This post was written in 2023. Shop details and prices may have changed since then.
Hamamatsu has an onsen town called Kanzanji. It sits right beside the lake, so the scenery is lovely, and it is a tourist spot with all sorts of facilities like an amusement park and a zoo.
The amusement park
I did not actually go in, I just had a look from outside.
The cable car
I wonder how many people actually ride it..
The Ferris wheel
Lake view
Flowers
Buildings along the lake
There are a lot of onsen hotels.
Ducks and dinosaurs
Sky
Sky
Sky
Anyway, Hanasaki no Yu is an onsen, and you can go in without staying overnight. There is a buffet lunch course too, but it turned out to be far too popular.. probably because they use good ingredients like crab.. so I just went in for the bath and left it at that.
I cannot show you photos of the baths, but the facilities were nice.. I went for a meal at the restaurant attached to the onsen, which doubles as an izakaya. Once I had ordered this and that, though, the price did not seem all that different from the lunch course.
Salad
Soba
Chinese-style fried rice
French fries
Buta shogayaki
Salmon and ikura don
The ingredients were all good. The prices were so-so.. it felt like I had ordered too much, but you just have to eat it all..
The window
It was a great way to spend a leisurely day. I would like to take on the lunch buffet someday too.