Atami to Kyoto, Japan (October 27, 2025)
On our last day in Atami, we got to the train station early so we had time for one last foot bath at the train station. This time, Elena and Violet were game.
No one is “forced” to put their feet in the public bath, but it’s very inviting especially as the weather turns colder and colder. The water is naturally heated by the nearby hot springs and seems to be well maintained. It was only when we were getting out that I noticed a vending machine that sells towels to dry off your feet.
Now it all makes sense — the commercial viability. I was wondering how it stayed so clean and it appears that the towels being sold to travelers was the missing element I hadn’t spotted before.
I would have liked to have spent more time in Atami with better weather conditions. Of all the places to have three straight days of rain, this was probably the best place to have it given our mini home away from home airbnb. But that meant we missed out on some of the attractions including the shrines, museums, castle and beaches.
View from our cab as we drove to the Atami train station
No matter, I understand there are many shrines in Kyoto where we are off to today and I believe this is what Elena has planned for us tomorrow. So we’ll have a nice two-hour train ride to Kyoto today, check in to our hotel and get ready for a more active week in Kyoto.
We’ve got another two weeks before we head from Japan to Thailand and I’m sure we we will be seeing the more historical aspects of Japan now that Violet has had her opportunity to dig into Tokyo (and ELena will have her chance to explore various temples and shrines).
Extremely helpful sign in the train station bathroom
By the way, I wanted to mention just how helpful Japanese signs are for travelers. Take this simple, but extremely important sign for bathrooms in the Atami train station. While waiting for Elena, I realized this sign was made mostly for the women waiting in line to use the restroom. Sure, you can stand in line here, or here are all the other options to choose from on all the various floors — especially if you’re in a hurry or just don’t want to wait in line. How thoughtful!
Japanese sumo wrestlers adorning the nearby shops
And then you have the more traditional point of sale materials you expect to see in front of shops — celebrity endorsements from local and national celebrities and sports heros (like this sumo wrestler). Using fame and fortune is a time honored tradition to encourage shopping as well as help indoctrinate tourists (like me and my family) into the local culture. Well placed!
Much needed train supplies for out two hour journey from Atami
And it worked. Violet found some Snickers bars which would most certainly help improve the two-hour train ride for all three of us. So we bought them — all the the remaining bars and the box they came in.
And then, finally, when we checked in, there were a few cute items welcoming us to our hotel including a set-up for pictures. Unfortunately, the lighting wasn’t great, so despite the great background, the pictures don’t show as well as they could if they had some better light on the backgrounds. That’s okay, it was a nice idea.
They have a nice halloween theme here in the lobby. What’s hard to make out in the background are the bats, pumpkins and related Halloween-themed pictures that cross over to the Kyoto, Japan style. I do hope we see more of this as the week progresses. I’d love to see how the Japanese celebrate Halloween.
