Nishiyama Onsen – Keiunkan

Posted on November 14, 2024 by borysSNORC

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!

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.

Layered construction: shingen minobu toso; mackerel.

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.

Kusatsu

Posted on November 14, 2024 by borysSNORC

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.

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.