Casual onsen trip to Ito
Posted by: kirin on 
Jun 25th, 2010 | 
Filed under: Eat out in Japan, TravelWhile ago my husband and I went to onsen that is only 2 hours or so from our place. At that time we didn’t take Pi-chan. It was nice to be with her, but at the same time I found that I was always concerned if she feels good, if she needs to go to No.1 or 2, and I was very tired from the holiday after all. I wanted to go to onsen anyhow before it gets too hot and humid.
At that time when we went to the onsen, the weather was OK compared with the current one. Right now it’s in the middle of rainy season called “Tsuyu” in Japan. The temperature is around 30 degrees Celsius, humidity maybe around 60-70%. Here comes my least favorite season! Tsuyu lasts for a month, and then summer comes that is about 35+C (even at night it’s around 30C) and very humid. We basically cannot live a comfortable life without air-con in summer. It’s hot by the end of September. *depressed* I hate summer more than any other seasons if I have to stay in Japan. It was the last chance for me to visit onsen that time, because I will not be able to enjoy onsen when the weather is so hot, no matter how much I love it. 
It’s so nice to stay at such a very Japanese place but my problem is that I prefer western foods and bed to Japanese foods and futon. I have found so many nice Japanese hotels with very Japanese-like interiors and exteriors but these places often prepare 100% Japanese way. I was not sure if I can eat Japanese foods for both at dinner and breakfast, and I am not sure if I can sleep well on futon. This may sound very strange to you, but I don’t like to sleep on futon and tatami because it’s too hard. It’s actually very hard to find out Japanese taste of interior, exterior, and onsen but combined with western taste of food and bed within my budget. Most of the time I settle at a small inn that offers French cuisine or Japanese-French cuisine and western type of room that has a bed located and the outside onsen is fabulous. (My husband doesn’t care. I am the one who is particular about what to eat, where to go and stay, what to do, and etc. Thus it’s always I that plan for our trip or where to eat out.) While some of my blog readers say their previous life could be Japanese, I have a feeling this is my first life as a Japanese. (lol)
We can hear birds singing and murmur of a brook while having a nice onsen!
It’ll be in October when I feel like going to onsen again. I have to survive this uncomfortable summer from now on, but from time to time I need to go to Ganbanyoku to have my body warmed from everyday’s cooling by air-con.
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June 25th, 2010 at 1:04 pm
素敵！！！！
That place really reminds of Sen to Chichiro no kamikakushi!!
June 25th, 2010 at 3:36 pm
Great photos. I really miss going to onsen. We used to go very often, especially to ones in Izu hanto, but have not been to one in a while. I used to take many great photos in nature there ( thomasgantzart.com ) , but now it seems lime I just take photos with my iPhone for this blog. It is too bad you cannot enjoy onsen in the summer. Maybe you guys should go to an onsen upvhigh in the mountains somewhere where even in the summer it is cooler.
June 25th, 2010 at 3:59 pm
What a beautiful place you stayed in, Kirin. And the Unagi looks delicious. I could eat that right now! lol. Though I'm with you – I think the futon and tatami would be too hard. I like very soft and mushy bedding for the most part. Even when I write my books set in Japan, I always have the characters sleeping on a kind East-West misture – a futon on a platform with cushy bedding to make it soft.
June 25th, 2010 at 11:46 pm
The Onsen looks so relaxing! (But I agree it would be too hot to go in the summer)
What a nice visit to the Onsen you had! Thank you for sharing!
June 26th, 2010 at 12:01 am
Right, if we go to north or mountains we can still enjoy onsen in summer. :p I keep telling my hubby we should live in Hokkaido every summer from June to September, which of course is an ideal life only when we can afford it. ^ ^;
Your photo blog is cool! You have good skills of camera works. I don't even have a good camera myself. haha…
June 26th, 2010 at 12:02 am
You too? So that was not only me. ^ ^
June 26th, 2010 at 12:08 am
I remember when I stayed at my friend's house, I could not sleep at all because of the futon on tatami room. It was just too hard to fall in asleep comfortablly. I had to roll over so many times to find out the right position, and the morning came.
If I choose to stay in ryokan and sleep on futon, I will ask to have 2 or 3 futon so I should not feel tatami on my back directly. ^ ^; These days some ryokan (Japanese styled hotel) have a flooring space with beds besides tatami room where we can eat and relax.
June 26th, 2010 at 9:43 am
Oh my goodness, that unagi looked soooooooooo good! ^^
The private onsens look fantastic as well – thanks for sharing about a really interesting place that we (or at least I!) may not have been able to discover as easily by ourselves.
June 29th, 2010 at 2:12 pm
It's too bad I cannot even take a hot bath at home now because it's too hot now. When I take a bath, I keep sweating on and on when I finish bathing.
That's why lately I only take showers and see how different things are! I think I need to live in a cool place and take a hot bath every night. :p
June 29th, 2010 at 2:17 pm
Thank you, Lisa!
As is always, I picked it out from JALAN. ^ ^ hehehe… The point is to check the Kuchikomi page, and the best thing is to choose the hotel with over 4.3 ratings. This hotel was 4.6, and other hotels I've stayed so far and really nice scored 4.8. I trust this rating so much and I never stay the one under 4.0.
I think you can find such sort of Onsen by yourself because you understand Japanese well.
July 7th, 2011 at 10:48 am
What is the name of the onsen? I'm looking for one just like that somewhere around Tokyo!
July 7th, 2011 at 1:41 pm
It's a small onsen hotel named Mast Lamp, and it's not in Tokyo but in Shizuoka (Ito). http://www.mastlamp.com/mastlamp_nu/
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