Reunion At Secret Onsen

By yamnut on April 6, 2014 • ( Leave a comment )

Cool friends, Hot baths, and Delicious sake

There’s something special/sweet about meeting up with old friends in a foreign land. It’s like getting lost and then getting found. It kinda feels like we’ve gone home.

We were en route to meet a group of ultra-running friends who had just taken part in the UTMF (Ultra-Trail Mt Fuji). From Toyama to Akita was a long way so what we did was to break up the journey into 2 parts, making a stopover at Niigata for 2 nights. We took the coastal (Sea of Japan) route because the alternative would be to head back to Tokyo for the transfer to Akita. This way, we got to enjoy another part of Japan and the travelling wouldn’t be insanely long. Here, we finally got moving from Niigata to Akita to Tazawako, to go to the secret onsen.

akita, here we come! — Akita, here we come!

Here are some of the marvellous views we got from the train and bus.

jinja in the fields — Jinja (shrine) in the fields

on the way to secret onsen — On the way to the secret onsen

ski field along the way — Ski field along the way

And finally, after a long and arduous journey, we were reunited with our friends at the secret onsen, Taenoyu. Taenoyu was tucked deep in the mountains and although it was already May, there was still lots of snow.

Taenoyu literally means ‘enchanting boobs’ and is part of the Nyuto Onsen village (Nyuto means nipples). This interesting moniker was due to the village being in the valley of 2 peaks which resembled a pair of full breasts. Despite the names, there were absolutely no sexual undertones pervading the village. In fact, the very isolation of this place makes it a perfect getaway from the cities. Something that we, city dwellers, appreciate immensely.

road leading from the onsen — Road leading to the onsen

secret trail at the back of onsen — Secret trail at the back of onsen

Not only were we mesmerised by the landscape outside, the baths within lived up to expectations. We would often calibrate the quality of onsens based on their outdoor baths ie the atmosphere of the baths and the views from the outdoor baths. Being laymen, we can’t really distinguish the difference in the quality of the water.

view from the mixed bath — View from the mixed bath

indoor bath — Another outdoor mixed bath

The other highlight of the onsens was always the food. Glorious food! We never cease to be amazed by the quality of the food in terms of freshness, taste and presentation. Here, even the welcome tea they served us were in exquisite teacups paired with fresh flowers plucked from the premises.

starter, deliciously presented — Starter, enticingly presented

the simple radish got an upgrade — The simple radish got an upgrade

sashimi - so fresh even i could eat it — Sashimi – so fresh even i could eat it

succulent pork being gently toasted over a fire — Succulent pork being gently toasted over a fire

eel in a clear broth — Eel in a clear broth

beef on a beautiful bespoke plate — Pan-fried pork loving laid on a beautiful bespoke plate

All the crockery and cutlery were customised for the ryokan, even the simplest ingredient and the condiments were not overlooked and had their own special vessels.

a raw egg in ceramic pot — A raw egg in light broth

the lovely soy sauce — The lovely soy sauce

which condiment, i wonder — Which condiment lies within, I wonder

You may wonder, what else did we do other than soak ourselves wrinkled in the hot soups and eat our hearts out at every meal. Well, we did visit Kaunodate, a samurai village, to try to catch some sakuras. The sakuras didn’t wait for us but we found something better. There was a festive vibe in the village and all the shops had laid out tables in the outdoors for food tasting, including all the sake shops. Yeah, that’s one of our favourite past-times : drinking sakes!