASMO, it wouldn't react. Apparently, this is how you do it.

• Buy a Green Ticket with Mobile Suica

• In the iPhone Wallet app, set Mobile Suica to'Express Transit Card'

• Tap it

I realized after boarding that even though it's a two-hour long journey, I only have 200ml of bottled water left. What a crisis!

Just as I was panicking, a crew member came by for in-cabin sales. It seems they have onboard sales in the Green Car.
I bought a peach juice without hesitation.
Drinks while traveling are definitely my emotional support.

With that, I arrived home at 5:00 PM on Sunday.
I left home before noon on Saturday, so it was a short 2-day, 1-night trip.

When I got home and told my husband that I went to Oiso, not just Atami, he replied,That's the town of great writers, isn't it? He must mean Haruki Murakami.

When I told him I went to the Shimazaki Toson residence, he added,Haruki Murakami's 'Haruki' was taken from Shimazaki Toson's real name. I realized that I had indeed seen the characters for 'Haruki' on the sign.

Atami, which I love for its slightly lonely atmosphere, and Oiso, which still has many tasteful, independent shops.

The experiences at the art museum and Kiunkaku, the family restaurant, the camera, the literary masters, and the town of Oiso I happened upon.It was a very satisfying trip full of unexpected encounters.

I already took two trips to Chiba during Golden Week, but I feel that getting away from the city center and traveling far away from time to time has a good effect on my mental state. Since I go somewhere every time I have a break,I realize that I love traveling.

It seems my colleague has already planned a trip once a month through the summer.

I get homesick, so I prefer short domestic trips of one or two nights, but seeing her makes me think,Oh, I have to go abroad too. Whether domestic or international, I hope I can travel far during the coming summer.