We rented a Nissan FUGA at the Nissan Rent a Car Hon-Atsugi Ekimae outlet and departed with our sights on Manazuru located at the southernmost point in Kanagawa. We first went to Maruhi no Kaijiru Hiroso in Odawara City for some lunch. It is along the national route heading to Manazuru, so be careful you don't pass it when going there!
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This is the Sanshoku-don at Maruhi no Kaijiru Hiroso. It is a colorful seafood bowl with salmon roe, whitebait and sea urchin. If you choose to sit at the counter, you can see the open ocean from the windows of glass.
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We finally arrived at Manazuru after a two-hour drive from Hon-Atsugi Station. Our drive to the cape of Manazuru was surrounded by trees and was very magical. There is a parking lot on the right side of the road, so we stopped our car there and then made our way to the cape.
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The scenery from the observation point near the parking lot was beautiful and we were able to see all the way to the Boso Peninsula. If you go down a flight of stairs about 200 meters, there is Mitsuishi Beach at the end of the cape. It is famous as a place to watch the sunrise on the first day of the new year.
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This is the FUGA we drove for the trip. The posh exterior is wonderful, but we were most impressed with the smooth and quiet ride. There is a snow mode available that we used to stay a little safer on the slightly icy mountain roads.
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We went to a foot bath called Doppo no Yu in the town of Yugawara, famous for its hot springs, to take a little break. We stopped the car in the middle of the forest, took a stroll down a path and suddenly came upon a beautiful Japanese garden. We could hear a flowing river among the silence and our minds were instantly at ease. It is also the perfect photo spot!
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Doppo no Yu has nine different hot springs with positive effects on the body. The temperatures and colors differ for each hot spring and each one has a different name such as Heisei no Izumi, Jinji no Izumi, etc. You can have your feet massaged at a facility and warm up your body if it is cold.
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At the end of our trip, we stopped by the Gotemba Premium Outlets. A slight amount of snow fell as we crossed over the mountains from Yugawara to Hakone, but we got there in one piece using FUGA's snow mode. On the other side, we had some great weather and I even took this great shot of Mt. Fuji!
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After our nearly 9 hour drive, we returned back at the Nissan Rent a Car Hon-Atsugi Ekimae outlet. During this trip, we went around the southern area of Kanagawa Prefecture, and were able to visit some spectacular areas that you can only visit by car. We recommend this route on days with great weather!