Yugawara Onsen – Ashikari Ryokan

Posted on November 1, 2024 by borysSNORC

Yugawara is a small onsen town in south-central Japan known for its beautiful hot springs and numerous traditional ryokans. Its easy distance to Tokyo makes it a popular weekend getaway for city dwellers wanting to get away from the fast pace of one of the world’s biggest cities, and it’s not hard to see the appeal.

The area is known for Makuyama Park which has thousands and thousands of plum tress which blossom in the spring, but sadly they wont be on display at the moment in October. We should normally be able to expect a bit of autumn colour, but the 2024 summer has been particularly long and very very hot, so the leaves aren’t really turning on time this year.

Our accom for the night is at Ashikari Ryokan – https://www.ashikari.com/top.html – which I booked for their beautiful family room which has a fabulous open air bath. This ryokan is on booking dot com and can be booked there, if the Japanese website is a struggle – I have gotten use to their websites now, but I know they can be complicated when first faces with them. Like most ryokans, the room booking comes with half board, so we get to have a kaiseki dinner tonight, and Japanese breakfast tomorrow.

The reception set the tone for our stay – and looked very warm and welcoming.

I completely forgot that it was Halloween, and the Japanese love to adopt traditions from other cultures – Christmas is pretty big here, even though hardly any of the population identifies as Christian.

The slippers were hilarious – mine were fine, but Yale is a size 15 wide, and barely fit the balls of his feet into these things! 😀

From watching YouTube videos, I know that the landlady (usually the wife or daughter of the owner of the ryokan) will have been trained in traditional flower arranging and that any flowers seen on display in ryokans in public areas or in rooms will have been very carefully chosen and arranged with Japanese flower arranging traditions in mind… this involves the thoughtful choice of flowers in accordance with the season, flower meanings, aesthetic design, and lighting design – the fall of the shadows from the arrangement is as much a part of the art as the as well as the flower placement themselves.

A bowl of candy was out for trick or treaters I guess… though we are in a quite remote little part of the town, so I don’t imagine there will be many children coming past.

The lobby had a number of small couch spaces that faced a gorgeous large picture window that overlooks a well cultivated Japanese garden. It’s a beautiful serene space and I imagine if you just arrived here from the JR station from Tokyo, just the sight of the calm garden would immediately start to lower the blood pressure.

Tea and coffee and refreshments are available for guests in the lobby at any time through our stay.

After we checked in, we were led down a stone stairway into the garden. Our room was in a separate villa to the main building, and we were surrounded by greenery.

Hatsuse Room… I think it was called. It was immediately noticeable that this is not a mobility friendly room option, but with my new knee, I’ve been practicing going up and down the stairs – so hopefully it will be okay. Geta to wear around the garden or for on our way back up to the restaurant etc.

WOW! Such a beautiful relaxing space full of timber and traditional Japanese design elements. I could feel myself relaxing as soon as we walked into this room. I love it!

The beds were on a wooden floor area, but we also had a traditional tatami mat space with a ‘chabudai’ (low Japanese table). Super cute! So gorgeous! Squeeee…! I’m so excited to be here.

A little ‘yokan’ welcome snack (red bean jelly candy).

The room was well equiped with tea and coffee makings, glasses for beer, saké, wine, whatever you might have brought with you – it’s quite common for people to bring their favourite things with them when they come to stay at ryokan. A stop at the konbini is pretty much expected.

Selection of teas, a range of coffees, a fridge full of complimentary beer, juices, and spring water.

We were also provided with yukata (lightweight kimono style robes), samue (light Japanese pyjamas), and hanten (overcoats), to wear to and from the public onsens and to the restaurant, or for lounging around the room. Plus slippers, obi belts, tabi socks and a basket for taking your things to the onsen.

The bathroom and showering space is very well appointed and super modern. Everything you could possibly need. They provide so many amenities in the ryokan, it makes me wonder if Japanese travellers don’t travel with their own toiletries, and rely on using what the hotel will provide.

All the lotions and potions you could possible want – plus some sheet face masks, fluffy bathrobes, soft soft Japanese cotton towels, and a wee bag full of onsen towels.

The hairdryer spotting begins! Japanese travellers seem to have strange obsessions with their hairdryers – I am determined to get to the bottom of it this trip, but if you ever seen a Japan travel video done by a Japanese creator that doesn’t tell you what type of hairdryer is available… I’d be pretty sure theyr’e not Japanese! Hairdryer = super important hotel information!

And the star of any room tour – the private bath on the balcony! Oh, so good!

I have no patience whatsoever, after taking some photos of the room, it’s straight into the shower for me to get clean, so I can have a soak and a little Hakkaisan saké in the onsen. The water here was beautiful and soft… I felt the tension leaving my body within minutes!

Berfore too long it was time for dinner… first things first, choosing a local saké to have with our meal.

Matsu Midori Daiginjo (Nakazawa Sake Bazu Ashigami-gun) – this is a locally produced daiginjo often used also as a ceremonial toast of the Tokyo Summit. It was flavourful and kinda fruity, a little crisp without being dry. Very nice!

Appetisers considered of: Kurokawa Nanjing egg tofu; Marinated mackerel sushi, Maitake and Matsutake mushrooms dressed with chrysanthemum flowers; Mini radish and bonito crust, sweet shrimp marinated in koji; Squid with pine ball shell and grille bonito in warm saikyo sauce.

Sashimi course: Hokkaido scallop, sweet shrimp, mackerel served with various garnishes.

Yonezawa Pork ichiban shabu-shabu, served with burdock, fried tofu, chrysanthemum, ponzu sauce and yuzu pepper.

Spanish mackerel Naruto roll; Clam wrap grilled served with vinegared mayoga.

Tsumari soba with nori seaweed, grilled eel and condiments.

Five coloured tempura Sagami beef, served with Matsutake mushroom, asparagus, potato and yellow soy sauce.

Soup: Lobster, moon viewing rice balls, lotus root, grilled scallops, winter melon, and yuzu.

Rice, red miso soup wit eggplant and ostrich (?), served with assorted pickles.

Dessert: Melon mochi, match jelly cake, and fresh grapes.

What an amazing meal! Gochisousama deshita! Compliments to the Head Chef, Yasuo Suzuki.

Decided to talk a short walk around the ryokan after dinner to let our lovely meal settle before heading back to the room. So I had a look at the public onsens available here. This ryokan is not particularly tattoo friendly – when I enquired, they said to please cover or to try and use the baths very early or very late and not when busy. That is basically, I know and they know that tattooed people can make other guests uncomfortable, so please be mindful and try to bathe when no one else is in the space. It’s always advisable to ask, especially in the women’s onsen where you will often find yourself bathing with small children as well.

There were large, clean and well laid out locker spaces, dressing tables and showering areas.

I love the lighting design in this ryokan, you can tell someone has put an inordinate amount of thought into how the shadows will play in a space.

The baths themselves were not very large – likely because many of the rooms here have a private bath available to them, and the ryokan is small and intimate with only 18 rooms in total.

I popped back in the following morning – the view in this space is even prettier during the daylight.

I was in and out of the onsen at least twice more before turning in for the night! This is my idea of the most relaxing type of holiday stay. Screw beaches.

The following morning the clouds seems to have largely disappeared, and the bath was super inviting.

Sunrise, sunrise. Looks like morning in your eyes!

Breakfast time. After the meticulous service of course after course of a kaiseki dinner the night before, breakfast feels like a casual affair. All dishes will be brought out at the same time and you can pick and choose what you wish to eat first.

Tamago; Yuba melon and orange slices; Tuna sashimi; Chicken dumpling in a light dashi soup; Salmon pickles, yuba and wasabi for the rice.

Miso cod! So buttery and delicious. Served with pickled leek.

What an amazing stay! We managed to make use of the bath at least two more times before it was time to check out. I didn’t want to leave at all… I could have stayed for two or three nights quite happily. 😉

Onward we go…

Hakone Onsen – Kitanokaze Saryou

Posted on November 1, 2024 by borysSNORC

Kitanokaze Saryou is an adults only ryokan in Hakone… but ‘adults only’ they mostly mean they don’t particularly cater for young children, but we saw one couple here with an infant, so I don’t think it’s a hard and fast policy or anything. From the outside, the ryokan looks really unassuming.

This is an intimate luxury ryokan with only 10 guest rooms nestled in amongst the Hakone Botanical Gardens. There are no communal onsen baths here, as every guest room has a private bath – so it’s totally tattoo friendly in your room. Even though there are only 10 guest rooms, the public spaces like the reception and the lobby are quite spacious and beautifully appointed.

At first I thought this artwork was a painting, but on closer inspection I discovered it was an embroidery! very impressive.

The lounge in the lobby overlooks a meticulous cultivated Japanese garden. One day I’ll do some research into what the different elements of gardening are here, so I can more fully appreciate the layout of these spaces.

Our room was called Shion on the second floor, called a ‘Sky Terrace Room’ with an open-air bath.

I loved the slipper arrangement – his and hers for in the ryokan and in the room.

We found some welcome treats in the room to greet us – some crispy tomato and cheese bamboo crackers and some sesame mochi, which I found out later was made in house. I’m not one for sweets

This room didn’t have the same traditional Japanese design elements to it – no cypress panels, no paper screens, but it did have a lovely fresh and modern decor, with carpets rather than tatami.

Yukata, samue, and hanten coats were all provided for our use, along with obi belts, tabi socks and bags for your onsen towels (even though there were no public onsens to take your towels to??).

The room was quite large – with a desk space, two armchairs, as well as the bedroom space and a huge balcony.

Tea and coffee, kettle, a selection of teas and different coffees and the fridge had some complimentary beer and cold green tea drinks.

We spent quite a bit of time using these comfy armchairs, and the balcony had heaps of space – it if was warmer, you might have spent time on the day bed outside, but not so much for us.

We were welcomed with a yuzu tea, and some sakura wagashi sweets.

The bathroom was a goodly size and extremely well appointed – again with the more amenities than you can poke a stick at! We were never going to use a fraction of the toiletries and things they provide: razors, shower caps, cotton buds, dental kits, you name it, it’s here.

Bathroom has a large indoor bath that fills with onsen water also – I assume so you can use it if it’s raining or snowing perhaps, and you don’t want to use the open air bath? Looks like a good space to commit a gruesome murder. Needless to say, we didn’t use this space at all.

The huge balcony with outdoor shower and the open-air bath! Complete with peep hole through to the treetops of a thick bamboo forest.

Is it bad that I just want to run over and throw myself in the bath saying, ‘Mine! It’s all mine!’ Seriously, as a chronic pain sufferer, if there is any place in the world I would rather be than a fancy ryokan with a private bath soaking my stupid painful body; I can’t think of it.

A cheeky little Hakutsuru junmai saké acquired from the local Family Mart. 🙂 This was one of our favourite little saké breweries that we visited south of Osaka in 2019… and their little ¥400 reliably drinkable saké is available everywhere.

Dinner time…

Nice start to our meal, a plum wine cocktail – made with Ume plum wine, soda and frozen Nashi pear purée… delcious!

Japanese savoury egg custard soup, with Matustake mushrooms, shrimp, pike conger eels, ginko nut, Mistuba, Sudachi – combined with a dashi broth. Full of umami goodness.

Appetisers from left: Country pate made with Okhotsk port bacon; Cream cheese mousse with smoked kelp and roe; Bonito with flavoured vegetables; Jelly of sea bream; Steam abalone with foie gras pate; Japanese style salmon terrine.

Japanese kelp soup based with thin Izu thickened broth, snow crab, grilled shiitake mushrooms, Kujyo leeks and shredded yuzu.

Sashimi of shrimp, tuna, greenling, whelk, Atka mackerel and Maitake mushrooms and chrysanthemum leaves – served with home made soy sauce and home made grape wine vinegar and hop salt.

Smoked duck with balsamic – served under a bell of smoke… I took a video of the bell coming off, but it can wait until later.

Grilled beef with yuzu miso, served with a red wine and cassis sauce Kadayif. Abalone mushrooms , maple leaf shaped carrots, sweet potato, watercress and yuzu miso. This must have been one of the most delcious things I have ever had in my entire life! The flavours were incredible.

Simmered turnip with chrysanthemum flower paste, steamed and simmered sword fish, Momiji-fu and green beans.

Koji miso sou, Nameko mushrooms, Tofu and Mitsuba.

Kettle cooked rice: Seiten no Hekireki; famous rice provided from Aomori prefecture, a region known for it’s rice purity laws.

Served with pickled vegetables: Wasabi kelp, Enoki mushrooms marinated in Chinese style sauce, Nagaimo marinated with washable and sake lees, Winter melon pickled in tamari soy sauce, Chinese cabbage picketed with salted kelp and bonito flakes.

Homemake Japanese plum (Ume) ice cream; Mont Blanc pudding, Fig cheese tart, Grape Daihuku.

What an amazing dinner! We had a short wander around the ryokan after dinner, but with there being no public bathing areas, the communal spaces are more limited than normal. I do love the gardens here, they are very established and very beautiful – I guess that is one of the benefits of being in the Botanical Gardens.

In the morning, we were delivered a newspaper – neither of us could read it, but it’s the thought that counts, right? 🙂

Up early for blue skies, green bamboo swaying in a light breeze, and more dips in the onsen.

This bath is just about perfect – good size for two people, three if you’re close friends 😉 Has the ability to add cooled spring water if you are finding it too hot, and loads of space. Many private open air baths on balconies are small and in slatted rooms for privacy, but this is luxurious.

We chose a later breakfast time this morning so we could enjoy the room.

And this time we were guided to a different private dining room with a large picture window leading your view out into the gardens over breakfast.

I feel like there should be more moss growing on things around my house… but we live in the wrong climate for that!

Breakfast consisted of many of the usual things – Tamago, grilled salmon, stewed tofu, yuba, salted squid, picked vegetables and rice… and some dreaded Natto (fermented soy beans – yuk!).

Grilled salmon, Tamago, tuna sashimi.

Mystery soup! 🙂

Stewed tofu in an onion and mushroom broth.

I don’t need dessert at breakfast – but thankfully Yale never knocks back extra food.

Had another short wander around the ryokan in the daylight. It’s a beautiful modern complex, I’d stay here again.

Another bath… with some green tea. Afterwards, a quick skip through the gift shop – most ryokans have a small gift shop where you an pick up local delicacies that might have been on your plate, or craftswares that have been made by local artisans, gifts to take back to your co-workers and that sort of thing. We considered picking up a beep set, but sadly, we have no refrigeration.

Small waiting room near the reception – I’m not sure what this room would be used for, perhaps for very special guests who desire privacy when they are checking in. Unsure.

Whenever I try to take photos of the front of the ryokan, one of the staff will inevitably ask if I want my photo taken. I don’t usually want heaps of pictures of me from my travels – I know I was there, that’s enough for me – but it feels rude not to accept the offer!