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.
We had work all morning at the Nakanojo Town Office, and afterwards stopped at a local tourist hub for some drinks and snacks before heading onto Kusatsu. I was looking forward to a scenic drive, and some quality leaf peeping with a bit of luck!
I couldn’t find any information on Nakanojo’s mascots. These large stone statues were really well done -I think we could all use more mascots back home. 🙂
Our server brought us some drinks – coffee for Mr K and a Ume soda for me, and some cake, because there were limited options at their coffee shop. It doesn’t matter what the Japanese are doing, it is always done with precision. The staff member put down the cups and turned them until they rested in this position, then did the same with the plates to make sure they were lined up and the forks were aligned… I actually really enjoy the Japanese peoples’ propensity for meticulousness in all things.
After work, we drove to Kusatsu. The delayed autumn foliage this year is a bit sad for us – predicting when the cherry blossoms are going to start appearing, or when the leaves are going to turn in autumn is going to be an ongoing crap shoot each year given that climate change is responsible for the unpredictable weather patterns.
This time last year we were treated to vibrant red landscapes even much further south and at lower altitudes than where we are here, heading towards Kusatsu. The downside with the delayed cold conditions is that apparently the tress with get hit with the cold too fast, and that causes the leaves to just die and fall off, rather than turn red for a few weeks and then fall from the trees… it doesn’t sound like a big deal, but for a country that increasingly relies on tourism, predicting the blossoms and the autumn leaves has wide economic effects as they are widely published to attract visitors.
Still gorgeous countryside and a lovely day for a drive through the mountains.
Of course the first truly red Japanese maples we see all day are the ones carefully planted and cultivated at our accomodation in an ornamental garden.
The next morning we had a bit of time so decided to go on a pickle hunt! Last night we had some truly delicious mushroom pickles with dinner and the staff told us where we could find them – at a local farmers market that is held at a Tea Cup (Roadside services centre) not far from Kusatsu, so we decided to go for a drive. Had some better luck with the autumn colours on this route!
Would you believe that this one very specific farmers market at this one very specific roadside service centre has its own mascot? Nyagahara is his name… so Japanese, so cute! I particularly like his little onsen modesty lap-lap. I think if I ran a business here, I’d create one too.
What a marvellous view… at a roadside toilet stop!
The farmers market was quiet – but had lots of lovely local produce available. Well, it was quiet when we got there, but a bus load of domestic Japanese tourists turned up TO THE ROADSIDE SERVICE CENTRE, and then it was bedlam.
Local named, Gunma rice.
A wide variety of locally made noodles.
Nyagahara has his own range of dam cookies and sweets! This is mad. 🙂
So the Yamba Dam is nearby – hence the ‘dam cookies’ that were printed with images of Nyagahara and the dam. We found a bakery selling this interesting Dam Curry Bread, so of course Mr K had to buy one to try it out. I had a small bite (of the curry end – potato salad in a fried breaded roll sounded a bit much for me!), it was very tasty for all that it was as touristy as it gets.
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Sweet buns designed to look like a local rock mountain called Maruiwa. We did not buy one of these, as it sounded way too sweet stuffed with Hokkaido melon cream.
Weirdly, this stop at the Tea Cup services was a lot of fun. 🙂 They also had a heavily patronised foot bath there to enjoy the views – I did not take a photo, as there were lots of people using the bath.
More beautiful red foliage, and of course no where to stop.
Over the couple of days we were in Kusatsu, we did find the time to go spend a couple of hours in town. Kusatsu is probably the most famous onsen town in Gunma. It attracts loads of tourists every year due to its famous medicinal waters, and the ‘yubatake’ in the centre of town where they have a famous system of elevated water pipes and channels to cool the geothermal waters to a more palatable and useful temperature.
Kusatsu is the first town we have come to on this trip with that typical sulphurous smell that you often get in volcanic and hot spring regions… it’s kinda strong here. There are 13 public onsen baths here, and most of them are free to enter for tourists and residents alike. They’re managed by the town and locals townsfolk, and several of the public onsens (ie: ones not in private ryokans) are tattoo friendly, including the three main ones: called, Sainokawara, Ohtaki-no-yu and Goza-no-yu.
One of the things the town is famous for is their, Yumoni shows; the water comes out of the ground here extremely hot 90°C plus and often close to boiling. So they use a couple of techniques to cool the water – they have a large open channel structure in the Yubatake that transports the water from the source along to the various onsens, and they use manual yumoni stirring techniques to cool the water… in which women (of course it’s the women) use the long wooden planks to lift and stir the water to cool it.
There are locals who demonstrates how it was performed in the traditional manner – and the ladies with their planks are the mascots and symbols of the town, so you see this imagery absolutely everywhere. On manhole covers, on bathing towels, on socks, on souvenirs, on cookies!
Ooh! The Great Pickle Hunt of 2024 continues… picked up some amazing leek in miso here. 🙂
Street directions into town show you exactly where the Yumoni show, and the Yubatake is…
Lots of tourists that need keeping an eye on… gotta let them know what’s hot and what’s not! 🙂
While not as steep as Ikaho with its 365 heavenly steps, Kusatsu is up hill and down dale, some of the streets are stupidly steep for pedestrians and I imagine they become quite hazardous when winter arrives and it is all covered in snow and ice.
The steps to the Kōsenji temple which overlooks the Yubatake and blesses the waters.
The Yoritomo Palace…
In the centre of town is the Shirahata Yubatake and Oasamiya Shrine, both cultural properties designated by the town. This is a particularly odorous pool of bubbling hot spring water!
It seems to have a small wishing well, though I dare say no one is collecting these coins, the water is so hot and acidic here.
Sign with a bit of history… if the translation is poor, blame Google Lens!
“In the fourth year of the Kenkyu era (1193), in Kamakura, Shogun Yoritomo entered the Rokurigahara area of Mount Asama. It is said that during the hunting season, he rode horseback to Kusatsu, renovated the lost hot spring source, and bathed in it himself. Since then, this hot spring has been called Goza-no-yu, and at some point, a shrine was built to enshrine Yoritomo. The current Yoritomo Palace was rebuilt in Yao in 1782, and according to the Kusatsu Onsen Tradition (Kosho-kai Shu Onsen Ondoki, It continues to convey this tradition to the present day and has attracted the deep faith of bathers at Kusatsu Onsen. In 1887, it was renamed Shirohata no Yu, but the old source is thought to be inside a small pool of water submerged in the Yubatake. It is a historic site linked to the Sekiyu legends and hot spring faith of Kusatsu Onsen. Also, up the stairs is the Yugurei camp.”
The Yubatake with its exposed channels of water trying to cool the waters before they get directed to the onsens.
‘From the Place of Mt Shirane – the flow of Kusatsu water’… which is supposed to be good for whatever ails you. No shit, the locals believe the waters of Kusatsu can cure everything ‘except love sickness’.
Lots of lovely little footpath cafes are dotted around the town. Have a matcha latte and a foot bath!
We went hunting for some lunch, preferably sushi or steak… I’m not fond of the soggy noodles, and this town seems full of ramen! We ended up at a place called Zen Steak, and I’m happy to report it was delicious! I chose a beef rib set that came with the most outrageously weird yellow salad I’ve ever seen (but totally offset with delicious pickles and a tasty red miso soup).
Mr K chose some Joshu beef that came with some lovely light and crispy tempura veggies – I love that he doesn’t like mushrooms that much! Totally works for me, every time.
Back outside things are very smelly!
The water bubbles up at one end of the main town square and is directed along these timber channels to cool.
Kusatsu is quite a bustling busy place, full of foreign tourists as well as domestic tourists… we believe this is possibly because of its accessibility. Yes, the Yubatake is interesting and iconic in its purpose and design, and people come to see the ladies and their water stirring planks, but Kusatsu is also far better serviced by trains and buses making it the easier onsen town in Gunma to visit if you don’t have access to a vehicle or don’t have much time for transferring from trains to buses to shuttles.
At the end of the channel system, the water cascades down in a steaming hot waterfall. The source is from nearby Mount Kusatsu-Shirane and the water can be clear or cloudy, but definitely the most sulphurous water we have encountered in Japan so far. We found it to be way too acidic for our liking : the pH levels range from as low as 1.7 to 2.1 (usual ‘simple alkaline hot springs’, which are super soft on the skin are somewhere up around a pH of 7 or 8), and the temperature the water comes out of the ground at is between 51°C and 94°C… hence the need for all the cooling channels and the beating of the water with planks!
It is a gorgeous startling deep turquoise though, which is really pretty, photographically speaking.
I may have done that thing where I take too many photos and can’t pick the ones I like the most.
I’m looking at these photos and all I can think about is the patience required to stay the course until an utterly self absorbed family of Chinese tourists took their fifty fucking selfies and got out of the way so I could take a picture of the thing I came to see. *rolling my eyes constantly* Selfie sticks are so anti-social, I think they should be banned.
Like most small Japanese tourist centres, Kusatsu also has its ‘Instagrammable’ viral food trends… here, it is the onsen buns and the Tamago puddings! Gotta try the local shrimp ice cream or onsen buns or damn, twist my rubber arm, eggy pudding.
It’s called Kusatsu Tamago Pudding, but I prefer to think of it as Kusatsu Startled Cock Pudding… I loved the design so much I brought the jars home. 🙂
Fortuitously, (because my stocks were getting low!), I found a very cool saké store right near the Yubatake.
They had an excellent range with good descriptions – I was even complimented on my choices by the lady at the point of sale!
Oooh… do not need more saké cups, oh goddammit, a couple of them slipped and fell into my shopping anyway.
Around the corner I found this cafe with a wall of Daruma dolls creating a vibrant and interesting wall of colour… what a great design idea! If only they weren’t papier mache and hard to transport. Mr K was probably immediately glad that that is the case; no one really needs a wall of beady eyed Daruma dolls staring at you in the office. 🙂
Kusatsu is a lovely town, though I think because it’s so popular, I probably prefer Ikaho.
Kusatsu is a very popular destination with both foreign and domestic terrorists, I mean, tourists (or do I?), and as such has soo many accomodation options; it was actually quite difficult trying to decide where to stay here.
I ended up booking us into a large hotel called,Tokinoniwa. It’s not directly in the centre of town and is located on a hill overlooking the whole area. The photos of the place made it look like a large traditional and atmospheric ryokan, while having all the modern conveniences and several options for well priced rooms with private baths which has been my main priority, given that my tattooed and criminal appearance has been keeping me out of the public onsens!
I’m really loving that we finally seem to have found some autumn colours. I’ve been to Japan once in summer, and it was not my cup of tea at all! Too much like sweltering it out at home in mid-summer. I much prefer the crisp autumn air, with the blue skies and the beautiful colours of the turning foliage. 🙂
Tokinoniwa is a large hotel with about 60 rooms, and the entire ryokan is tatami mat floored, which is catered to by a shoe check-in system at the large front genkan. I think it might be one guy’s entire job just to keep track of people’s shoes! They have a serious numbered tray system. It does slow you down a bit when it comes to leaving for the day, but if you just want to wander around the pretty grounds, there are geta sandals provided at all the exits to the gardens. 🙂
I saw this enormous green Daruma with his one eye painted and it made me wonder if it was the owner/manager of the hotel who had chosen it, and what was the goal for filling in his other eye? The setting of goals with Daruma seemed to be such a personal thing, that it seemed odd to me that a large establishment might have one like this… Maybe it’s to win hospitality awards? Maybe it’s to meet revenue targets? Who knows. I was kinda curious about it though.
The Lobby/Reception, check in area was really lovely – most chairs were facing large picture windows into a pretty walled garden, and a tea and coffee station was all set up waiting for you.
Unusually, we were handed a laminated card to ‘familiarise yourself with how to use the onsen’. I haven’t seen these before, there are often some signs up in public onsen areas but not so much in private ryokans, but this is a large establishment, so I guess? (Edit: this info card made much more sense when a large bus load of Chinese tourists turned up and each of them was given a card like this in Chinese!)
The ryokan is built around a large central Japanese garden which has a pretty little hot spring creek running through it. Every time you walked the corridors you were walking past large glass picture windows that showed views of this garden – I imagine it looks amazing in the snow too.
We were a little early, so we took some time to explore the ryokan and found ourselves some drinks in the Lounge, complete with a traditional (though perhaps decorative?) irori hearth with a view into the gardens also. The Japanese penchant for design incorporating elements of nature is evident everywhere here.
Unlike most of the other smaller ryokan we have stayed in, here they have a, (I want to call it a library?) closet of sorts where you can come and borrow yukata and samue for your stay. Instead of all uniform coloured yukata, there was a wide variety of colours and patterns available, though a bit limited in sizes for the big or tall people.
While we were waiting, I decided to go exploring the onsens. This ryokan has large public onsens for men and women as per usual, but it also has three private baths that guests can use to bathe in small family or friendship groups. So off a-wandering I did go!
I checked out the public onsen first, seeing it was not yet 3pm there would be no guests in the onsens so it’s a good time to go poking around for some photos. Obviously cameras and photography are not allowed when people are using the baths. There are similar sections to every large onsen – locker room for storing your things and changing, beauty stations for tidying yourself up when you go to leave, and showering stations for washing yourself before getting into the onsen… and usually a dry relaxation space for having a drink or an ice cream after you bathe.
So many lockers! I can’t imagine bathing all nuded up with so many random strangers – but then again, maybe I can, because in Iceland I did plenty of getting nekkid with strangers before using the hot springs… *shrug*
Also – so many hairdryers! It’s become quite the thing, but Japanese tourism videos always, and I mean, ALWAYS make a big point of showing you that there is 1) a hairdryer available, and 2) the exact brand and model of said hairdryer, and 3) whether this is a good brand that you will be happy with. I have NFI why hairdryers are such a big deal here??? But they are! Each of these dressing table stations has their own hairdryer under the bench. Oh, and they were fairly chunky heavy duty Panasonic units, (like the one in our room), for anyone who gives a shit. LOL.
There was another three of these showering stations directly opposite these also – this places is designed so no one is waiting for a space.
This is the first time I had seen a dedicated ‘baby bath’ in the onsen. I have seen women bring their small children into the onsen – boys and girls, but haven’t seen anyone bringing a baby in. I imagine the peeing in the onsen would be an issue much like public swimming pools seeing you can’t really tell a non-verbal toddler to not pee in the water.
This might be the largest indoor onsen I have seen yet… There were two stone pools (above) on the left side of the room, two large pools in the centre of the room (below), and one large infinity style pool in front of a huge picture window (below that), all in the one space.
Then, you stepped outside through an air trap and could use the large outdoor onsen – which was just gorgeous! The poor staff must have been fighting a never ending battle with the wind and the leaves today. You could tell they were constantly cleaning them out, as none of these leaves were soggy or problematic to the water – they were light and crunchy and floating on top of the water. So someone must have been at it all day.
Back out from the public onsen, I walked further aroudn the corridors and the central garden to find the exit to the area where the private onsens were…
There are three private onsens, that probably fit about four people quite comfortably, maybe more if you’re super friendly, and they’re not bookable – you just turn up here and wait to see which are not in use. When you enter one and lock the door, it lights up out here as unavailable. They request that you keep your time short so that you’re not hogging the baths from other guests.
Into some geta and out the door into a large garden with beautiful winding little paths that lead to the private cottages that house the private onsen baths. This is so cute!
Ni No Yu – Chikura. Each of the baths have a change space and a shower and a different private bathing space. They are all really lovely in design… but I gotta say, this one was quite exposed and with this wind, it didn’t feel super inviting right now! Maybe tomorrow.
Ichi No Yu – Iwamuro. The next little cottage held a larger bath with large rock surrounds and very well designed lighting. It would be really relaxing and almost fantastically Disneyeque here, in the evenings.
Just magic! These places feel like something out of movies, not just baths in random hotels.
San No Yu – Korin. Despite its steps, this next bath was the most appealing at the moment – mostly because it was more built in and less open to the wind! 🙂
Having spent all these days chasing the autumn leaves, I am certainly not going to complain about them. They look gorgeous everywhere, even floating in the water.
Then it was back to the Lobby to get out key to check out our room. We had booked a Deluxe Twin Room with an open-air bath. The first problems we encountered was finding the right place! Usually, staff in the smaller ryokans will guide you to your room, spend a few minutes showing you all the available amenities, letting you know what in the fridge is included (often everything), and even making you a cup of tea and telling you about the facilities the ryokan has to offer. In this larger establishment, they had taken our luggage up for us, but with my meandering through the onsens, I think I missed any welcome wagon.
So, we knew we were on the third floor, but the map of the floor didn’t help us much, and the signage with directions to the different room numbers didn’t help us much… we ended up navigating by hieroglyphics. Yet again, I am cursing that I know hardly any Japanese and can’t read a lick of kanji. I really want to work on this, but it’s so difficult when you have a head full of Romance languages already.
Eventually we found the right spot. The genkan was long and narrow and more of a hallway than a traditional foyer.
The bedroom was light and comfortable (turned out to be a little too light – that window on the left didn’t have a darker cover and there was a street light out there somewhere that never turned off).
Also in the bedroom was this little dressing table space, which opens up for a mirror.
The main room in our small suite was just gorgeous… comfy little table, another pair of slightly taller chairs towards the balcony, and another pair of chairs on the actual balcony (which might be nice once the wind dies down!)
We had some snack and tea making goodies provided.
And I loved how the TV (which we never use anyway) was hidden behind these lovely decorative paper screens.
Japanese ryokans seem to love these old school phones – I’ve seen some made of timber, or full on Bakerlite, they’re so kitchy it’s not funny, but they are quite the feature of Japanese hotels. Also in the handy little hutch was tea cups, beer glasses, and other useful things.
The room is designed to accommodate families if needed, and the large closet held enough bedding for four more futon beds if required.
We also had a small kitchenette – which had a separate sink, a fridge, and coffee making equipment.
Also in this little alcove was another closet filled with yukata, samue, hanten coats (nice ombré ones!), baskets for taking ourselves down to the onsens… and in that yellow bag is: emergency slippers! Because everyone’s shoes are at the front genkan, they’ve very thoughtfully provided slippers in case we need to evacuate. 🙂
I’ve noticed a lot of hotel room design here very pleasingly has the toilet separate from the shower and bathing areas, and where possible, it’s usually not near the bedroom either! Western hotel designers should take some hints from these guys – no one wants to hear their partner or family member on the loo while they’re in bed! Ensuites are great, but not always well located!
The bathroom was lovely and felt really kinda personalised; ie: not huge hotel chain cookie-cutter style. The sink with its white and blue porcelain desing felt like it could be at your grandma’s place.
*drumroll please*
The Hairdryer! And some small amount of amenities… the hotel has an eco policy that says to please go down to the yukata ‘library’ to collect any amenities you night need, rather than loading up each room with them. Which I think is a good plan. So many places we have been to are loaded to the gills with soaps, shampoos, conditioners, face wash, toner, moisturisers, cotton swabs, ear buds, dental kits, toothpicks, shower caps, razors, luffas, sponges – you fucking name it, they’re trying to provide all of it. Makes me think Japanese people never travel with a toiletry kit (wait, maybe they don’t?!).
The showering room … complete with non-image forming spectral highlights from the afternoon sun.
And of course the private open-air bath on the balcony… happy place!
First order of business is always to unpack a little, scrub yourself clean, and then soak in the onsen bath for a while! With some local saké of course – it’s becoming our little tradition. It’s awesome when the hardest decision before dinner is figuring out where to pop your saké bottle to stop it from getting too warm! 😉
Tokinoniwa has a large restaurant filled with small private dining rooms, and we had arranged for half board for one night of our stay, but not for the second night – we want to go to town tomorrow and see what we can find in the local dining scene. The decor leading into he dining rooms was interesting…
A huge antique stove greets you as you walk in…
More local saké with dinner.
”New Year’s Eve Evening Meal”… no idea what New Year that is referring to, seeing it’s November! Appetisers of : Shrimp, Enoki and cucumber with sesame vinegar and miso; Simmered autumn salmon with gravy; Grilled mushrooms and lotus root in and saury; Chinese yam tonkatsu with saké kasu.
Sashimi course: Mahachi tuna, squid, sea bream, small rolled yuba served with soy and fresh wasabi.
Off menu surprise dish: tempura mushrooms served with a light ponzu sauce.
Left: Yamato pork wrapped in Chese cabbage and stuffed with ginger paste and red maple leaf shitake mushrooms. Right: Eggplant gratin, shrim, sweet potato, and baburika.
Teppanyaki Black waguy beef loin, thigh and Yamato pork, with Maitke mushrooms, cherry tomatoes, pumpkin, king oyster mushrooms.
18grain rice, Nametake mushrooms, grated yam, pickles and red miso soup.
Fresh melon, tiramisu (for Mr K) and a blancmange type jelly dish.
What a delicious dinner – courtesy of the “Head Chef of Heavenly Garden, Yukitaka Tsutsumi.” Great job title!
After waiting a respectable period of time to let dinner settle, it was back to the room for the usual after dinner bath.
Saké fuelled, kawaii onsen selfie!
I don’t think I’ll ever get sick of the sounds of the onsen water.
Thanks to comfy beds, or maybe it’s the saké, I slept really well. Then it was back to wandering the halls and past all the beautiful gardens, to find our way back to the restaurant for breakfast. Breakfast here was ¥2,200 per person (which sounds kind of pricey, but if you think about what you pay for brunch out at home, add a couple of coffees, it’s actually really reasonable), so we had arranged breakfast for both mornings of our stay.
The small private dining rooms are the best – if you aren’t used to Japanese cuisine, you can muddle through the menu and what to eat first, and what to eat mixed with what in privacy! If you are not morning person, Japanese breakfast is amazing… they bring all the things to you when you arrive and then bugger off and leave you in peace to enjoy your breakfast at your leisure. If you want a tea or coffee refill, you’ll have to flag someone down, as they won’t be bothering you after dropping off the food.
Mr K looking relaxed… as if work hasn’t been blowing up and occupying way too much brain space!
Japanese breakfast is always full of all good things! Fruit/vegetable juice, green tea, coffee, black tea… Tamago, salmon, mackerel, tofu dumpling, salad, miso soup, rice, pickles, yoghurt and fruit.
Except for this abomination… the dreaded natto again! Bleurk! I think it might be the only Japanese food that I simply can’t stomach at all. Fermented soy beans – I’ve tried it a couple of times, and it smells awful, and tastes even worse:
Just say ”No to Natto!” #FreeAdvice
I could really get used to Japanese breakfasts… it doesn’t matter what they bring (except the dreaded natto, which I didn’t know was a breakfast food until this very day!), it’s always delicious and nutritious, and someone else has prepared it! Yay.
Also, the view out the window in our little breakfast dining room was promising a gorgeous day!
I got a better look at this enormous antique stove this morning – it must weigh a tonne! We are on the second floor… how did they get it up here?
The amenities station in the yukata ‘library’… still with all the packaged disposable things you could possibly need.
We spent the morning doing work and the afternoon pottering around in Kusatsu Onsen proper. Lovely late afternoon colours from the balcony.
We had a late lunch in town so were skipping dinner tonight, but that doesn’t mean I’m skipping the pre-dinner soak and saké!
I think I was in and out of the onsen about four times tonight. Having a piping hot little plunge bath available to hop in and out of as often as you want is the ducks nuts. I love it… we had a late snack of Kusatsu Tamago pudding, an an early night.
The sunrise over Kusatsu made the deep red hues of the leaves even more vibrant. It’s a visually arresting way to start your day; wake up early, and quietly slip into the bath to soak until your body feels like jelly.
I watched these tendrils of steam caused by the fresh hot water rising through the cold air for far too long… just fascinated by the uniquely beautiful curling and writhing patterns created by the sunlight coming through the timber slats surrounding the onsen.
Second day’s breakfast was equally impressive… tempura tofu, grilled river fish, salad, miso soup, rice, pickles, mackerel, squid and all good thing. Also, bonus: #NoNatto ..!
Sadly it was time to check out of Tokinoniwa. I really enjoyed our stay here. The ryokan was lovely, the food was delicious, the staff were friendly (far more foreign staff than we have encountered everywhere else – some Filipino and Argentinian staff working in the restaurant), though my skin was feeling rather odd. I later discovered that Kusatsu has some of the most acidic hot spring waters in Japan and that means lengthy soaking isn’t really recommended.
Oh no! I guess I’ll have to quickly find myself an alkaline bath pronto!
Walking down the stairs to breakfast this morning I had my first ever slightly ‘off’ interaction with a man in Japan. 🙁
Now, I’m well very travelled and I think because of my extremely pale appearance, in some countries I seem to have gotten way more than my fair share of unwanted male attention – in numerous countries over the years actually. It started back when I was in my 20s with men in Italy, Greece and Turkey who would skeeze onto me in various ways with varying levels of ‘ick’.
The Italians guys it was always a kind of playful pick up attempt: “You want to see my scoot?!”, with a wink and a gesture to a Vespa that no self respecting Aussie bloke would ever be seen riding! With Greek guys, they would more direct and unfortunately were also a bit handsy with their approaches – like coming over real close to me and touching my necklace then commenting on how pretty it was, or touching my blonde hair and then getting close enough to smell you, while making a comment about blue eyes… just ick! Turkish men were always (at least outwardly) a little more romantically inclined in their come-ons, “Hey lady! Hey lady! You have dropped something – it is my heart, should you pick it up?!”, which would make you smile but would also make you glad that you are travelling in a pack of friends. I got so much unsolicited attention on my first big European adventure that the other girls were frequently joking that I had ‘FUCK ME’ tattooed on my forehead… I mean, I was always dressed like the povo backpacker I was – usually in 3/4 pants and a t-shirt or a polo shirt. I never wore tank tops or yoga pants the way girls do these days, never wore clothes that showed off cleavage or leg and yet, was always copping it.
As I got older, I sadly got kinda used to it – resigned to it, even – in most places… the lecherous glances if you were stupid enough to walk somewhere alone in the kasbah in Marrakech. The awful sKeezy fucker rubbing up against me on a Tube on the London Underground – Jesus, if that happened now I would raise all hell, but before the #MeToo, this was just the day to day situation fucking shitty, but totally normal that was the background noise of my life. I remember one occasion when I had drunken football hooligan following me from carriage to carriage on the Tube until I sat down with a huge guy and asked him to ‘be my friend’ for a few minutes.
In Pakistan, it ramped up a notch. Unwanted attention felt seriously creepy and even dangerous as you know even simple interactions can have serious repercussions – like the tailor’s assistant who brushed his hand against my thigh (twice!) felt like a full on assault compared to the dude pushing his erection into my thigh on a Tube packed like sardines. In China, I had men pulling on my hair so hard that it would snap my head backwards, and it happened so frequently, I resorted to tying it up and hiding it under a baseball cap, even indoors… I also had two absolute arseholes do a ‘fake sneeze and then face plant into my boobs’ manoeuvre in China – grown men acting like immature little highschool shits. Which is no small part of why I have no desire to ever go back there!
I honestly thought this shit would lessen as I got older, but it only seems to totally go away when I’m walking around with a man beside me which is fucking sad and depressing all round, but I acknowledge that for now at least, it just is what it is… it’s obviously not typical of the behaviour I experience around all men, but these entitled, immature or clueless fuckers are everywhere. 🙁
Anyway here, this morning, we were coming down to breakfast and Mr K left something in the room and went back up for it and I continued on down the stairs and into the dim restaurant corridors by myself. and a kitchen staffmember stepped out of a doorway in front of me… I was wearing my yukata and hanten coat (which is to say dressed in extremely modest ankle length attire) and my hair was freshly washed so was hanging around my shoulders instead of up in its usual bun. He smiled widely and spoke to me in rapid Japanese. I crossed my hands and indicated to him that I spoke no Japanese and he said in broken English, “You. Very beautiful. Look good. Yukata nice.”, which would have been fine, but he was gesturing with his hands as he did so; he touched his head to his shoulders (indicating he meant my long blonde hair), and then from his shoulders to his hip in a curvy motion, familiar the world over to mean ‘Girl, I’ve noticed your tits and curvy hips under there!’ In a culture where every one is so polite, it was unexpected and completely changed the tone of his original smile which I had originally just taken for friendly, but now had a leery kinda feel.
I hit 50 years old a little while ago… I’m not young anymore. I’m not fit or slender in anyway and have often been noted to be in possession of a fairly solid and well established resting bitch face. So why won’t they leave me alone? This interaction feels like such a stupid little thing to leave such a big impression, but I’m over it. Why can’t I just go about my day on my own, and not feel inspected, judged, and imposed upon? Why do men feel free to tell you what they think like this? I don’t want to know, think or care about what they think, all it does is remind me I’m not safe.
