Yunishigawa Onsen

Bathing is extremely important in Japan.  There are right ways and wrong ways to do it.  Most homes have an ofuro, a deep, deep small tub for the family to bath in each night. The water is usually kept at slightly below scalding levels and you never bath before you are entirely clean as the water is not changed between bathers. Families without ofuros make use of the local public bath or sento.  Additionally, Japan has hundreds of onsen, or natural hot springs, both indoor and outdoor.

Our ugly, unused as yet ofuro

When Nick was in daycare as a one year old we used to have to record how often and how long we bathed him on a daily basis.  Bathing is not only important in Japan, it is an art form.  Many Japanese take onsen vacations.  You definitely have to give up modesty as wearing bathing suits is not allowed.  All onsens have separate sex bathing areas while a few also have unisex areas with rules against ogling.


We chose Honke Bankyu Bankyu Ryokan in the mountain town of Yunishigawa.  The area was discovered and settled in 1573 by the Heike clan who were seeking refuge and a hideaway after being defeated and kicked out of Kyoto.  This place was definitely off the beaten path.

Yunishigawa Onsen

Reception Area

at mini on-site museum

reception

Ornate Ceiling

Overlooking the rope bridge and river

  It took many hours and forms of transportation to get tot he hotel, the last being a bus which winded its way along steep, narrow mountain roads.  Upon arrival we were formally greeted by the sounding of a drum and led to our tatami mat rooms overlooking the Yunishigawa river.

They're here!

 The kids loved that the rooms included a head to toe massage chair in the vestibule area.

Leisure wear in our room overlooking Yunishigawa river

We quickly settled in with green tea and red bean paste snacks and changed into the  yukata you wear around the hotel.  Then we set off to explore the hotel and take our first bath and hopefully not embarrass ourselves or bring shame to the family in the process.

three little maids are we...

The staff helped Sandy, Nancy to dress for some traditional photos.

The women's section of the onsen consisted of a women's spa locker room area.  Then the pre-bath shower area where you squat on a 12 inch stool and meticulously clean yourself.  There was an indoor onsen which was crazy hot, but we moved to the outdoor rotenburo surrounded by rocks overlooking the river and stayed through sunset.  There were only a few other guests in the hotel and after the first 15 minutes, we had the whole onsen to ourselves.  Ahh.

lit nighttime crossing

rope bridge by day

down the hallways to our dining room

Dinner was across a rope bridge in a private dining room around an irori or open heath.



















Some of it was already laid out when we entered.  Then four more hot courses were brought while three courses cooked over the open fires in front of us.  Our host explained the order in which to approach the meal and gave us hints for timing as don't eat the river fish on a stick until all the water has flowed out it's mouth?!  Many of the items on our plate were unidentifiable and some were better left unknown.  I have to say that I could not muster the courage to try even a bite of the raw pheasant sashimi (I am sure that Kirsten would agree).  But, much to Ian's surprise, I did try the deer sashimi and liked it until the words "RAW DEER" began to repeat in the head.

Sandy waiting for meal to begin

Jackson happy to have kids meal as more things were fried than not

Our individual tray: pheasant sashimi is top right and deer is top middle-doesn't it look tasty?

looks like marshmallows, but actually toasted pounded rice, notice wet spots in sand from fish spitting up

our private digs

When we returned to our rooms, our futons had been laid out for the night and in the morning we repeated our bath and meal routine, this time with an elaborate, yet unusual breakfast buffet.

We certainly left cleaner than we arrived.