Day 13: Soak it up Written by Jason

DID:  I had no intention of leaving Kinosaki, Japan without first taking a dip in each of the 7 available natural hot spring onsen.  We'd come a long way for the experience, and well, I do appreciate a nice long, scorchingly hot soak.  Above that, when we woke up this morning we learned that a visit to each of the onsen wins you a special gift.  Ali set me on the task of tracking down that prize - and I naturally accepted at whatever the cost.

We had this in mind last night when we decided on our first locations to hit.  We knocked off the 2 which were closed today, so I was in a good position to check off the remaining 5 onsen in the next 12 hours.  When all was said and done, of course, that does work out to 5 (fairly intensive) showers and roughly 10-12 hot baths.  I can't recall the last time I've done that - even on a particularly lazy ski holiday I wouldn't even get close.

Needless to say, there was eating involved throughout the day, as well.  You can't bathe on an empty stomach (I can't do much on an empty stomach), but I'll detail that out separately in the EAT section.

Anyways, after breakfast, Gavin demanded we trek out for a quick onsen to get the day started.  Ali and Rhys stayed behind - Rhys still eating, and Ali still drying off from last night's round.  So Gavin and I threw on our yukatas and hit the streets of Kinosaki.  We clonked a few blocks up the road (wearing our prescribed wooden getas) to our first stop of the day - Jizou-yu.

Jizou-yu was a perfect choice for the first visit.  It was nearly empty, really close to our ryokan, and the water was strikingly hot (good to set the tone for the rest of the day).  The bath did not offer much in the way of uniqueness - no "exposed" rocks protruding from the surrounding mountainside, no massaging sprinklers.

As with each of our onsen visits, we first went through the ritual of a thorough cleaning.  That really is the whole point of an onsen, anyway - to clean, cleanse and relax.  Before you enter the bath, you must be perfectly clean.  I should stress the word "clean", as it's impressive the lengths many go to ensure a proper scrub-down.  Sitting on a tiny stool (yes, sitting), you're given a shower hose with faucet, a small hand towel, a bucket and a range of soaps and shampoos.  With these, you go to work.  Rinse, lather, scrub, rinse, repeat - over every corner.  This process takes me about 15 minutes, but I've witnessed some of the most thorough folks use a good 30-40 minutes.  I can't begin to imagine how long it would take someone with a bit of real estate.  I've never been this clean, and I've taken quite a few showers and baths in my time.

Once we were clean, and we had every last bit of soap rinsed off, Gavin and I were ready for the bath.  The bath at Jizou-yu is a good size, with ample space to dip right in up to the neck.  Once I was in and settled, Gavin dipped down to the ankles, smiled, nodded and hopped back out.  "I want to go to the next place", and we're off.

Giving Gavin the option of going to another onsen or going to pick up Ali and Rhys, we decided to quickly try another onsen.  I started to realise Gavin was fixated with one of the onsens we visited yesterday.  I took Rhys into the men's side of an onsen, and he followed Ali into the women's side.  These onsens are typically very similar between both sexes' facilities (so I'm told).  At yesterday's, though, the men's side had 2 outdoor pools and the women's only had 1.  Feeling let down, Gavin had made it a mission to revisit said establishment.  Also, he only wanted to go into the men's side of each onsen from here on.  Sadly for Gavin, the Goshono-yu was closed on the day, but he refused to acknowledge that fact.

Gavin and I clomped along to our second onsen of the day - Ichino-yu.  Here, Gavin was quite impressed with the metal-card locker keys, but I was more impressed with the outdoor hot spring.  The indoor facilities were clean and effective as any, but the real draw was the cave-enclosed bath outside.  After a full cleaning (did I mention there's a cleaning ritual at each and every onsen?), we took a hop into the indoor and outdoor pools.  A few minutes of tranquility, and we head back to the ryokan to see how Ali and Rhys were coming along.

Back at the hotel, Rhys was down for his morning nap.  That gave us a few minutes to run down to the hotel onsen again.  It's amazing how large our hotel actually is.  A tiny, 2 story storefront opens to a football-field length establishment of twisting passageways and multiple buildings.  The neighbouring building houses a pair of private onsens and massage facilities.  Gavin and I tried out the 2nd private onsen, and it's much like the first (except very slightly smaller).  After another scrub-down and a quick soak, we took a few minutes in a massage chair.  Gavin proclaimed this chair to be the saviour of all Ali's back troubles, and demanded we run upstairs to tell her.

Back upstairs, Rhys was just waking up as the food started coming in.  After 3 baths this morning, I'm still feeling ok.  I'm certainly clean, and I haven't even started pruning.

After lunch, the boys were somehow in need of some R&R, so they stuck on a movie.  Ali had a very relaxing facial massage at the hotel.  Thereafter, Ali encouraged me to head out on my own.  So, I threw my yukata back on and start my way toward my next onsen.  Traveling light, I decided that I'm probably best heading to the 2 hard-to-reach onsen on the opposite end of town.  The first I visit was Mandara-yu.

Mandara-yu is the smallest onsen in town.  Secluded a bit off the main road, I'm told this is one of the most "traditional" onsens in Kinosaki.  It was certainly busier than the rest - or at least it seemed so.  This was the first onsen I had to wait for space to enter a bath.  The outdoor bath seats 3 small people, but a sumo-sized gentleman made that a difficult proposition.  This bath is what I know as a "hot tub" - a large wooden barrel shaped unit sat outside.  The indoor bath is a bit larger fitting perhaps 5 or 6 people.

Having to wait for space at a bath house in low-season isn't my thing, so after a very quick soak, I moved on to the next onsen - Kouono-yu.  Supposedly sitting in the very spot a fabled stork was seen bathing in the mountain's natural springs, Kouono-yu is the oldest onsen in Kinosaki.    What sets Kouonu-yu apart for me is the outdoor rock pool.  A bit shallow for perfection, but the water was a great temperature and the view up the lush side of the mountain made for a relaxing experience.

I was back at the ryokan for a dinner of shabu shabu (details below) before heading out to our final onsen.  This time the whole family headed out to the largest onsen in Kinosaki - Satono-yu.  Set right next to the train station, this is the most popular destination in the area.  The guide book even recommends going here twice because of its shear size.  We arrived with about 45 minutes before closing, so we make due.

After another cleaning session, Gavin and I headed into the baths.  The first level has 3 separate onsen tubs with varying temperatures and jet arrangements, a set of tiny waterfalls and a steam room.  The top level has another steam room, a sauna, a few showers, and an outdoor rooftop bath which overlooks the neighbouring river and mountains.  Gavin and I spent a few minutes in each.  He loved the outdoor bath, but hated both the steam room and sauna ("too hot") - too bad for me.

By this point, I was coming to realise that all bath houses in Kinosaki all have similar merits.  They are all spectacularly clean, and are often even new-looking.  They all have fantastic water, all from virtually the same source, all at reasonably similar temperatures.  They are all equipped with very nice indoor baths.  What sets any one over the other is a) the above-the-call-of-duty amenities (massaging chairs, hot/cold rooms, saunas, steam rooms, etc), b) the rustic vs modern appearance, and c) the outdoor bath look and feel.

Personally, if I were to pick a favourite onsen, it would probably be Goshono-yu.  I think it had the best balance of amenities and natural beauty.  Gavin would hate me for saying this, but the two outdoor pools are special and I would go back if I could.

After we finished up at the onsens, there is still about 30 minutes before closing time, so the family decided to visit one of the private onsens at the ryokan.  Thanks to Gavin, Ali had a chance to try out the massage chair, and I had one final soak to end a very busy and relaxing day.

ATE:
For breakfast at the ryokan, a full spread of table-stewed soft tofu, a whole smallish cooked and chilled fish (flounder?), a soft-boiled onsen egg, assortment of pickled vegetables of varying fishiness, miso soup, rice, green tea.

For lunch at the neighbourhood joint across the street, we each had tempura - Ali had a plate of prawns, Gavin had calamari, and I had the infamous Kinosaki crab, and we all split a round of vegetables.  The waitress looked a bit surprised we all wanted tempura, but I guess we were all due a greasy meal.  After lunch, the boys were given a corn fritter snack (not sweet).  Then, we attempted ice cream from next door.  This turned out to be the worst ice cream ever, and it met the bin fairly quickly.

For dinner at the ryokan, a meal of shabu shabu with an assortment of vegetables and 2 plates of udon for dipping in hot water and sauce.  Included were the standards - pickled vegetables, rice, and a soup with tiny clams (perfect for vongole, btw, if that helps describe them).  Rhys made himself at home with a tub of rice and soy sauce, and Gavin had a plate of noodles warmed in the shabu shabu water.  Dessert was another attempt at ice cream which ended with, as usual, screaming kids drenched in a melted, sticky mess.  Ali proclaimed a future ban on all ice cream cone purchases.  Worth noting was that Ali loved the black bean-flavoured one.