A visit to Taira no Takafusa ryokan

When planning my excursion to Nikko and its temple complex I decided that it would be fun to stay somewhere nearby in the region for the night, rather than returning to Tokyo. Looking at what could be reached by train from Nikko I decided to look for somewhere with a natural hot spring. I rejected the relatively nearby resort town of Kinugawa Onsen in favor of something a bit more off the beaten path. Having stayed at a traditional ryokan on Hokkaido I wanted to try that experience again. My limited attention to detail when it comes to maps led to a near disaster that due to my ridiculous good luck had a happy ending.

Taking the train from Nikko I noticed after about 20 minutes that we were climbing gradually but steadily higher into the mountains. I started to realize that I had underestimated the remoteness of the location. Nearing our stop at the Yunishigawa Onsen station where I got off, I realized that not only was the station platform inside a mountain tunnel, but the exit to the “station” was an underground tunnel. Luckily it was lit by lovely fairy lights.

Train departing from Yunisigawa Onsen station

Upon emerging into daylight I saw that the station consisted of a glassed in ticket booth and a bench on the sidewalk in front of a bus stop. Period. Of course in a town this remote the station attendant spoke no English although she did manage to convey to me that I needed to take the bus to get to my destination. No problem! The schedule showed the last bus of the day arriving shortly. As I waited I saw a young man emerge from the train station gift/convenience shop (the existence of which made no sense given the lack of an actual station) and carefully lock the door. He turned and gave me a puzzled look, then said in English “Where are you headed?” Turns out he had attended university in the US and spoke fluent English! I told him where I was going and said I was waiting for the bus into the town. He looked concerned then, and asked if I had called ahead to let them know I was coming. Of course I hadn’t because none of this was mentioned on the Trip Advisor page where I’d found the listing. The only detail relevant to arrival was “free parking”. I also had failed to notice that in the listing “Languages spoken” listed “Japanese”. Period. I must have looked like a deer in the headlights because the man then offered to call the hotel on my behalf. He arranged to have a van pick me up from the spot where the bus would drop me.

I got on the bus when it arrived and rode it to the last stop as instructed by my Good Samaritan. Right on schedule a van showed up and drove me another mile or so to the ryokan.

Once there I was able to check in and get to my room with lots of gesturing and pointing. After donning my hotel provided yukata and enjoying the onset bath, I was served dinner in a private screened room. There was no menu (wouldn’t have helped) but I had already learned from my stay in Noboribetsu to trust the process. Sure enough this is a sampling of what happened.

The next morning I rose early and decided to walk into the town. As I was walking across the parking lot the front desk manager rushed out and with energetic gesturing indicated that I should absolutely NOT do that but instead walk around the side of the hotel. Never one to ignore the advice of locals I proceeded around to the rear of the building where I found a path and eventually stone steps leading up the hillside. As I climbed I saw that the trail led to a series beautiful small shrines.

After a walk among the woods and shrines I felt refreshed and ready to head out of town for my next adventure. But I’ll never forget the lovely ryokan I almost didn’t get to.