Woke up early to keep our appointment in the private onsen, Kawato, that we had booked for before breakfast. It was all the way back down the slope car to the ground floor again and this time back towards the main building. I wasn’t expecting steps, but up we went.
Only to find that we were then going back down again… I have a feeling we should have been told about this. :/ My knee is pretty good but certainly it’s a little stiff in the mornings still.
We eventually found the right place – found a comfortable and well equipped change room and shower like all the other onsens.
And then stepped outside to see this! WOW!!! What a simply glorious and decadent space. I was blown away.
Surrounded by the forest, and the sounds of running water and bird song, it was just magic. I must have been standing there (nekkid!) admiring the space for about two or three minutes before I realised there were steps going down into the water and it was 1.1m deep!
This was just beautiful.. the water was soft and silky, the steam rising off the water looks inviting, the green forest beside the infinity pool was just so relaxing. I’m totally seeing how this would be just the most sublime break from the big city if you lived in Tokyo’s bright neon sing-songy streets.
I didn’t want to leave!
After our amazing onsen bath, we went back to the room for a while and cooled down before heading up to breakfast in the restaurant… another private dining room with a beautifully presented breakfast.
In the box: vegetable castealla; Boiled duck; Auricularia; Bayberry, pickles; Marinated egg with soy sauce; Hadano vegetable with home made dressing.
Breakfast sashimi is definitely something I could get used to: mackerel and Hokkaido scallops.
Dried horse mackerel.
Steamed vegetables and grated radish ponzu sauce.
Hot pot dish: Chicken ball and grilled green onions with fried tofu.
Yoghurt with fruit and agave syrup.
Breakfast everywhere we have gone has been amazing, I haven’t managed to finish a single one of them, but it’s always beautifully presented and often filling enough that we skip lunch.
Some more photos around the reception while we get ready to head to town for the day.
When we returned to the ryokan, we had been moved to a different room – the Internet in our room kept dropping out. It was attached to the back of the television and was overheating and turning itself off and back on again once it had cool… not a problem when you’re on holiday, quite a big problem when you’re on a work trip mixed with a bit of holidaying. We didn’t really want to move rooms – we were super happy with our enormous day bed and lovely balcony onsen, but they upgraded us and moved us from the first floor to the fifth floor… to an even bigger room!
Same tasteful decor.
I swear the first time we stayed in Japan we stayed in an Airbnb with four of us in a room a fraction this size… and the second time we came to Japan we stayed in an APA hotel with a double bed in it and not enough space on the floor to open a single suitcase! 🤣 Things have changed.
This room had an enormous walk in close that could be used as a dressing room, with paper screen doors that closed together for privacy.
It also had a traditional Japanese living/sleeping room with a handful of futons in the closet in here.
Talk about lux… they could have just popped to a BIC Camera and picked up a ¥7000 modem and we would have been quite happy where we were.
The staff even moved all my saké stash to the fridge in the new room too. Score!
Good to know we weren’t suffering with a ‘lesser’ hairdryer down in the other room. 🙂
Okay, then for the star of the show for this room: a fabulous outdoor lounge and a much larger onsen bath… sweet.
It was lovely… and so was the saké.
We had spent the day showing the Messrs Stokes around Hakone and they had come back to our ryokan to have dinner with us tonight. With a bit of pre-planning, the staff at Hatsuhanna were only too happy to help us have a fancy kaiseki dinner party. So we had booked a private onsen for the guys to go have a bath and relax, while Mr K and I had a soak on the deck. Then it was time to go to dinner all relaxed and chill.
We had an excellent photographer capture us a happy group pic.
It’s difficult to see in this image, but this peanut sized dish it double stacked high, and has a lid on it. The top level comes off, and gets laid across the bottom level leaving a “+” shaped dish.
Such a creative serving concept. In the centre above: Ayu sweet fish and rose with herbal medicine stew; and char-grilled Pacific saury with tomato. Below: Pinchos sushi with Kinatarou trout, avocado, and chopped wasabi.
Sweet shrimp with maple leaf; Boiled crab and chrysanthemum daisy leaf salad; Glutinous barley tofu.
This may have been before the attempted mass monetisation of an effort to save Australia’s honey bees..? Hard to say.
Chrysanthemum soup with shrimp Shinjo (or cake), leafs and bud.
Sashimi course was awesome: tuna, yellowtail, mackerel, konjac under there and sweet boiled shrimp.
Grilled marbled rock fish with rock salt, Kabous (citrus) fruit), Japanese ginger, ginko nuts, Ginko biloba rice crackers.
Above: Japanese pickles. Eggplant pickled in sweet vinegar and watercress from Hakone, and red miso soup.
Charcoal Joshu beef loin with porcini sauce served with small turnip, King trumpet mushrooms, shimeji mushrooms, Maitake mushrooms.
Seasonal Odawara Harumi rice.
Deep-fried sesame tofu with grated names mushroom, green beans, cart shape like momiji.
If someone had told me twelve months ago, that these three people would be dining together in Japan in 2024, I would have been damn near been ready to bet our house against it… it’s so weird how things work out. We had a lovely evening, I hope it was a memorable experience for the Messrs Stokes also.
Woke up to a simply gorgeous morning! Wish it had been this clear yesterday while we were out hunting for views of the mountain… but from the warm and comfort of our large onsen bath – I won’t complain
At breakfast this morning we were lead to a dining room with a view!
Boiiled seasonal vegetables; Ganmodoki (deep-fried tofu mixed with thinly sliced vegetables); Grated yam with Yukari, Minced raw tuna; Kamaboko mad in Odawara; Pickled Japanese horseradish; Simmered prawn in seasoned broth; Boiled whitebait; Grilled spicy fish eggs; rolled tamago; Pickles; Salad made in Hadano and fruit… holy shit that is a lot.
Homemade tofu with soy and ponzu sauce. Plus there was broiled miso soup and miso-marinated black cod.
Thus endeth our stay at Hakone’s Hatsuhana. Loved every minute of it… gorgeous place, amazing staff and excellent food and accommodations. I have to say though… I kinda prefer the more traditional ryokans, this one is definitely designed to impress people who are kinda over the traditional Japanese way of doing things. We are checking out this morning and starting the transit home. Again.
There is quite a lot to do in the Hakone area, last time I was here, I went to the Open Air Museum, the Venetian Glass Museum and had driven around from Atami through the mountain pursuing views of Fujisan. This time, we were in Hakone proper – down town to taste the delights; and I mean ‘taste’ quite literally. Hakone has become rather Insta-famous for its local food offerings.
The Haya River that we followed all the way down from Nishiyama yesterday.
More Hakone marquetry… it’s everywhere and I love it and want to take it all home, but I know the minute it leaves here and I attempt to juxtapose these things into my home, it will feel out of place, and I will wonder why I bought it. So I was restrained and didn’t buy any kitchen trays, or coasters, or a tissue box cover, or desk set items. Very mindful. Very demure. Very 2024…
Recontextualised Kokeshi dolls… Star Wars. Made me wonder though : where are the shelves of Pokémon cross over Kokeshi?
The whole main drag of Hakone is shops and famous snacks, shops and famous snacks. One of the most iconic (and Instagram’d) snacks are the Castella-yaki Hakone Manju mini-cakes made by Kikukawa Shoten… try saying that five times fast after a bottle or two of saké. They are a small western-style manju cake – a lightly sweetened sponge cake encasing a white bean paste, stamped with a cute onsen symbol and literally saying ‘Hakone’. The machine making these was really quite neat, loads of people were video’ing the machine working, and taking photos of themselves eating their fresh and warm ¥80 manju cake. Yes, these things are so famous everyone who comes here buys one to put on their socials, and they are still only AUD$0.80 each.
Further up the street is a hippy dippy crystal shop – you can’t seem to get away from these. They are in every corner of the globes… I’ll have to tell Col Dazzles it’s here – he loves these places.
Japanese Dango snacks – sticky savoury rice dumplings on a stick. They come in a bunch of different flavours and are cooked over charcoal… we thought we would try the miso walnut flavour.
Oishii! Miso-y, walnut-y, gooey goodness… also comes in sesame and onsen flavours? No idea what ‘onsen’ flavours are, but if it’s kinda local sulphuric goodness, no thanks!
This guy was in this box all day, packing soba noodles into small packages for sale. I’m not sure why he had to be in a box like a zoo exhibit, but man he was quick with his task.
Daruma cups… cranky faced Daruma. I like him (he ended up coming home with us).
Kamaboko is another type of Hakone local snackage – it’s a type of fish cake made from processed fish paste. They’re very popular and we have seen kamaboko appearing in our breakfasts in particular over the last few ryokans. They’re apparently a specific produce known from this region (Hakone, Odawara, Numazu) – there’s even a museum around here somewhere showing how they’re made. And like all things in Japan, anything worth doing is worth doing excessively well, or artistically. Here they have definitely raised their kamaboko fish paste snacks into an art form!
We decided to have a a late lunch today as we planned to skip dinner. And planned to do so in two stages – because I wanted sushi, and Mr K wanted tempura or a donburi. So first, we found a little izakaya where Mr K could find something yummy to suit his preference, and in a couple of hours, we are going to hunt down some sashimi for me.
Of course, while I was there ostensibly to make sure Mr K got himself some tempura and donburi or similar, I did have time to get myself a wee bottle of Hakone Mountain saké and some super rare, wagyu nigiri… nice entree to my sushi later! I love how they always assume I need two cups with my saké even when Mr K has ordered a beer! 😛
Mr K managed to find himself a pork tonkatsu and some nice fresh chicken karaage. After Lunch Stage 1, we kept wandering the street checking out all the shops… saw this awesome foot bath just outside a random shop selling condiments and sauces! Love it!
I think cooling foot baths would go down a treat in downtown Brisbane in mid-summer, but if you saw a public water feature like this at home and put your feet in it, you’d likely get a talking to by the cops!
It was very overcast today and I was hoping things would clear for when we caught up with the Messrs Stokes tomorrow. It would be rather sad to not get any good views of Fuji in, but we can’t control the weather – and while we couldn’t see the mountain, I was enjoying the moody atmosphere it created in the town.
Lunch Stage II: Nakamuraya Sushi… great menu, obviously used to tourists who can’t make up their mind. Slightly expensive compared to seaside towns on the west coast, but oh so fresh and delicious!
Another wee bottle of saké, though this time it’s was some mystery junmai that the landlady chose. I didn’t even ask! Wasn’t the cheapest on the menu, wasn’t the dearest either. 🙂
Mr K’s pickle baby nori rolls, and I ordered the Supreme sashimi bowl – complete with salmon, tuna, fatty tuna, scallop, ebi, uni, unagi, mackerel, yellow tail, cuttlefish, cod roe and god knows what else! Amazingly fresh, delicate and absolutely delicious! This is going to ruin sushi for me for at least the next six months in Australia! Oh wait.. in six months, we will be back. Brilliant! Carry on…
After a bit of a wander around the town some more, I told Mr K that we had to stop for a famous Hakone Terimisu ice cream… we had come past here earlier in the day and there was literally a packed rope line keeping patrons in line to buy their famous Terimisu ice creams. Now, I fucking hate coffee, but Mr K loves it, so *shrug* he took one for the team so I could take a pic of just one more iconic Hakone snack. Please note, none of the Insta-snackables actually ended up on Instagram. 😀
The hardships of it all! I did buy some strawberry and brandy flavoured puddings to take back to the hotel tonight – given we are skipping dinner tonight in favour of Lunch in Two Parts, some light puddings might be nice after the onsen later!
Hakone is really pretty – it feels rural, a bit like all the other little onsen towns we have been visiting, but it also feels a bit like Montville or Leura in the Blue Mountains, in that it is so heavily touristed, it feels like a totally fabricated place for the local city dwellers to get away to, to kid themselves that they’ve actually gotten away from Tokyo for a bit.
Managed to find a really nicely stocked saké shop so I could buy a few small selections to add to the ume-plum/pity saké I had bought in Minakami to share with ColDazzles when he arrives – apparently he isn’t into saké… Yet! But we have plenty of time to bring him around to the rice side! 🍶
Great selection.
We expected to see way more tanukis now we were back out of the Gunma region as they have been really prevalent when we were down this way before, but sadly, not many to be found until I spotted this 3’ cutie.
After this, it was back to the ryokan, and we will be back to a bit of Saturday morning sightseeing tomorrow.
Met up with the Messrs Stokes after they had what sounds like a trying morning of trains and no taxis. There’s a lot to be said for studying the public transport from ann objective distance! First stop after we got them settle was to head off for the Hakone-jinja shrine. Sadly, it was a lot more overcast than I had hoped, I don’t think we will see the mountain peeking through today.
The Hakone-jinja shrine dates to 757AD. Military commanders used to come to this shrine to pray which is what initially brought it nationwide fame. Another popular group of people who would come worship at this shrine were travellers and pilgrims who would come to pray for safe travels. Nowadays the shrine’s ’Heiwa no Torii’, or Red Gate of Peace which stands proudly tall out towards the Lake Ashinkoko has become a ridiculously Insta-worthy tourist spot… people line up here literally for HOURS to get their selfies in front of the torii gate. HOURS! I can’t fathom it when you have limited time in town.
When we arrived there were groups and groups of tourists lining up for their chance for a selfie, and it looked like it might be impossible to get a shot without anyone in it. A group of six Chinese tourists had just scurried into prime photo position and started taking their pictures of each other in small and large groups when I struck up a conversation with three Americans from Michigan who were next in line… I asked them if I might have 30 seconds to take some photos with no one in front of the gate, before they moved in. They were happy to let us take a moment, and in return I offered to take some group pics of the three of them together. What a zoo, though! These girls had waited an hour and twenty minutes for their photos in front of the gate; seriously, the weather is making for very average light for selfies in front of the gate, I don’t get it. 😮
More pirate ships. Fuji in the background all covered in clouds.
After a brief stop at the shrine, we made our way to the Hakone Checkpoint – but first a Tea Cup. But not just any Tea Cup, this one had a Great Wall of Saké. Amazing! 🤩
Felt just like being back in Takayama… I could have spent an hour here trying all the saké, but with one minor in tow, we kept moving.
The Hakone Checkpoint was originally an inspection facility during the Edo Period (1603-1868) which was designed to help keep Edo safe (Tokyo, as was). It was considered the major checkpoint for all parts of Japan, and there was a network of as many as fifty checkpoints across the country across the period. Nearly all the checkpoints were abandoned well before the 1860s. There is a lot of information here on the reconstructed Checkpoint itself, how it was constructed, what kind of tools and techniques were used to rebuild the medieval buildings, and how it was completed using authentic methods in 2007.
It took a little bit more digging to figure out what this checkpoint was actually used for. Turns out it was primarily a point used to control the proliferation of firearms (fair enough), and to patrol and control women attempting to escape Edo and their horrid arranged marriages (fuckers). Women have been put upon in every culture in every corner of the globe for ever.
The six meter-high Kyoguchi Gomon gates.
Sadly there were not a lot of plaques with English available for translation, and the ones I did translate seemed more to be about the reconstruction of the site rather than the period use of the site.
Diorama showing the women attempting to escape Edo being inspected – reminded me of traversing Pakistani customs!
The site of the checkpoint is really quite beautiful by the lake, definitely a nice spot to stop and enjoy the natural surroundings. Each summer, large fireworks festivals are held on the lake that set off tens of thousands of fireworks with Fuji in the background, and attract loads of visitors.
After our potter around the checkpoint, we head for a quick spot of lunch and then head back to our ryokan for the evening.
Every trip we try to find one place to stay that is a little cut above and special. This trip, I chose Odakyu Hatsuhana in Hakone. From everything I had read, this place is one of the most sought after ryokans in Hakone with incredible facilities, five star service, fabulous onsen baths and an amazing restaurant.
Being a larger (though not large by Western standards – with only 47 rooms) it had some impressively spacious reception areas with gorgeous modern Japanese interior design. We were greeted and led to the lounge area for check-in, which was all warm tones, a fireplace and flower arrangements.
Mr K opted for a welcome beer and I chose a yuzu tea.
Our room was a Deluxe Room type A with a private bath on the balcony. The genkan was large – to the right was a closet and the toilet, and before us was a sliding pocket door the living area.
The living area had a typical western couch and an enormous day bed, huge television and sliding screens that led out to the balcony.
A dresser in the corner came well equipped with coffee machine, kettle, a teapot and cups for making Japanese tea, a marquetry box with snacks, drawers with wine glasses, drinking glass, coffee cups, and a fridge full of beer, soft drink and juices that were all included.
To the left of the genkan was the sleeping area with two double sized beds – it was a very LARGE room.
Beside the day bed was some sliding screens that rolled back to reveal the bathroom.
The private views to the gardens from the balcony were lovely – even though this was the 3rd floor, it felt like we were in a ground floor garden.
The bathroom was lovely and modern with gorgeous lighting, all modern tile, timber heated floors and sooo many amenities available.
Big waffle weave bathrobes and a sleek black hair dryer that I’m sure some Japanese blogger would approve of mightily.
Through the bathroom was the shower room – which I gotta say had *the* best shower head I have never encountered. I meant to find out what brand it is, and find out if I could get one installed in my bathroom back home!
Step through the shower and onto the balcony – this is the private bath we are going to have to suffer with for the next three days! OMG… just gorgeous!
The water in Hakone is known as simple alkaline springs, so it is soft and feels silky. Not as hot as some onsen baths, but they have provided a button to press for cold water if you find it overheating. So lush!
The water looks so inviting.
Unpack a little, shower for a bit, and then soak with a saké for a lot! I love it!
Infinity pool onsens… this is gorgeous. Though most of the garden should be orange and red by now, I didn’t mind one bit.
The marquetry box contained some mocchi and weird little local buns. Hakone mountain local treats.
The genkan closet with the toilet to the right. The layout of this room was really well thought out.
These must be very high end toilets – it would spritz, and self open as you walked into the toilet, sound running water when you sat down, and sing a little song as it was flushing. 🙂
The closet contained, soft hanten coats, yukata in numerous sizes, samue for wearing around the room, and a small sign saying there was a dress code and that samue were not welcome in the dining room. Hoity-toity!
Before dinner we went down to the lounge for pre-dinner cocktails. The lounge is available for guest pretty much all day. There is tea and coffee, a fairly solid bar of alcoholic beverages, saké, red and white wine, champage, juices, iced tea options as well as a small buffet of savoury and sweet snacks.
The restaurant was on the fifth floor and was decorated in lush but subdued purple and gold tones.
Another full bar here servicing the restaurant, though there seemed to be price list for drinks in the restaurant… and when we opened the wine list we found out why. There is a hugely impressive cellar of foreign wines and local sakés.
The private dining room were created with timber or glass walls with beautiful designs on them.
Our meal started with an aperitif of yuzu liqueur – oddly enough served in these very familiar Swedish Kors shot glasses.
Personally boxed cypress chopsticks… the card that came with them said they were a gift and could be reused along with instructions on how to care for them.
I ordered a sakê tasting flight of local Hakone sakés – they were all excellent. Though it wasn’t cheap… possibly the most expensive tipple we had ordered the entire trip; ¥5300.
Smoked salmon and marscapone mousse; Salmon roe and French parsley; Albaone and abalone mushroom parmesean sticks.
Sashimi course – yellow tail and mackerel.
Wild Japanese red snapper and grated turnip in a bowl of carrot, bok choy, chrysanthemum and yuzu.
Roasted Kiyokawamegumi pork; Burdock with balsamic vinegar; zucchini, King trumpet mushroom. Hakone water cress; red Beniimo potato chips.
Grilled rice ball with bonito in salt, served with Japanese parsley, cracked rice, toasted seaweed, selected pickles, and wasabi.
Local clams with white wine, leek, beans, onion and chili.
Hot pot dish: Sashu beef stew with red miso, potato, carrot, onion and broccoli.
Fugu karaage (deep fried puffer fish), served with lemon and light chili.
Dinner was finished off with mango, dragonfruit and matcha gelato… it was a really delicious meal, so beautifully presented. I noticed a lot of the crockery out meal was served on showcased the rabbit and the toad of Japanese mythology – no doubt it was very deliberate that the motifs were carrying through many of the courses.
After dinner, we spent a little more time in the lounge having an after dinner drink and letting our meal settle before coming back to the room for a bath. Hatsuhana has a number of private onsens available for guest use, but we had some language issues trying to book it, so have a booking to use one of the larger spaces in the morning before breakfast. 🙂
The weather had been overcast since we arrived, but the rain had stopped and it had turned into such a beautiful evening.
That didn’t mean however, that we didn’t have a wander around and find the beer and ice-cream stash for after onsen chilling out.
In the morning we went into the building next door which housed all the onsen baths. It is connected via the long stone pathed walkway pictured above and below.
There is actually a slope car or we would probably call it a funicular to take people down to the first floor where the main public onsens are and some of the other private onsens.
This morning we had booked the Shijima bath – which I believe means ‘silence’.
The rooms smelled like beautiful fresh cut cypress. There is exposed timber everywhere, and a lovely seating area to use after your bath. Bookings are for 45 mins so that staff can come tidy up, and replenish the towels and amenities after guests have vacated the bath. We never saw any staff in these spaces – the reception gave us a keycard programmed to open the door at our allotted time, and in we went!
WoW! This bath is amazing! It is about 60cm deep, and large enough to easily accomodate six to eight people… and we have it all to ourselves!
Above us was like a 30’ ceiling with open timber rafters.
The design of these spaces is truly impressive. It is so beautiful and serene. My only hopefully constructive comment here is that while, yes I understand they are largely catering for a sophisticated Tokyo crowd with the Western classical music, I would have preferred a more Japanese ambient soundtrack. It seems incongruous somehow to be listening to what largely sounds like Muzak while enjoying this beautiful Japanese bath.
We popped upstairs to the lounge before breakfast to find ourselves in the clouds… sadly this would likely mean no views of Mt Fuji today as we spent our Saturday pottering around Hakone.
Back down in the dining room for breakfast… all the private dining rooms coming left and right off the corridor.
Carrot juice, Tamago, shrimp, Yubara, pickled plum, minced tuna, grated yam, pickles to have with rice, steamed tofu with ponzu sauce, whitebait and grated daikon radish, salad and some fruit! Delicious and so beautifully presented.
Of course when the rice was delivered, it also came with a small piece of grilled fish, and so miso soup.
Some morning photos of the reception area as we waited for the shuttle to take us to town for the day.
Hatsuhana also had a small gift shop – a little more upmarket than we have seen elsewhere. Pricey glassware and expensive marquetry items, as well as some of the local Hakone snacks that we were served in the rooms on check in.
We have a three night stay here, so for our second night we chose to find some local restaurants in town to have some dinner rather than the fine dining experience here three nights running! There is apparently too much of a good thing, though I’m not sure it’s fine Japanese cuisine that slots into that idiom so readily for me!
When we came back from town, we had some work to do and a late 10pm booking in another of the hotel’s private onsens. This one accessible via the slope car I mentioned earlier.
Minamo was the name of this onsen – which means ‘water surface’ and we would see why very shortly.
Another perfectly appointed dressing and changing area for getting ready for your bath and relaxing afterwards. They’ve thought of everything you could possibly need.
OMG the bath..! It was dimly lit, about 3x3m and 60cm deep, and stretching out before it for about 5m is a long reflection pool only a few inches deep.
Just such simple and yet stunningly gorgeous design… I went looking for a photograph of what it looked like in the day (though we thought we would try and book it again for tomorrow) and this is what I found:
It’s beautiful by day but by night it just feels like a dreamscape…
It was getting quite late by the time we finished in the bath so I thought I would go down further on the slope car to have a look at the large public use onsen – those are not for those tattooed amongst us, so I was going for a look around, but would not bathe there. The onsens swap at 3pm each day here so the men’s becomes the women’s and vice versa. Most ryokans do this swap at some designated time each day so people can see the entire facilities.
The locker room, change room, dressing tables, and showering station spaces were enormous! I swear they’ve tried to see if they can cater for the entire guest roster at any point in time.
There was a Hutti-putti verandah (I don’t know what else you would call it, a space with armchairs facing a garden where you could relax before or after your bath, and have a drink, an ice block or wait for your hair to dry. Perhaps just sit and be social if you are here with friends wanting to cool off after your bath.
A large infinity pool onsen bath that could easily accomodate a dozen people.
A huge bath made of river rocks with soft lighting and the sounds of running water were just so relaxing.
There was also a large round cypress bath under a gazebo – I’ll have to try and come back down during the day, but of course it is impossible to take pictures in these spaces if there is anyone here and they tend to be in use during the day hours.
We popped up to the lounge for a late night snack seeing we had had a late lunch and skipped dinner. There was G&Ts and some Japanese snackage and the lounge area was actually quite busy given it was now rather late.
Hakone Terimisu puddings… the last of our pudding consumptions! Strawberry for me and brandy for Mr K. They were really really good and totally deserving of their Insta-worthy reputation. 🙂
We had a rather long transit day today… because our visit to Keiukan had taken us somewhat out of our way, but I was looking forward to stopping along the way to get some photographs of the beautiful scenery we had driven in past the evening before. The Haya River is extremely picturesque… so apologies in advance for the barrage of photographs. Not really sorry.
Driving through the twisting mountain roads that line the river, there is often no where to stop at all, except perhaps at small maintenance pull over areas before and after bridges… so we got kinda loose with it, and pulled over where we could and just popped the hazards on while I was jumping in and out to take photos. Mr K is already known to the police – I’m sure they wouldn’t be surprised if he was pulled up for parking illegally. 🙂
Saw this very sturdy looking suspension bridge and walked a short way out on it to see if I could get some nice photos down the river… though I did take the time to translate a sign in case it was telling me that it was private property or something. Nope, all good – I don’t have a fishing license, but also, no intention to fish!
I really enjoy driving through these mountainous highways – it’s slow going, the speed limits are low for obvious reasons, and you night only be going 250kms for the day, but it will take you all day because of the slow speeds, inevitable roadworks and other delays. Thoroughly gorgeous though, so you don’t really care.
The Kotoji Falls (we’d call them a cascade tbh), were named in memory of the love between Gohei (a young man from Narada), and Imoji, a daughter of Yasumura who threw themselves into the Hayakawa River settling their unrequited love (interesting translation). Apparently their two bodies were found lying on top of each other in the pool below.
Another suspension bridge! Only this one felt a little bit less stable than the last one… like swinging wildly and rocking crazily with every step!
I felt really unsteady out on the bridge – might not be the best plan for someone who had a total knee reconstruction about 10 weeks ago and was still a bit iffy on uneven terrain! 😀
Oh, probably should have read this *before* deciding to go walkout on the rickety suspension bridge… I figured it was just warning me about my lack of fishing license again! Good thing I’ve been working on those stability exercises on my new knee!
Tea Cup stop! Bit cold and overcast today so I gave in and found myself a Kirin caramel sweet tea from a vending machine. Two in two weeks isn’t going to cause diabetes is it? I also found what was touted as ‘fried squid’… which was unexpectedly tasty, and not as greasy as the usual fried chicken offerings. Japan doesn’t do meat pies, but they do do their Fami-chicki at every single convenience store.
Saw this poster advertising the Hakone Ropeway that we visited in 2017 to get our first views of Mt Fuji… first views on our second trip. Our first trip to Japan, Mr K, Angus and my mum actually *climbed* Mt Fuji, but never actually saw the top of the mountain as it was in clouds the entire time.
What a beautiful drive full of stunning scenery.
We made it to Hakone by about 3pm… which is where we kept seeing this sign. Thought it was literally a monkey warning – no, just a warning about wildlife in general.
Nishiyama Onsen and a stay at Keiunkan was a bit of a last minute addition to our itinerary and took us somewhat out of our way, but this particular ryokan has been somewhere that I have wanted to visit for a few years now. The drive to get there was beautiful and we chased views of Fuji though the mountains and the clouds throughout the morning.
Ducks heading north away from Fujisan… though I thought when you’re in the northern hemisphere, ducks were supposed to go south when it gets cold?
The afternoon light as we followed the Haya River towards Nishiyama was less than stellar – I am hoping we get some better opportunities to stop for some photographs of the stunning landscape on the way back out tomorrow.
Gorgeous…
Nishiyama Onsen Keiukan… unsurprisingly with some very established and well placed Japanese maple trees at their entrance.
We arrived at Keiunkan about 2:30pm – and even though we were early, the staff were extremely welcoming and accommodated us immediately. Keiunkan has been recognised by the Guinness Book of World Records, to be the oldest and longest established, continuously running hotel in the entire world and as such has an extremely long history of exceptional hospitality.
Known fully as Nishiyama Onsen Keiunkan, it is located in Yamanashi Prefecture and was founded in 705AD by a man named Fujiwara Mahito. It is an exemplar of the Japanese ‘shinise’ concept, which means, ‘long established business’, and is possibly the oldest independent company in operation after a Japanese shinise construction company, called Kongō Gumi, was sold/merged in 2006. It’s amazing that they have continuous records of the hotel on this site for so long.
I was curious to know what was so special about the location or facilities of this particular ryokan that allowed it to remain a viable business for so many hundreds of years. Built originally by Fujiwara Mahito, who was the son of a counsellor to Emperor Tenji, the 38th Emperor of Japan, the onsen gained popularity for the quality of its waters, and as a way station between Gunma and Tokyo. Many famous guests have stayed here, including the current Emperor of Japan… and now us! 😉
The ryokan was in the same family for 52 generations, (including having been passed down to some adopted heirs), right up until fairly recently when in 2017, when none of the extended family members wanted to take over the ryokan. When this occurred, a special company was set up and the ryokan’s long standing general manager, Kenjiro Kawano was selected as the new president. Because he was unrelated, he was unable to inherit the company that owns the ryokan, so ownership was transferred to a new holding company which allowed continuity of business, but sadly, the chain of family ownership was finally broken after an impressive 1300 years.
The lobby and reception area are on the top floor of the ryokan, all the guest rooms are down towards the gorge. We are on the first floor, which is the same level as the onsens.
I have no idea what this object is… it is covered in representations of so many artistic symbols, I couldn’t make head nor hide of it, but it attracted my attention nonetheless.
The hotel in it’s current incarnation was completely refurbished and some sections rebuilt entirely only a few decades ago – I imagine in it’s long long history, it has seen many sections closed and rebuilt in order to stay current to the needs of contemporary guests.
Our room had a small indoor rock garden by the front door.
Having added this stay to our trip only a few weeks ago, I had only managed to book a standard Japanese style room. Rooms with private open air baths are limited, and there are only 37 rooms in total in the entire hotel, which is larger than many of the places we are staying but still considered a small hotel.
Our room was a well appointed Japanese style room with tatami mats and low Japanese table and chairs. It takes a bit of getting used to, having all things at such low levels in the room – all the tea making facilities, phone, artworks, drawers; everything is designed to be at eye level, when you’re seated on the floor.
The ryokan is said to have an extensive collection of art that has been accumulated over the many years, and of course it gets cycled in and out of use in accordance with the seasons.
Arrival snacks – something sweet, and unusually something savoury to try later. Mushrooms… my favourite and thankfully Mr K is ambivalent. 🙂
Japanese tea making set, coffee, and a thermos of ice water.
Our room also came with a pair of comfortable couches with views from the large picture window down to the gorgeous Haya River.
We had pyjamas and yakuta, hanten coats and tabi socks provided; Keiunkan has their own custom yukata designs that showcases a lovely maple leaf design.
The bathroom was small but well appointed, including a Japanese style tub (small, but deep – perfect for a short arse like me!), that fills with hot water from the onsen. God, what I wouldn’t give for unlimited high alkaline, natural, hot spring water on tap at home!!
I’ll never get used to the bathroom slippers here… you leave your outdoor shoes at the genkan (front entry way), have some slippers to wear around the ryokan, then some different slippers (or sometimes just socks) to wear in your room, then if you step outside near the onsens, geta wooden sandals, and these random slippers that are just for wearing for the two minutes you might be in the bathroom! The toilet sorry, not the bathroom.
Most of our ryokan experiences have been in rooms with private open-air or semi-open air baths, due to my tattoos. Even onsens where they are happy to let people with tattoos use the public onsens, I am aware that my rather large dragon tattoo makes other people around me uncomfortable – so one of the first things we did on arrival was to book to use one of the private onsens available here. We booked the Seoto bath for 3:30pm, while many guests were still arriving and checking in.
The entrance above to one of the large public onsens – was set up for men at the time, and like most ryokans, they change the spaces at some point in the day so guests can use all facilities at different times of day.
I could see these covered passageways from up in the Lobby and Lounge are which is located on the third floor. The onsens are on the first floor and you take a lift to get down to these floors.
There was a small change room, and a small shower space outside, but we had chosen to shower up in our room before coming down.
Wow! The Seoto No Yu is such a beautiful space! It is said to be large enough to accomodate ten people, and I can imagine if you had ten friends you wanted to nude up with, yes, you could all fit in here, but we had the place to ourselves and it felt so luxurious.
It must be a never ending battle for the staff to be scooping the leaves out of the waters, but to be honest, to see these deep red leaves floating in the water, they looked very seasonal and added to the autumn feel of the whole garden space. Feeling thoroughly spoiled.
Cum pot saké… that’s not really what it is called, it’s just our long running joke with the super cloudy sakés.
I could certainly get used to this!
Even with the leaves floating delicately on top of the water, the water was so clean and hot and fresh… I noticed a couple of leaves that had slipped to the bottom of the water, and it was like looking at them under glass.
You come out of the onsen feeling like you have bones of jelly, and sometimes a little lightheaded. There is a small room to relax after your onsen bath, complete with vending machines full of alcoholic beverages and soft drinks, to rehydrate and cool down before heading back to your room. They recommend not drinking too much when using the onsen baths – but I notice nearly every ryokan provides plenty of alcohol should you wish to imbibe!
We tend to think that rehydrating thing is for suckers – so more saké for the people!
Decided to try the weird little pickled mushroom snack that was provided as a small arrival gift… OMG! One of the most amazing things I have ever tasted, such strong earthy, umami flavours – absolutely delicious! I immediately jumped on the internet trying to find these mushrooms so I could take some home. I even had Yale who was on a train heading back to Tokyo on the job – his Google-fu is often unparalleled in such things. Turns out that these are a rare snack – rare to have them offered to us as an arrival gift in the onsen, and even more rare to find in shops! FFS of course they are. Yale found that there was a shop he could have bought them in – in Takayama where he was yesterday, if we had known about them then.
Le sigh… always the way. Keep your eyes peeled when in Japan people! These were OISHI!!
While I was busy translating my mushroom package, I also took a moment to try and figure out what exactly was in the hand lotion I bought in Kusatsu. There are many many skin care products made in Japan that are created from the by-products of saké production – I haven’t looked into it too much, but they make for lovely smooth products that 1) don’t reek of roses, lavender or other random flowers and 2) tend not to be oily or leave residue over everything you touch. I bought this hand lotion as the water in Kusatsu was quite acidic and my hands felt noticeably dry… translating the bottle didn’t help me figure out what was in it though!
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Mr K and I getting ready for our kaiseki dinner in the ryokan’s restaurant – here, they use a large banquet space, and screen spaces off for privacy rather than purpose built private dining rooms; I believe it is because this is a popular wedding destination and the ryokan has been used for state occasions, so they need the large room for large or important occasions.
I really love the designs on the yukata here, and they’re made from a lovely cotton fabric also.
Of course, we started off dinner with some… saké. My body would be complaining something fierce if I had been drinking this much wine, but for some reason the sugars from rice wine don’t seem to bother me as much.
Feast of Shimotsuki Menu, starting with an apéritif of plum wine.
Steamed duck with salt; Boiled Komatsuna Mushrooms; Salmon roe sushi; Sweetfish roe and small Ishikawa potatoes; Grilled miso vegetables.
Sashimi course: Akane konjac stacking: Shingen, Minobu Yokei, Various wives??? Hmmm interesting translation! Pretty sure it’s referring to the condiments.
Koshihikarai rice from Minamiuonuma (Niigata) with chestnuts; Ichika’s Thing: pickled bettors, spicy cucumber and wine radish; Red miso soup.
Little bit of onsen + little bit of saké = very relaxed for a change.
Turnip kettle with minced beef and miso paste.
Chestnut noodles.
Grilled mountain fish with salt.
Joshu beef grilled on lava rocks. Specially selected Joshu black A5 wagyu beef, garnished with vegetables and served with ponzu sauce, and yuzu pepper and salt pepper.
Hot spring Jelly Minobumoto …
Clear onsen water jelly, added some molasses type syrup and matcha flavoured powder, and dip in yuba and fruits… very unusual, but super tasty.
While we were at dinner, the staff had turned out futons for us. I filled the small tub in the bathroom and had a good long soak… the water quality here is excellent. I love it.
In the morning, we had booked to use the other bath, Kawane No Yu for 7am before breakfast… was a great plan. One of the best laid plans!
The bath was identical to the other private bath we used yesterday, only we could tell the staff had an easier time with the leaves this morning as it wasn’t as windy today. These lovely rock surrounded onsens are like something out of a movie… you can tell the spaces are so carefully designed to take full advantage of the natural surrounds, and the gardens have been very specifically planted to provide shelter and beauty. I just love it… I could onsen hop every year, I think.
My biggest challenge with the yukata at any of these ryokans? They’re not designed for the busty! Thankfully I picked up a packed of safety pins at a Family Mart on our second day here and I’ve been able to pin myself together rather than go off to breakfast looking like some blond bimbo anime whore!
Breakfast this morning consisted of carrot juice, miso salmon, chicken dumpling, steamed tofu with ponzu sauce, konjac sashimi, rice porridge, marinated eggplant, grated yam, miso soup with baby clams, assorted pickles, local rice, green salad and yoghurt with blueberries and raspberries! At home? Breakfast is a cup of tea… and I might remember to eat something around 11-11:30am.
The salmon this morning was really lovely – subtle miso flavour and perfectly cooked.
I made some of it into little nori rolls… so fresh and delicious.
Steamed vegetables wrapped in Tamago.
We hadn’t had this dish before served this way before, I think perhaps it’s not particularly common in Gunma… steamed tofu that you tip a light ponzu sauce onto, stir it in and eat with a spoon. Delicious and savoury in the morning. More usually, you will hav cubes of tofu served with a ponzu sauce to dip the tofu in.
Rice porridge… not a fan. It’s like eating a consummé with barley floating in it or something.
Miso soup with nearly every meal is a genuinely wonderful element of Japanese cuisine, and in these ryokans, even the ordinary miso soups are far superior to anything I’ve had back home.
After breakfast I stopped by the reception to fix up our bill… it’s often best to do this earlier in the morning before everyone is trying to do the same at check out time. Happened by the gift shop for a sticky beak.
I must not buy saké to take home! I must not buy saké to take home! Last year, my saké brewery hopping resulted in the buying of a whole new suitcase to bring home with us last year! I mUSt NOt buY sAké tO TaKE hoMe!!!
I totally bought some ‘hot spring violence’ to take home though! It’s little packages of onsen minerals to add to your bath. LOL.
OMG THE MUSHROOMS!!!!! Feels like a find of the century – to add to my already impressive pickle hunt. YES!!! Umami mushroomy goodness for the people… who knew fungi could bring such joy? *happy dance*
I may have also bought myself a yukata in Keiunkan’s special custom design. Before too long, it was time to pack up and head off to our next stop… what a lovely stay at a truly traditional ryokan. Everything was exquisite – the rooms were beautiful, the onsens were amazing, the food was top shelf, and the staff were so friendly and so very welcoming and helpful. I highly recommend this ryokan. 10/10.
