For a friend who came all the way to visit, I booked a room at Kasuien Minami, the most popular onsen ryokan around here. With the wagyu course it came to a little over 20,000 yen per person, which is actually on the cheap side for a top-class onsen ryokan. At the better-known hot spring towns like Arima Onsen, the same level will set you back 30,000-40,000 yen a head. (Not that the food is dramatically better there..)
Green tea and a Japanese sweet
This is the welcome drink. A lady in a kimono takes care of every little thing for you. Even compared with a five-star luxury hotel at the same price, the service doesn’t fall short one bit.
The sweets box
There’s a little note saying it’s just a modest offering and to help ourselves. Inside are sweets that are local specialties. They taste pretty good, too.
The view from the window
We stayed on the 6th floor, looking down over the onsen town below. It’s a quiet, peaceful view that really calms you down. Honestly, since I live right near a hot spring area myself, I never felt the need to leave home and sleep in a place like this, but now that I’m here it’s nice ^_^ We got to spend our time as elegantly as the money we paid. Then again, thanks to my iPhone I kept checking Twitter the whole time, so maybe it wasn’t true peace…
The table, shot for the record
I’d tossed things all over it, so it’s a bit messy. There was a big table like this in the room. The room was spacious too, which was nice. Besides the Japanese-style rooms they have Western-style ones, which are cheaper, but there’s no reason to stay in one of those after coming all the way to an onsen ryokan.
The garden pond
This ryokan is also known for its beautiful garden. I took a stroll around and it was very well kept. That said, Chorakuen, where I went before, is big enough to walk a full loop, whereas this one seemed meant mostly for admiring from the café terrace outside.
Stone steps
These are shots from inside the garden. It’s lovely, but wandering around in a yukata, sweating on a hot day, was a bit rough..
Inside the garden
A small pond and bridge
The fountain inside
I’d been writing it off as just a country onsen inn -_- but this is a hot spring town known across the whole country, so business seems to be good. They’ve even put in a fountain..
Deep inside the lobby
There are plenty of facilities, too. There was even a karaoke box inside.
Foot bath
There’s even an indoor foot bath.. though with an open-air bath on hand anyway, it doesn’t mean much.
A painting hanging in the hallway
Nice taste.
Incense burner
The hallway was full of the scent of incense. Very luxurious.
An old-fashioned interior
It looks like it was renovated recently, so nothing feels worn, yet traditional beauty is woven right into it.
The small open-air bath on the rooftop
There’s a large bath on the 1st floor with its own open-air bath, but the rooftop one is where you get the real experience. Soaking in hot water while gazing out at the mountain villages stretching into the distance, your whole body goes limp and it feels like heaven. After soaking for about an hour, I got out and headed back to the room for dinner. I was really looking forward to finding out what kind of wagyu would come out tonight.