Some of you may remember a blog post I did a few years back detailing a very lame day trip to a rural hot spring town called Kaga. If you don't, I don't blame you--I don't remember much about it either. Basically, it was a very haphazardly planned trip that amounted to a whole lot of wandering around.
But I've been wanting to go back and redeem that experience ever since, and finally had a chance this week. My school was administering its entrance exam on Tuesday and Wednesday, so I decided sort of last-minute to take advantage of the mid-week timing. You wouldn't believe how far in advance Japanese people plan their vacations. We have a friend who works as a travel agent and he told us that most folks plan their vacations for the same time and place every year, so they just go ahead and book the next year's stay when they're on their way out. Now you realize how little chance I stand trying to plan a trip 5 days in advance.
But lucky me, I managed to snag a reservation for one night at a ryokan, a traditional Japanese hotel, in this quaint little hot spring town. Ryokans are special for many reasons: the facilities are top-notch, the architecture is very traditional and reminiscent of Edo-era Japan, the food is typically an array of fresh, local cuisine, and the service is out of this world. But probably most prominent about the ryokans in this particular town are the bathing facilities.
You guys have heard us talk plenty about public baths in Japan, but I really can't say enough about them. They're awesome. The ryokan I stayed in had one big community bath (both indoor and outdoor) as well as 5 private baths you could reserve. Here's a shot of the community outdoor bath:
For obvious reasons, cameras are prohibited inside the bath facilities, so I yoinked this photo from the hotel's website. But had I taken a photo, you would have seen a blizzard outside and not a single other person in the bath. Awesome. I kind of felt like one of those snow monkeys we saw on our trip to Nagano last year.
So, needless to say I made ample use of the bath while I was there. As for my room, well, the first priority for me was the massage chair. YES.
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| But also...the room was pretty nice. |
Okay. About the service: I have been told by many Japanese that the service at ryokans is really spectacular. I have always responded with, "Well yeah, but the service everywhere in Japan is great." But now I understand. This, ladies and gentlemen, is a different breed. It was almost annoying at times how helpful the staff was being. The moment I got off my train at the station, the chauffeur was waiting at the gate for me with a sign. When I entered the hotel, the staff greeted me happily, took my bag, and seated me for a cup of tea. I even had my own personal attendant who escorted me to my room, gave me a tour, brewed me another cup of tea, and then asked me what time she might come back to make my bed for the evening. She laid out my yukata, a Japanese-style bathrobe, and I honestly think she would have dressed me had I requested it.
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| Behold. Yukata. |
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| Oh, this was also taken from the website, but she totally did this. I thought she was leaving, so I followed her to the door. But then she turned around, sat down on the floor, and I was hovering over top of her like a creep. She proceeded with a deep bow and said something to the effect of, "We are unworthy of your magnanimous presence in our humble dump of a hotel...please take your time." Then I felt weird and thanked her and encouraged her to get the heck off my floor. |
At one point later that evening I was walking around the lobby in socks (because you can't wear shoes inside and I wasn't feeling keen on the four-sizes-too-small sandals provided to me in my room) and a concierge spotted me, called me by name, and came running with a pair of slippers, these ones a bit larger. (Sigh. You're just SO helpful, aren't you?)
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| Mmmm...toe wedgies. |
Well, all that to say, the service was impeccable. There's a saying that when you're staying at a ryokan, you shouldn't have to lift a finger, and I think that was literally the case with my stay. As for the food, well, I am unlike most Japanese in that I don't find ryokan food particularly tasty--especially considering the steep cost. It's local and fresh and the aesthetics get a 10 out of 10, but there's just not much to sink your teeth into. So, I opted for dinner at a local katsudon restaurant. I did, however, get a breakfast plan at the hotel, which...we'll just say, met my expectations. 3 points to the reader who can identify any of the objects in top right.
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| This one goes out to Daniel. He just LOVES a good Japanese breakfast. |
As always, thanks for reading, friends!
-Jorden
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