A stay at Hirayu no Mori, a hot spring resort at Hirayu-onsen

1 June 2016

Hirayu-onsen is one of the five towns in Okuhida famous for the natural hot springs. It is also the transportation hub for the region with great access to Takayama, Kamikochi and Matsumoto.  After spending the day hiking at Kamikochi, a night’s stay at the town of Hirayu-onsen made perfect sense before going back to Takayama.

There were a few hot spring resorts or ryokans to choose from. Hirayu no Mori was selected for its closeness to the bus station and also because of its English language website that made reservations easy for international visitors. It was also a resort that offered private bathing facilities, in addition to the shared, gender segregated open air baths or rotenburos. 

Hirayu no Mori is located just across the Hirayu bus station. There is a prominent tall lamp with hot spring footbath below that marks the approach to its entrance.

Tall lamp at entrance of Hirayu no Mori.

Hot spring foot bath at the bottom. The footbath contained hot spring water and is free for public to use.

 

Hirayu no Mori featured 16 open-air baths, large retro baths, a lounge in a Gassho-style house, a restaurant, a hotel and cottages in a 50,000 ㎡ wide site. The hot spring baths are opened to public as well (for 500 Yen) but there are periods where the spa is only accessible by hotel guests.

There are 4 types of guest rooms. The basic rooms are Japanese and Western style of rooms without lavatories. We were booked into a room (Room 214) at the new wing which features attached lavatory but no attached bath.

During check-in, we were given a floor plan of the resort, briefed on its facilities and timings for our meals. With that, we negotiated the maze-like passageways to get to our rooms, located on the second floor of the new wing and furthest away from the entrance.  

 

The resort offers both indoor and outdoor baths. 7500 liters of natural thermal water flowed through its 16 baths every minute and the faint smell of sulphur and hydrogen sulphide were detectable if one has a good sense of smell. It did not bothered me too much and after a while, the smell got tuned out from my senses.

Japanese bathing etiquette is something we need to learn before using the public and private baths. The resort actually provided a reminder of this at the back of the resort map.

1. Remove all clothes underwear at the dressing room before entering bathing area. Baskets on shelves are typically provided.

2. Sit on the provided stool and thoroughly wash and rinse oneself. Soap and shampoo provided. Make sure all dirt and soap are washed off before dipping into the hot tub. Do not stand when doing pre-bath wash and rinse so as not to splash water on others and into the tub.

3. No soap, towels or washcloths are allowed in the tub.

4. Can do another rinse after using the tub.

5. Dry oneself thoroughly before returning to the dressing room.

From the above, it is obvious that bathing naked with strangers of the same sex would be expected in a shared, gender segregated baths.  Some folks may be shy about this but for guys who had served in the armed forces, bathing naked with strangers or comrades is no big deal.

What I like about Hirayu no Mori is that they have two semi-open hot spring baths that can be used privately without any extra charge. We just need to go at a time when it is unoccupied, lock the door behind us and we are free to use the bath privately. It is not a good idea to soak too long in the hot tub, so typically each couple or family would take about 45 minutes to 60 minutes per use. This was the bath that we chose to use prior to our dinner.

Strip naked and put all clothes and towels in the baskets provided at the dressing room.

 Sit on the provided stool and thoroughly wash and rinse oneself. Soap and shampoo provided. Make sure all dirt and soap are washed off before dipping into the hot tub.

Semi-open private hot spring bath that can be used privately. 

The large circular bathtub is lined with wood and sunk into the concrete floor. The natural thermal spring water flowing continuously through the tub was steaming HOT!  Minerals in the spring water made the water cloudy and it is supposed to be good for the skin. But the same minerals in the water may not be good for metals. We remembered to remove all metallic jewellery before entering the water.  Entering the water needs to be done slowly, feet first, to let the body acclimatise to the hot water.

Half of the tub was inside the room and half of it was outside the building, hence this was considered a semi-open hot bath. We could slide open the wooden panel and go outdoor where the water was slightly cooler and we could get a view of a small garden. The fence prevented us from looking out and others from looking in. So, not much of a view.

It was nice to soak in the hot water to soothe the muscles in our over-worked legs. When it got too hot, just need to get out of the water, sit at the side to cool down in the cool outdoor air before taking another dip in the hot spring water. Almost heavenly. Unfortunately, the room was not sound proof and we could hear a family with a small kid using the tub next door. 

After our bath and soak, we changed into the yukatas provided in our bedroom and have dinner at the Donguri dining hall.

Dinner spread at the Hirayuno-mori.

The dinner included a grilled and salted Ayu river fish, salads, miso soup, rice, pickles, sashimi, soba noodles and slices of Hida beef and vegetables to be cooked on a table-top stove.  Quite a belly filling spread but after having tasted the A5 grade Hida beef at Takayama, the beef dish was sort of normal. Obviously, the resort would not be serving the highest grade beef unless we pay extra for it. We had the option to upgrade our meal, add more beef but it would be better to save the yen for a good yakiniku restaurant back in Takayama.

The next day, I woke up at about 5 AM. In rural Japan, it is early to bed and early to rise. While my partner was still sound asleep, I decided to try the public bath which features open air baths (rotenburo) before breakfast.  The public bath is shared and gender separated. As seen in the floor plan, there are several outdoor pools, with views of the garden and surrounding mountains. The baths are opened to public but only accessible by hotel guests before 8 AM.

As per the bathing etiquette, I washed in the bathing area and went to the outdoor pools. Several other men were already in the open air bath area. The bath had several outdoor pools located on a big sloping garden. It was not crowded in the early morning and I had a pool mostly to myself.  I moved from pool to pool, trying each out. The water was generally cloudy with pieces of white sediments and yellowish sulphur salts on the outlets. The water in the outdoor pools were not as hot as the water in the private bath. Some pools, nearer to the source, were slightly hotter and I finally settled on one that has hot thermal water coming out from a bamboo pipe but it was not the pool with the hottest water. The square pool just outside the bathing room was the hottest and seems to be favourite of the locals.

Rotenburo at Hirayu no Mori – Photo from the hotel.

Compared to the indoor or semi-open onsen, experiencing the rotenburo or outdoor onsen was a totally different experience. I think a visitor to Japan should try this at least once. There is a likelihood that once would never be enough once you have experienced it. It is about connecting with nature. Soaking oneself in natural hot spring waters and enjoying the fresh air, sunshine and landscape surrounding the pool.

It was a clear day and I sat wondering what it would be like if I had came last night after dinner.  With a clear sky, I supposed I probably could have seen millions of stars while soaking in the warm water.  

Although meal plans were optional in Hirayu no Mori, we had booked our accommodation with breakfast and dinner included. The Japanese breakfast was served in the same dining room and it included the usual items plus Hoba miso (miso paste grilled on a magnolia leaf), onsen tamago (onsen egg), grilled salmon, tofu and fermented mushrooms on grated radish.

Breakfast served at the Hirayuno-mori.

My travelling companions, another couple, left immediately after breakfast as they were travelling to Kyoto and had a train to catch at the Takayama Station. We stayed around in the resort till a little later, as we would be staying one more night in Takayama and was in no hurry. Hirayu no Mori is actually an hour away by bus from Takayama. Frequent buses, at about 30 minutes interval, runs between Takayama Station and Hirayu-onsen Bus Terminal.

Hirayu no Mori is located just behind the tall trees in the opposite side of the bus park

The Hirayu Bus Terminal is located just minutes walk from the resort. We checked out the souvenir shop and explored the bus station building while waiting for the next bus to take us to Takayama. There was a public bathhouse on the upper floor of the bus station building and a free foot bath just outside the ground floor souvenir shop.

Footbath at the Hirayu-onsen Bus Station. One could get a cup of hot coffee and soak the feet at the same time here.

 

We chanced upon the largest Sarubobo doll inside.  We saw a lot more of these dolls in Takayama. Maybe I will buy one when I returned to Takayama.