Hotspring Hopping in Oku-Hida Onsengo

My skin must have wrinkled like a relief map of the surrounding mountains of Central Japan, as I took 4 baths in 9 different hotspring pools -- all in the course of a 16-hour period.

Even though I've had some hotspring experience in Canada, Hungary and Eastern Japan prior to this trip, to visit a mountain-side hotspring in its natural state in the hotspring-crazed nation of Japan was a highlight I looked forward to for months leading to the day. This was in a remote mountain valley in Central Japan, situated at a turn-off on Route 158 halfway between the cities of Takayama and Matsumoto, not far from the road into Kamikochi. This valley consists of a loose collection of five little hotspring towns -- Hirayu, Shin-Hirayu, Fukuchi, Tochio, and Shin-Hotaka -- known together as Oku-Hida Onsengo.



We picked Hirayu Onsen out of the five towns for our overnight stay, mainly due to its location as the main transportation hub in the region. This allowed us to arrive from Takayama in the morning, take a 30-minute bus ride to see the National Park at Kamikochi, return in the late afternoon for some bathing, then depart for Matsumoto the next morning.

Upon arrival at Hirayu Onsen, one of the most recognizable landmarks was the tall lantern-stand outside the entrance of our Ryokan (more about it below), and the narrow hotspring pool at its stone base providing a free-of-charge foot bath for weary travelers waiting for the next bus connection. There's another bigger foot bath at the centre of the village if you're a foot bath fan, but this one is located next to the bus terminal and allows you to see the buses coming in while you enjoy the water.



Hirayu Onsen is an Onsen (hotspring) town after all, and sightseeing attractions is just not its forte. There is one little museum in town known as the Hirayu Minzoku-kan which exhibits three thatched-roof farmhouses, but the main draw for the 500-yen entrance fee is the bathing in the open-air hotspring pool within the museum grounds.

The other attraction in town is the large park surrounding the Hirayu Ootaki, famous for its illuminated display of a frozen waterfall during the winter. We felt that it didn't justify our time as we arrived in May ... we've seen enough waterfalls living in Canada.



The town itself was small and nondescript, and could be mistaken for any of the hundreds of similar hotspring towns across Japan. But as all hotspring-goers know, it's the quality and ambience of the hotspring pools that really matters. So I thought I'd start by seeking out the town's most famous hotspring pool ...



... the Kami-no-Yu, the small, rustic great-granddaddy of all hotsprings in the region. Legend has it that an invading 16th Century warlord discovered this copious source of spring water, which has stayed true to its origin as just a couple of natural rock-lined pools in the middle of the wilderness. This is pretty remarkable considering the Japanese tendency to over-develop any hotspring resort -- just look at the "original" hotspring pool in Gero just a couple hours drive to the southwest ... the source once-revered as one of the "Three Famous Hotsprings" is now just a concrete pool right underneath a highway overpass surrounded by a myriad of ugly hotels. Talk about killing the goose that laid the golden egg!

As you can see I was pretty stoked about my first dip in a Japanese natural hotspring ... one that is outside a Ryokan or a public bathhouse. The path to Kami-no-Yu was well marked with signs like this one ... no English on the signage of course, nor do they expect any foreigners. Even though the town brochure said 10 minutes walking distance, it probably took me closer to 20 minutes as it turned out to be a long, winding uphill climb, which seemed even longer as the occasionally bather zoomed by in a car.



Already out of breath and in desperate need for a hot bath to recuperate my thighs, I finally made it to the entrance at about 17:00. As you can see the closing time seemed to vary with little warning, and I suspect they would just close sooner on slower days and run until 19:00 on holidays and weekends. The other finer prints are just the generic bathing rules such as "No bottles and cans in the open-air bath." A few metres after this sign stood the concession stand, where a middle aged lady collected my 500 yen (CAD$5) entrance fee and also sold various refreshments and fruits. Well, it's not TOO basic after all -- I would have loved a free bath.



As it turned out there were a total of four pools -- one open-air bath for males, one for females, one private indoor bath for families, and one other private bath in the form of a giant metal pot. So ... no Konyoku (mixed-sex bathing) ... unless you bring your whole family and have a big bath together like some Japanese families do. Once you choose the pool you want, it's just a matter of stashing your clothes inside one of the baskets in the little wooden shed (no lockers ... so don't bring anything valuable), then bring your own Tenugui (small wiping cloth) with you and head off to the bath.



And bring your own soap and shampoo too if you don't want to use the generic body soap offered by the facility, as Japanese bathing etiquette requires cleaning and rinsing oneself thoroughly before venturing into the pool. As I stood naked and washed myself at the pool side, the faint odor of sulphur emanated in the air, almost in an inviting way as I prepared to test the water temperature with my feet.

The edge of the pool was warmer than luke-warm, but not as hot as I would prefer. It started at only around 37 degrees Celcius by my estimation, but got increasingly higher close to the spring source, which was directed into the pool from above using a bamboo pole. The colour of the water was just slightly yellow, and bits of whitish minerals could be seen suspended in the cloudy water. Just two middle-aged Japanese men shared the bath with me on this weekday afternoon in May. Neither stayed for very long, which was great since I could then bring out my cheap point-and-shoot camera for a few pics of my own.



Now THIS was the hotspring experience I had come for -- a shoulder massage from the steaming hot water source, hidden in the seclusion of nature and uninterrupted by any other bather. This moment alone was worth spending the night at this little hotspring town in the middle of nowhere. And the spring source was HOT!!! Very hot in fact, even higher than the maximum 42 degrees Celcius offered at most hotspring resorts. I couldn't last very long under this temperature and had to get out of the pool, cool myself down, then get my other shoulder massaged and so on for a few times.

After 40 minutes or so all my aches were gone, and of course the road back to town was all downhill from here, so to speak. Funny I never noticed the beauty of the lush green forest and the serene mountain stream during the grinding uphill walk ...



Hotel Review: HIRAYU-NO-MORI (Hirayu Onsen)
Address: Gifu-ken Takayama-shi Oku-Hida Onsengo Hirayu 763-1
Price: 9000 yen per person including dinner and breakfast (1000 yen less for rooms without private bathrooms)
Website/Map: http://www.hirayunomori.co.jp
How To Book: Through the official website
Directions: One minute walk from the Hirayu Onsen bus terminal, towards the uphill side on the right side of the road.


Baths, baths and even more open-air baths ... this is the main reason people come to Oku-Hida Onsengo. I have to borrow a picture from the Ryokan's official site since I took the bath at night and didn't bring my camera. Please contact me if you're the owner of this photograph and would like me to take this photo down. Otherwise, this is an excellent illustration of the hotspring experience you can expect at any one of the many Ryokans along this valley.

Being one of the largest Ryokans in the region, Hirayu-no-Mori boasts a total of 16 fully open-air hotspring pools, with 7 on the male side and 9 on the female side. I walked in at the uncharacteristic hour of 21:00, when almost all of the guests have retired to their rooms and I had sole possession of all 7 hotspring pools on the male side. It was a clear early summer night, with the sky so clear that I could pick out the big dipper and the milky way while floating in the hotspring pools. And yes, I did try all 7 of the pools, and ended up spending most of my time in the two hottest ones.



Again there was no mixed-sex bathing in the public section, but for couples and families, the Ryokan provided a few private baths for its guests on a first-come-first-serve basis. These were giant semi-outdoor bathtubs in the form of semi-spherical metal pots, divided into an indoor half and an outdoor half by a wooden sliding divider. With a roof over the head and just metres from the Ryokan property's wooden fence, there really wasn't much of a view to speak of. But somehow we found it so relaxing that we came back for one more dip the next morning before checking out.



You don't even need to stay overnight in Hirayu-no-Mori to enjoy the bathing facilities, as the Ryokan offers a "Day Bathing" ticket for a measly 500 yen (CAD$5), which is the same price as the natural Kami-no-Yu but with a whole selection of nicer, albeit artificial pools. This could be a great plan if you're only passing through this area for the day, and are in need for a hotspring fix and a lunch spot. There is one public restaurant in the Ryokan, serving typical Central Japanese dishes such as Hida Beef and wild mountain vegetables.



You can see the sign of a successful hotspring Ryokan by the plethora of souvenir items in its gift shop. Most of these would make nice gifts to bring home to friends and family, but for us there is only one essential item to bring home ...



... Oku-Hida Onsengo's own Yu-no-Hana, the mineral salts collected from the evaporation of the hotspring water and the true essence of any Onsen. Two spoonfuls into my bathtub and I can enjoy the same cloudy, skin-smoothening hotspring water at the comfort of my home. This is by far the best natural bath salt I've ever used, and it's only 315 yen (CAD$3) for each 250 gram pouch.

So the bathing facilities were quite excellent, now what about the room and the meals?



There are at least three types of rooms to choose from. Our Tatami-mat room with ensuite bathroom cost 9000 yen (CAD$90) per person including dinner and breakfast, and a Western (2 single beds) room with ensuite bathroom also went for the same price. If you can do without your own private bathroom, you can get a Tatami-mat room for only 8000 yen (CAD$80) per person. Now this is the weekday rate, as the price goes up a little on Saturdays, holidays and the summer peak season. If you're a fan of hotsprings, or if you just want an authentic Japanese hotspring resort experience, 8000 yen per person including dinner and breakfast is fairly hard to beat as far as full-service Ryokans go.



On to the dinner, which was quite ordinary and simple by Ryokan standards, but still consisted of nine courses.



Once again we're served the signature dish of any rustic Central Japanese dinner -- a roasted Iwana trout dusted with sea salt. The pairing of the saltiness of the Iwana Shioyaki with a sweet chestnut was interesting though. First of all that's quite a contrast of flavors and textures, and secondly ... I thought chestnuts are usually served in the Autumn season as far as Japanese cuisine goes!



To me the interesting thing about this dish wasn't the tempura itself, but the Chef's display of confidence in his own ability evident through his decision of presenting Matcha salt instead of the ubiquitous Ten-tsuyu sauce for dipping. This showed that the Chef wanted his clients to focus on the delicate flavors of his choice ingredients, consisting of Maitake mushrooms, Kabocha squash, and a bamboo shoot. This was probably the best dish of the meal, though IMHO it's still a notch or two lower than what I would expect from a Tempura specialist restaurant ... the amount of residual oil was too heavy for this dish to be considered a complete success.



At the end we came to the dinner's most expensive ingredient -- four thick slices of the region's famous Hida Beef. Well, let's take off the decorative wrapping and examine the beef marbling ...



Well, there was a fair amount of marbling content, but the distribution wasn't entirely even -- you could see a large white area of fatty connective tissue in each of the four slices, and certain areas without any marbling. As expected this wasn't quite as tender as some of the other Hida Beef dishes we've had on this trip -- in fact this was probably the lowest in quality ... an A3 by my estimation. If you want to see a visual comparison against top A5 quality Hida Beef, take a look at the Hida Beef in Hoba Miso at Shirakawago's Shiraogi restaurant.



The next morning we started our routine with another hotspring dip in the private Kama-furo bath, then went to the restaurant for breakfast at 07:00. Once again the breakfast was simple by Ryokan standards, but of course the rice was all-you-can-eat, and we did find our meal quite enjoyable due to two of our favorite breakfast items ...



It was my wife's favorite again -- the Onsen Tamago (hotspring egg) served in Dashi broth. Even though we've been having this dish practically once every couple mornings, we just couldn't get enough of this incredible smoothness of the soft-boiled yolk surrounded by the even softer egg white. I should try to make this at home sometime ... once I get a decent water thermometer to help me keep the water at exactly 70 degrees Celcius for half an hour.



Then it was time for my favorite -- the quintessential Central Japanese dish of Hoba Miso, prepared simply by placing the local red miso and vegetables on top of a dried magnolia leaf and grilling on an open flame. The portion here wasn't quite generous enough for my liking, but it was still memorable as this turned out to the my last encounter with Hoba Miso on this trip. I still wish I had bought a stack of Hoba leaves back in Hida Takayama ... I'm missing this dish so much as I ponder what to cook for breakfast on lazy weekends.

Now we've seen it all ... the hotspring, the room and the meals ... but was it worth the 9000 yen (CAD$90) per person? Frankly the main selling point here is the wide selection of open-air hotspring baths, and it almost seemed that everything else was deemed secondary by the Ryokan management. The room was comfortable but really nothing to write home about, and the meals were quite ordinary really, in terms of both quality and quantity ... or perhaps we're just spoilt by the Ryori Ryokans (gourmet inns) we visited earlier during this trip. Nevertheless 9000 yen was still a fairly cheap price for a full-service Ryokan with excellent hotspring facilities, and taking into account its excellent location as a base for visiting Kamikochi on a day trip, I really should have no complaints.



TRANSPORTATION


Forget about train service to this treacherous region in the middle of the Japan Alps -- highway buses serve as the main form of public transportation here, operated mostly by the Nohi Bus company. The bus terminal at Hirayu Onsen (shown above) is the major transportation hub of the region and the gateway into the other four hotspring towns, as well as to the National Park resort of Kamikochi.

Multiple daily connections run to Takayama (1 hour to the west) and Matsumoto (1.5 hour to the east), both being popular tourist destinations and well worth your visit (see the two articles on Takayama here and here if interested). Both Takayama and Matsumoto are major stations on the JR Train network, and you should have no problem connecting to Tokyo or Osaka in one or two transfers. See Nohi Bus' English website for the latest bus timetables.



If you're planning to arrive from Tokyo directly without stopping over at Matsumoto or Takayama, Nohi Bus operates a daily service from Shinjuku that will take you to Hirayu Onsen in about 5 hours. But this bus is by reservations only, and you need to either phone up Nohi Bus' reservation centre (and be able to speak Japanese), or book through a bus ticket reservation website such as J-Bus (and be able to read Japanese). For most foreigners it's probably easiest to just hop on the Chuo Line train from Shinjuku to Matsumoto, then transfer to the Nohi Bus.

MY WIFE'S CORNER The fermentation of soy beans into Miso paste is a tradition dating back at least a couple thousand years, especially in the remote mountain hamlets of Central and Northern Japan where the effective storage of summer crops was essential for surviving through the long and snowy winter. To this date the areas surrounding Suwa and Niigata in Central Japan remain some of the best known Miso-producing regions. And one of the most popular national brands of Miso? Suwa's own Shinshu Ichi Miso with its three-centuries-old corporate history as well as one of Japan's most recognizable brand-mascots -- the colourful Miko-chan. This cellphone pendant presents a funny cross-over with Kitty and Miko-chan bathing in a bowl of Miso soup among the tofu cubes. It was bought for about 450 yen somewhere in Central Japan ... but we don't really remember where.

A Day-Trip to the National Park at Kamikochi

Between visiting the world-class destination of Hida Takayama and a dip in the hotspring pools of Oku-Hida Onsengo, we spent a leisurely day walking the National Park trails at Kamikochi.

This is a pristine mountain valley carved out by the glacial water of the Azusa River and surrounded by some of the tallest peaks of Central Japan's Northern Alps. For years it has been a favourite expedition base for Japanese mountaineers, a mecca for hikers and nature seekers, and most recently, a re-discovered destination for international tourists.



So Kamikochi is well worth a trip anyway you look at it, especially since we're right in the neighbourhood on our way from Hida Takayama to Matsumoto. But for any potential visitor, the main issues are ... 1) it's only open from late April to mid November due to heavy snowfall through winter and spring, and 2) even in summer the mountain climate can get very unpredictable, and the only road into Kamikochi occasionally gets closed off after rock slides. As a result we actually had a Plan B -- we would spend our day in Hida Furukawa instead if we couldn't reach Kamikochi.

Fortunately it turned out to be a glorious sunny day, albeit a little misty amid the moist mountain air of late May. Starting out from Hida Takayama we first took a one-hour bus ride to the hotspring resort of Hirayu Onsen where we dropped off our backpacks, then took another 25 minute bus into the vicinity of Kamikochi (see Transportation section below).



We got off the bus at the scenic Taisho Pond at 10:30, about the same time as a hundred or so Taiwanese and Korean tourists -- definitely not an ideal introduction to the supposedly serene Chubu Sangaku National Park. I suppose it was just like Banff or Yellowstone, but then I realized that at least the Japanese Government is doing its part in banning private cars and most forms of non-public transportation into Kamikochi, so I shouldn't complain.



Back to the scenery -- this picture was taken under the shadow of an active volcano as we walked around Taisho Pond, which came into being only after 1915 when the lava from a major eruption blocked off the water of the Azusa River and flooded this wide valley. The dead trees still standing in the middle of the lake form one of the most recognizable images of Kamikochi, and have been designated Natural Monument status.



The fuming volcano of Yake-dake (literally "Burning Peak") erupted as late as 1995, but it's much more famous for the eruption during the reign of Emperor Taisho which gave birth to the Taisho Pond. Today you can still see the tree-less path of the lava down the side of mountain, and if you're really adventurous, there's a hiking path to the summit where you can get close and personal with one of the less active craters. For us though, gingerly treading the other side of the lake is quite close enough.



There are a few famous and easily accessible scenic spots in Kamikochi -- the lava-formed lake of Taisho Pond at the downstream, the stretch of the Azusa River around the Kappa-bashi bridge at the middle, and the smaller lake of Myojin Pond further upstream. According to the park pamphlet, it should take 65 minutes of non-stop walking from the Taisho Pond to Kappa-bashi, and another 60 minutes from Kappa-bashi to Myojin Pond. But from our own experience, the scenery was so beautiful and the mountain streams so crisp and refreshing that it was impossible not to walk down to the river bank, take a drink from the bluish glacial water, then lounge around on the rocks while playing with the wild pigeons. Feel free to call us slackers, but it really took us nearly two and a half hours just to complete that 65 minutes walking distance from Taisho Pond to Kappa-bashi.



This was in late spring when the snowy glaciers started to melt into the rushing Azusa River, turning into an incredible ribbon of turquoise blue that went on for miles before draining into the Taisho Pond. I live in mountainous Western Canada where glacial streams are quite common, but I had never seen another that comes even close to this remarkable display of colour. There's nothing different about the water content of course, as the optical phenomenon is really caused by the white granite rocks on the river bed.



The spectrum of colours came into a full bloom about half-way towards the Kappa-bashi, where the underground hotsprings grant their warmth and minerals to the shallow Tashiro Pond and the surrounding wetland. In the winter the rust brown bottom of the Tashiro Pond would stay visible in a world of silver, even when the much larger Taisho Pond freezes solid.



The surrounding wetland also supported an amazingly colourful collection of algae growth, from deep emerald green to bright orange. And being in Japan, you'd have to expect running into a few painters and photographers who would sit there for hours just to capture the perfect moment.



The unspoilt wetland along the trails sprouted thousands of fresh, young fiddlehead ferns, organically grown inside a National Park and looking so succulent and crisp, which reminded me of last night's dinner ...

Just joking ... I better stick to our topic of eco-tourism!



We finally reached the Kappa-bashi bridge, possibly the most-photographed landmark of Kamikochi, after 2.5 hours ... I suspect that even the most elderly Japanese hikers would have overtaken us along the way. At this point of convergence of two upstream branches of the Azusa, white water roared underneath while the snowy peaks of the Hotaka mountain range tower over everything else in sight.



Even though it's Japan's third highest mountain after Mount Fuji and Mount Kita, the looming Hotaka appeared so close that you'd think you can reach out and touch it. It may not look to be 3190 metres tall from here, but one shouldn't forget that Kamikochi itself is a plateau of 1500 metres.



We did wander a little further upstream, but not quite as far as the Myojin Pond. The lush green underwater vegetation here attracted a pair of gorgeous Mandarin ducks, which in turn attracted a small crowd along the shores. Sorry I don't have a picture to show, as the pair grew uncomfortable with the crowd and flew away (I didn't know Mandarin ducks could fly!) before either of our cameras could get a decent shot.



A collection of optical equipment in front of the Visitor Centre, just a couple minutes walk from the Kappa-bashi. The cause of amazement here wasn't the numbers or the sophistication of the equipment, but the way their owners would just leave them unsupervised while going inside for souvenirs and maps.



Raw cedar pillars and wooden beams abound, the Visitor Centre serves its informational purpose quite well besides just plain lookin' good. It provides the mountain weather forecast, 1:25000 topographic maps for mountaineers, trail maps for the rest of us, flora and fauna guidebooks, and a gallery of absolutely stunning Kamikochi photos from some of Japan's top nature photographers. We just couldn't resist buying the Kamikochi Visitor's Guidebook containing all these amazing shots, and for 1500 yen (CAD$15), it was well worth the money.



What About Food?

Lunch options are few as expected in the middle of a National Park. For those who have the time and money to splurge, the dining room of the magnificent Kamikochi Imperial Hotel is located about 10 minutes walk from the Bus Terminal. But being the cheap backpackers we are, we just followed the local crowds towards the Kamikochi Shokudo, a large canteen located on the second floor of the Bus Terminal.



I remember there being six or seven items on the menu on this day: Tonkatsu, a few kinds of curries, Hayashi rice, ramen, Shogayaki pork, and smaller snacks like Onigiri riceballs. Even though it's cafeteria food, the warmth of Curry Tonkatsu looked inviting after a few hours in the cool mountain air.



This was definitely not the place for exciting culinary discoveries. Everything tasted as average and uninspiring as you would expect from a cafeteria, but then it's really about having a quick lunch and getting back to the outdoor playground. At less than 2000 yen for two lunches, we've got no complaints.

Bill for Two Persons

Curry Tonkatsu Teishoku	~900 yen
Shoyu Ramen with Onigiri	~900 yen
TOTAL	~1800 yen (CAD$18)

Accommodation

We didn't stay in Kamikochi for the night -- at the end we chose to stay at the nearby hotspring resort of Hirayu Onsen instead -- so I can only refer you to the cheap accommodation choices that were under my consideration:

Nishiitoya - Room + 2 Meals for 8000 yen per person, 5 minutes walk from Bus Terminal

Kamonji-goya - Room + 2 Meals for 7000 yen per person, 1 hour walk from Bus Terminal

Myojinkan - Room + 2 Meals for 8000 yen per person, 1 hour walk from Bus Terminal



Transportation

As mentioned above, the only road into Kamikochi is opened only from mid April to late November -- it simply gets way too treacherous once the snow season arrives.



The easiest way to reach Kamikochi is to take the Nohi Bus, which operates a frequent service between the local transportation hub of Hirayu Onsen and the Kamikochi Bus Terminal near the Kappa-bashi bridge. A round-trip costs 1800 yen (CAD$18) with the bus departing from both terminals at roughly 30 minute intervals between 08:00 and 17:00, making it the most convenient way to get in and out. Multiple buses connect to Hirayu Onsen from the nearby cities of Takayama (1 hour), Matsumoto (1.5 hours), and even as far away as Tokyo (4.5 hours). See Nohi Bus's English website for the latest schedules.

One little trick about the bus from Hirayu Onsen is that it will make a quick stop at the Taisho Pond on the way to Kamikochi Bus Terminal, which means that if you plan on visiting Taisho Pond anyway, you can get off there and follow the trail to the Bus Terminal without having to do a return trip. The reverse doesn't quite work since the bus departing for Hirayu Onsen generally gets filled at the Kamikochi Bus Terminal and won't stop at Taisho Pond to pick up any passengers. You may want to keep that in mind as you plan your hiking route.



An alternative way is to start from Matsumoto, taking the cogwheel railway to Shin Shimajima and transferring to a bus to Kamikochi. The entire trip takes about 1.5 hours, departs every 45 minutes and costs 4400 yen roundtrip. Check the official Alpico website for the latest timetables.

MY WIFE'S CORNER The Kitsune, or Japanese red fox, is a well-respected character in traditional folklores, rumored to be exceedingly wise and proficient with various magical abilities. In real life though, habitat destruction has marginalized the Kitsune to beyond the outskirts of civilization. The sale of this "Mountain Meadows Edition" cellphone strap doesn't seem to be subject to any geographical restriction, as it is said to be sold in Hokkaido as well. We came across this at the little souvenir stand just outside the Kamikochi Bus Terminal.

Hida Takayama - Restaurant and Hotel Reviews

NOTE TO READERS: All good things must come to an end. After years of offering high quality Kaiseki dinners and great service as a traditional Ryokan, Ryori Ryokan Hanaoka has finally closed its doors, perhaps forever. While this is certainly bad news for visitors to Takayama, many Ryori Ryokans, or traditional inns specializing in gourmet dinners, do exist in Takayama. The following is a list of Ryokans within Takayama City with promising dinner options. As usual the price listed are per person (not per room), including dinner and breakfast. Don't worry if you can't read Japanese -- you can always email the Tourism Office (www.hida.jp/) and ask them to make the reservation for you! - Ryokan Seiryu - 8,000 to 17,500 yen - Muhyoukan - 8,888 to 13,500 yen - Honjin Hiranoya - 10,500 to 16,800 yen - Ryori Ryokan Komakusa - 13,650 to 15,750 yen

Our fond memories of Takayama was due in no small part to the wonderful, wonderful Ryokan that served us the best meal of the trip. IMHO that's a hard-earned title considering the effort we put into our search for authentic local cuisine in each city, with competition ranging from Kobe's steak teppanyaki, Osaka's Kansai-style broiled unagi, Kyoto's traditional Kyo-zushi, Kanazawa's fresh seafood, and Nagoya's Hitsumabushi etc. At the end, our cheap Ryokan in Takayama came up on top, and I'll pass this information to you in this article, probably the first English review on the Internet for this Ryokan.

Hotel Review: RYORI RYOKAN HANAOKA (Takayama)
Address: Gifu-ken Takayama-shi Hanaoka-machi 2-36
Price: 6600 yen per person including dinner and breakfast
Website/Map: http://www7.ocn.ne.jp/~hanaoka2/
How To Book: Based on experiences from myself and contributing readers, we've found several ways to book:
1) If you can read Japanese, you can book through the popular hotel booking site of JALAN like we did. The price was around 6600 yen per person as of mid 2008.
2) If you can't read Japanese, you can try sending an email in simple English to: hanaoka@vesta.ocn.ne.jp
3)A fellow blogger Poppy has been able to book it through the Hida Tourism Board at hidatio@hidanet.ne.jp. The price was 6800 yen in mid 2009.
3) Alternatively, fellow blogger Mlle was successful in asking the staff at another hotel earlier in her trip to call up Hanaoka and book the room for her. This resulted in a bargain price of 6300 yen in mid 2009.
Just for everyone's reference, at the rack rate posted at Hanaoka's official site is 8000 yen on weekdays and 10000 yen on Fridays and Saturdays.
Directions: Exiting the JR Takayama station, turn left and walk for about five little blocks. You'll see a tall government building (Takayama City Hall) on your right and the police headquarters on your left. Hanaoka is directly across from the far end of the police headquarters ... there is hardly a safer location in ultra safe Japan, and it's only 8 minutes walk from the JR Station.



6600 yen (CAD$66) per person for a 13-course Kaiseki dinner that ranks top in our half-month trip, plus a 7-course breakfast, AND a restful night in a Tatami-mat room with private bathroom? You read correctly. If we consider the room charge alone to be worth 4000 yen per person, then we're only paying roughly 2000 yen for dinner and 600 for breakfast. This was actually the cheapest room-with-dinner-and-breakfast (Ippaku Nishoku) package ever in our travels throughout Japan, a full-fledged Ryori-Ryokan (gourmet inn) at rock-bottom Minshuku guesthouse prices.

How did we find this Ryokan? By browsing through JALAN, one of Japan's most popular hotel booking websites, where it had an incredible user's review rating of 4.9 out of 5 for its dinner ... and a 1400 yen discount below the regular price listed at the Ryokan's official site. To steal a line from The Godfather ... it's an offer we can't refuse!



It's only proper to start off this review with the Kaiseki dinner, which was given the long name of "Hida-gyu Miso Toban-yaki to Shun no Mikaku." Presumably it's got Hida Beef, cooked with Miso paste on top of a Toban ceramic plate, and accented with various seasonal delicacies. So what's in it really?

Okay. Course #1. I would have never expected the first course of a Kaiseki dinner to be a TERRINE ... the Owner-Chef seemed to be eager to announce his fusion creativity here. It's not a fine mousse kind of terrine, but a terrine of coarsely chopped broiled Unagi, pressed under a sushi mold and held together by the natural gelatin from the Unagi skin. The wasabi wasn't even necessary as the Unagi was very well executed and didn't have any hint of the "muddy flavor" (Dorokusa). It was a deliciously unorthodox presentation of Unagi, one which I never tasted before or after.



Course #2. Goma-Dofu ... now we're getting back to a traditional dish ... or is it? My idea of Goma-Dofu is always served with some variation of a soy-based sauce, but perhaps the Chef realized that would be too big of a shock to the palate after the sweet Unagi. This Goma-Dofu was as rich and thick as any I've ever tasted, but complimented by a smooth but only slightly sweetened Goma dressing as a transition to the milder dishes to come. Hmm ... very smart.



Course #3. A Moriawase of seasonal offerings ... I don't know what the Chef formally called this dish. The little square piece of pressed sushi was Masu (Sakura-coloured trout) Zushi, a local specialty of Toyama some 80 km to the north. It should be noted that Takayama is practically in the middle of a mountain range, so any seafood on our plate was conceivably trucked in daily from the Toyama Bay. That includes the conch and the Botan Ebi shrimp, which came with the same kind of impressive freshness I would expect of a Ryokan in Toyama. Our Chef was definite not skimping on quality ingredients here.



Course #4. The Sashimi was impressively fresh for landlocked Takayama ... in fact the freshness probably wasn't very different from what we had at the seafood capital of Kanazawa (see previous article) a few days ago. As you can see there's a slice of rolled squid with seaweed, a Botan Ebi prawn, some lean Akami tuna, and the best of all ... there's a couple pieces of superbly fresh and fatty Buri hiding behind the chrysanthemum. Wonderful quality, and this was only the second most memorable dish.



Course #5. Even in a Kaiseki dinner, our Chef did manage to squeeze one of the local Kyodo-Ryori (rustic cooking) dish into his presentation. The wild Kogomi fern is a springtime favorite of Central Japan, and the smoked Iburi-Dofu is a specialty of the neighboring city of Gujo. I don't remember how this dish tasted except for the crunchiness of the Kogomi, so it probably wasn't anything outstanding.



Course #6. My wife's favorite -- the Chawan-mushi. I remember the egg mixture being superbly light and smooth, but I don't really remember much about the ingredients at the bottom ... probably just the traditional sliced chicken and Kamaboko fish cakes.



Course #7. Of course a full Kaiseki wouldn't be complete without a Takiawase (slow-cooked) course, this one being a cut of salmon served with bamboo shoot and other veggies. Again it was well-executed, as the fish had stayed firm and plump, and served with a sweet, reduced Dashi soy sauce.



Course #8. The Yakizakana (grilled fish) course -- it looked like a sole on first glance but for some reason I thought it wasn't. Anyway I was sure that it wasn't just grilled, but slightly deep fried with the rest of the ingredients. This was an excellent course as well, as I finished even the crunchy tail of the fish.



Course #9. Finally ... the one dish we've waited for all evening ... the "Hida-gyu Miso Toban-yaki" which this Kaiseki Dinner Set was named after. Several slices of buttery soft, evenly marbled Hida Beef served in a rich, dark red Miso paste, grilled on a ceramic plate (Toban) instead of the traditional dried Hoba leaf.



The incredible softness was no different from Kobe Beef or Matsuzaka Beef, but when combined with the strong Miso, the exquisite combination of flavors was unmistakably Hida. The amount of Hida Beef was a little less than what we had at Shirakawago's excellent Shiraogi restaurant the day before, but when this whole Kaiseki Dinner of 13 courses cost only around 2000 yen (CAD$20), IMHO we're already getting twice our money's worth. I personally would be willing to pay 2000 yen just for this dish plus the sashimi.



Courses #10, #11 and #12. A wonderful clear broth for a change, after having so much Miso soup for the past week. I don't remember how I managed it, but I did finish the Soba noodles and most of the Koshi-hikari rice with marinated anchovies ... and this was after we racked up double digit number of dishes.



Course #13. My wife always had a huge dislike for strawberries. She didn't mind strawberry-flavored snacks, but if you presented her a whole strawberry as a fruit ... bleh. This was the dish that changed her perception of strawberries forever -- a plump, syrupy sweet strawberry with no hint of acidity whatsoever ... and look at its size compared to the slice of watermelon!



This was my most memorable dinner in recent years, with dishes after dishes of top quality Kaiseki courses prepared with the expertise and care of the Owner-Chef. To me the most impressive aspect was the choice of absolute top quality ingredients -- Sashimi with a freshness bettering one of the city's top Sushi-ya (see review of Michiya-zushi below), melt-in-the-mouth Hida Beef, even down to the selection of fruits -- all for an unbelievably cheap price.

So the dinner was excellent, but what about the room?



Located on the 3rd floor along with all other guest rooms, our room was 6-Tatami-mats in size plus a Genkan space at the entrance, a Western-style bathroom, and a balcony facing the snowy mountains to the East. As you can see, all the equipment had the "basic Ryokan" look to it -- an old TV sitting atop a small safe, unremarkable futons, and a little low table with a tea set. But most importantly to us, the room was spotlessly clean and was actually rather new.



Our balcony's view towards the 3,000-metres-high Norikura mountains, the third tallest volcano in Japan after Mount Fuji and Ontake-san. You can get a sense of the small size of Takayama's urban area, as the trees in the middle-ground marks the edge of the wilderness.



The simple bathroom was exceptionally clean again. In Japan, it's pretty rare to find cheap Tatami-mat rooms with a private bathroom -- typically you'll find private bathrooms only at western-style business hotels, or at the more expensive Ryokans geared towards rich retirees and higher-income families. This is one of the important but lesser-known considerations if you plan on booking Tatami-mat rooms.

We did go out for a walk at night, and made one interesting observation ... the locals disappeared, and the ratio of foreigners on the street suddenly increased by four times at night! Apparently nightlife isn't one of Takayama's penchants.



We woke up to another full and sumptuous meal, a 7-course breakfast providing the energy we needed as we prepared for our trip to the national park at Kamikochi this morning. Some of the dishes had become familiar to us by now, including the boiled wild Zenmai ferns (little pink dish at the centre of the picture) and the Miso soup with wild Nameko mushrooms. Being an urban Ryokan hasn't stopped Hanaoka from assuming its duty of introducing the region's traditional Sanzai ("wild mountain vegetables") to its clientelle.



The strong and delicious Hoba Miso had been the star of the breakfast for the third straight morning, but frankly I never got bored of it. The fragrance of the grilled Miso was the absolute best condiment for steamed rice, and as I'm writing this article I'm still regretting not bringing home a stack of Hoba leaves so that I could have this dish for breakfast on weekends. This is one of the Central Japanese dishes I miss the most.



Japanese-style layered egg omelette, grilled salmon, and cubes of dried Hida beef in mirin-soysauce marinade -- nothing out-of-this-world, but excellent as a breakfast dish nonetheless.



My wife's all-time favorite breakfast dish -- the Onsen Tamago (hotspring egg) served in a mouthwatering Dashi broth. Unlike the western poached egg which has a firm egg-white surrounding a soft yolk, the Japanese Onsen Tamago is a seemingly incredible semi-aqueous egg white orbiting around a firmer but still semi-soft yolk. Apparently this is possible since the egg-white start to become "cooked" at a slightly lower temperature than the yolk, a phenomenon recently re-discovered by 21st Century molecular gastronomy, a couple thousand years later than the Japanese.

At the end it was time to check-out and catch our bus to Hirayu Onsen en route to Kamikochi. Prior to getting the final bill my wife was still asking ... is it REALLY going to be 6600 yen (CAD$66) per person? Unbelievable, but true. 6600 yen for the best dinner of the trip, the best breakfast of the trip, AND one of the best views from the hotel room on this trip. The owner may not speak any English (my broken Japanese came to the rescue ... again), but don't let any language barrier deter you from making this your base for exploring Takayama and its surroundings. I seriously doubt you'll find a better deal elsewhere.



Food Review: MICHIYA-ZUSHI OKIMURAYA (Takayama)
Address: Gifu-ken Takayama-shi Aioi-cho 25
Hours: 11:00-14:00, 16:00-23:00
Website/Map: From GNAVI (Japanese)
Directions: Exiting the JR Takayama station, turn left, then turn right at the first major street, Kokubunji-Dori. Head straight on Kokubunji-Dori, then turn right at the little lane one block before the river. Michiya-zushi is on the left, just a few steps from Kokubunji-Dori.


If you've read some of the previous articles, you may notice my fetish for those really old and traditional culinary establishments, and this little Sushi-ya in Hida Takayama would fall into this category. At 103-years-young, Michiya-zushi is said to be the oldest existing Sushi-ya in Takayama. At lunchtime, it was as prototypical as a Sushi-ya could be -- one Chef working behind an old counter, a couple of Zashiki rooms, and an old TV playing yesterday's baseball highlights. Some may question the wisdom of having sushi 80 km from the coast, and I would usually agree, except for the ONE famous sushi ingredient you can't easily find anywhere else ...



... Takayama's famous Hida Beef, rumored to melt in the mouth like the finest Ootoro tuna ... which is why the locals proudly call their invention Hida Toro. And it cost just about as much as Ootoro, at 2100 yen (CAD$21) for four thin slices of certified A5-ranked Hida Beef.

Hmmm ... look at this shiny oiliness as the marbling fat was just starting to melt, accentuated by a slight torching of the surface. Unlike Ootoro tuna, the beef didn't turn into a full mouthful of fatty juices, but rather disintegrated into the soft, chewiness of the sushi rice upon the softest bite. My wife, who couldn't quite get over the psychological barrier of having raw beef for sushi, stopped after one piece ... which meant that I got to enjoy every bit of the smooth oily goodness of the other three pieces. Although it wasn't as magical as advertised, this Hida Toro Nigiri was still a delicious interpretation of Takayama's highly prized specialty beef.



Instead of just ordering the Hida Toro for 2100 yen, we found that it could be upgraded to a "Hida Toro Set" for only 1050 yen (CAD$11) more to include another local favorite, the Mushi-zushi (steamed sushi). Originated in Kansai where it is typically served only during the winter, this steaming hot variation of Chirashi-zushi ("scattered" sushi) is served year-round at mountainous Takayama.



Not you typical Sushi! Actually it's not even a typical Chirashi-zushi, as the entire egg was steamed on top of the rice instead of having it fried into an omelette and sliced into thin shreds. The toppings were nothing spectacular, but the Dashi soup stock absorbed into the rice gave it quite an attractive homey flavor. After all Kansai-style sushi is just as much about the rice as it is about the toppings, isn't it?



My wife had the more familiar Nigiri-zushi, a Torimase set for 2100 yen (CAD$21). There was little doubt that the toppings were transported in from Toyama, as the Chef gave us TWO pieces of Toyama Bay's famous fluorescent squid (Hotaru Ika). Though still fresher than anything we could get in Vancouver, according to my wife the freshness of the toppings here was noticeably a notch lower than what we had at Kanazawa's Omicho Market, just a few days prior.

So was this meal worth the 5250 yen (CAD$53)? I thought the Hida Toro was well worth its price to be honest, though my wife may disagree. The Mushi-zushi was interesting if unspectacular, while the Nigiri-zushi could have been skipped. Frankly if we had time for only one meal in this region, I would bypass the Hida Toro and pay a little more for a Hida Beef Steak grilled in delectable Hoba Miso. But since we already tried that the previous day in Shirakawago, the Hida Toro Nigiri was next on our list of must-try Takayama cuisines. And it was as excellent as A5-ranked Hida Beef should be expected, no matter how it's cooked ... or uncooked.

Bill for Two Persons

Hida Toro Set	3150 yen
Torimase Set	2100 yen
TOTAL	5250 yen (CAD$53)

MY WIFE'S CORNER Ever since late 19th Century, the remote town of Takayama has been consigned to the Prefecture of Gifu, which is famous for its production of top quality Edamame (young soy beans). My wife couldn't take her hands off this cellphone strap once she found it at a souvenir store -- this one is aptly named the Gifu Edamame edition, and is marked for sale only within Gifu Prefecture.