Kinugawa River Camping

This past weekend we were invited by some friends to go camping back in the Nikko area! Caroline and Nathan were so excited to hear we were going camping again (even though it was freezing last time we went). Our friends also have kids that Caroline and Nathan really enjoy playing with, which made them even more excited to go camping. This time we went to an auto-camp site called the Kinugawa Hot Spring Auto Camping Ground. It is located northwest of Lake Chuzenji where we typically go on our Nikko trips. On our way to the campground, we seemed to have slipped through a worm hole and popped out to see a bit of Mount Rushmore! Justin and I both did a double-take and wondered if we had really seen what we thought we saw. We had to turn around and make sure we weren’t hallucinating! What we discovered was an old west town theme park called ‘Western Village’. We read that it was created by a Japanese man who loved the idea of playing “cowboy” and created this area for others to cosplay as cowboys as well. It was filled with saloons, gun ranges, banks, prisons, and even barbers. Anything you could want in an old western town. It was unfortunately closed back in 2007 due to insufficient funds. The article we read said that the owner has given up trying to keep people out of this closed area. Not too many people come to the place, but apparently there are many openings that make for easy access inside. We really wished we could have seen the place! After we proved ourselves not crazy from the Japan heat, we moved on to our destination.

Our campsite was large with plenty of shade from the trees. Behind us was the Kinugawa River that runs through the mountains of Nikko. Fun fact: this is also the same river that’s close to our house that we randomly played in back in the springtime. If you missed that post, you can view it here. The kids could hardly wait to get in! Not just because they were excited about playing in the river, but also because it was insanely hot outside. On our last camping trip, our car was pretty far away and it was difficult to get set up and packed up. This time, since we chose an auto camp site, we were allowed to have our car parked right next to us. At the main entrance/check-in at Kinugawa, the owners had many snacks, drinks, and assortments of essentials to buy in case you forgot something. Tons of wood and sticks were available to purchase for your campfires. They even had a portable phone charger you could rent. Along side all of this, you could rent BBQ grills, chairs, bug zappers, and marshmallow sticks. The Japanese really know how to make things convenient! This came in handy for us because we forgot to double check our list and pack some lawn chairs (oops!). Justin says I am not as good as my Mom yet at list making for trips, but I’m close!! Mom is still the Queen.

After setting everything up, and sweating profusely through it all, we were finally ready to go play in the river! The water felt ice cold, but against the heat it felt wonderful. One of my favorite things about Japan is, almost anywhere you go, you can find crystal clear water with it’s own shade of blue. The Kinugawa River we were playing in had more of a bluish/green hue to it. There were areas of deep water where older kids and adults were jumping in or floating in their inner tubes. Our kids opted for shallower water where they could pick up rocks and throw them. We found a few places where the water was running shallow and fast over some rocks. The kids enjoyed sitting in it and letting the water run over their legs, pretending to be washed away. On top of all this beauty, we were constantly surrounded by dragonflies! They were literally everywhere! Thousands upon thousands of them. If you were lucky, one of them would land on your head and become your new traveling buddy for a while. We didn’t mind them so much since they eat mosquitos.

Caroline was very brave and tried swimming under water for the first time by herself. She did amazing! She didn’t get very far, but she held her breath and kicked her little legs as hard/fast as she could! She even opened her eyes under water without goggles (ew). Nathan was not as brave, but still had a great time seeing how deep the water was and how high it would go on his chest. He loved holding my hands and jumping up and down in the water. He accidentally went under the water a few times and did okay! Which is great considering he typically loses his mind if water gets anywhere near his face. He loved being pulled through the water and practiced kicking his legs. He quickly got cold from the water and we headed back to our camp site for dinner.

When we got back, Caroline and I and some friends decided to try out the on-site onsen. Across from check-in there was a small onsen available for campers only. Even though it was already hot I couldn’t wait to dip in! In Japan, onsen means shower and shower means clean! After swimming in the river and sweating our butts off this was highly appealing. This was Caroline’s first time going to a full onsen. Ever since we took her to the foot onsen in Nasushiobara, she has been excited to try a full one. Before dipping into an onsen you are required to take a shower and wash off any unwanted sweat and dirt from your body so as to not mess with the natural minerals in the onsen water. After playing in the river I was all too happy to get Caroline and I a good shower! Most onsens provide shampoo/conditioner and body soap and fresh towels so you don’t have to worry about it; and this one had it all. I love how convenient (in Japanese we call it “conbini”) and relaxing they make onsens in Japan. Needless to say, the moment Caroline stepped one foot in the onsen she was hooked! I think experiencing it with her friend at the campsite made it better for her too. Caroline’s friend’s name is Yura, and these two were attached at the hip the entire night.

We had a great dinner after our onsen trip and really started to settle in. After dinner Justin and I went for a walk around the camp site and over the mountains we could see a huge thunderstorm billowing before us. Fortunately, it was moving away from us. It looked like a nasty one. Justin took a timelapse video of it so we could see how much it kept changing.

As the sun set, there were more thunderstorms that developed a bit north of us and we had an amazing lightning show for most of the night. However, above us it was clear with more than plenty of stars to see. The kids had a great time playing around in the dark with their friends, roasting marshmallows, and lighting sparklers! We think Nathan snuck a few extra snacks from one of the other moms when we weren’t looking. We would find proof of that after he went to bed.

We let the kids stay up an hour past their bedtime because they were having too much fun. Nathan was absolutely exhausted by the end of the night. It was still so hot outside, even though the sun had set hours ago, and our tent had a stagnant heat to it (yuck!). About a half an hour after we put the kids to sleep, Nathan woke up crying. We ran in the tent to see what he was upset about; we thought he may have woken up and been scared not knowing where he was or something. Nope…I wish it had been that. Because of the heat, exhaustion, and excess snack consumption, poor Nathan had thrown up ALL over his sleeping bag, his pillow, my sleeping bag, and my pillow. There was no saving them. Surprisingly, though, none of it got on the tent! So, at 10 o’clock at night, we packed EVERYTHING back up in the car and drove home. Justin thinks we made record time packing back up. He thinks it only took us 6-8 minutes! Our friends were also super gracious and helped us in every way they could. We were sorry to leave so soon, but knew it was best to get Nathan home in a more comfortable spot. Honestly, I don’t think any of us were too upset to get out of that hot tent and back to our air conditioned home.

So that’s camping with kids in summer!! Definitely going to pick a cooler night next time AND keep an eye out for Nathan sneaking snacks. This trip might have ended poorly, but we still can’t wait to go camping again! Well….maybe we can wait just a bit….