The reception desk is a little different from the modern Japanese style, but it has a strangely relaxing atmosphere. It is also bit surprising to see this old style hotel-register book 🙂

At the Tokiwa Ryokan, the hina dolls were on display, perhaps for the sake of their children.

The landlord, who seemed to be a good man, came out and said to me, “Very well-burnt” I wondered what he meant, but then I noticed he was talking about my face. Indeed, when I looked at it in the mirror, I was bit surprised to myself how dark it was 🙂

Tokiwa Ryokan had the atmosphere of a traditional ryokan (something different from that of Minshuku – guest house). There was a small courtyard inside the building without ceiling from where I could see the outside. In the dining room, hina dolls were decorated (In Japan, the hina dolls are decorated like this for girls in March).

At dinner time, the landlord came in and talked to me about various things. He told me that he had visited all the 88 sacred temples and 20 bekkaku-sacred temples in his pilgrimage a few years ago, and that he had recently been running a marathon and was able to run under 4 hours. It seemed that foreigners also came here quite often as guests. I also heard that around March, a lot of pilgrims came here and they exchange information with other pilgrims.