Kawazu’s onsen village, located in Izu, is famous for its cherry blossoms. It’s made up of Imaihama Onsen, Kawazuhama Onsen, Yugano Onsen, Tanitsu Onsen, Odaru Onsen, Nanadaru Onsen, and Mine Onsen.
Today, I’ll be featuring Take-no-sho, the hotel with Mine Onsen.
This hotel is a historic two story wooden building, but the really interesting feature is that there are onsens on both floors! This is very unusual, but it’s one of the things that makes Mine Onsen and Take-no-sho special.
I’m here to tell you all that you need to know about this onsen.
Located right next to Mine Onsen: the Great Eastern Pacific Fountain
This is the Great Eastern Pacific Fountain, a geyser that first erupted in 1926.
Long before the eruption and during Japan’s Nara Period (710-794AD), there was a hot spring here known as Hanada-no-yu, but it dried up. Onsen expert Tokitaro Inaba began re-excavating the site in 1922, and after spending four years on the project, hot spring water finally gushed forth.
It’s said that the geyser reached a height of 50 meters!
The picture above is what the geyser looks like today. There is a constant cloud of steam rising up from the source of the water. The amount of water allowed to erupt and the timing of the eruptions are controlled to protect the surrounding area.
Be sure to inquire as to the schedule of the eruptions.
A good old fashioned ryokan (Japanese lodge)
The building next to the Great Eastern Pacific Fountain is Take-no-sho, the lodge I’m introducing to you today.
These days, the hotel only offers nightly rooms and access to its onsen – there are no food options available. As you can see in the picture, it is very much a classic wooden Japanese building.
A bit of an uncommon sight these days.
A richly designed entrance
Above is a picture of the entranceway lobby.
A fair-sized room, it’s neither too large nor too small.
I wonder how many people through history have relaxed and chatted with one another in this room?
A veranda sits perched just outside the glass door. The area below seems a bit neglected, with not much there. The owner tells me that this entire area used to be a pond; using one’s imagination, it’s easy to visualize how this area would have looked and felt. It was likely a very tranquil, emotionally moving space.
Even with the way it looks now, it overflows with good-old-fashioned ryokan style elegance.
The first floor baths!
A smile will spread across your face as you slowly sink down into the bath!
The main onsen here is actually on the second floor, but the atmosphere of the first floor bath combined with the rotenburo (outdoor bath) create an experience sure to satisfy any onsen lover.
And in a fortunate turn of events, I was the only person in the bath when I visited.
That’s right – private, all to myself!
Two indoor baths and one rotenburo!
And of course, they’re all 100% natural hot springs!
Heaven… I’ve arrived!
The water source is the same for each of the baths, but the water in the bath on the right side of the picture above was my favorite.
After all, depending on the bath itself, the feeling of the water can be a bit different.
Without even using the baths on the second floor, the baths on the first floor are more than enough to satisfy.
The splendid, magnificent second floor baths!
Check this out!
Even just looking back at this picture is enough to bring a smile to my face.
It’s unbelievable how they’ve managed to build an onsen into the 2nd floor of this wooden building. And what’s more, the water is 100% natural.
Back when it was first built, they didn’t even have pumps. So to think that they were able to make this 2nd floor bath is really incredible. So how did they do it?
Remember that geyser right next door? These days, it still has enough pressure to gush water up to 20 meters high. They’re actually able to use geyser pressure to pump water to the 2nd floor! How cool is that?!
Hanamai Take-no-sho is the only hotel in the world with a hot spring bath fueled by geyser water pressure, which makes taking a bath here a true luxury experience!
If you think I’m trying to trick you, you have to go see for yourself.
In my opinion, this is the number one onsen in all of Izu, in more ways than one.
The water is extremely soft to the touch and contains a hint of sodium chloride.
It’s so good that it rises well above other onsens in terms of water quality.
Nowadays, everybody goes around saying “this is the real deal” when describing something great. Saying “the real deal” has really lost some of its value, but believe me when I say:
This onsen is the real deal. You owe it to yourself to try it!
Come one and all to the good old fashioned onsen
The more onsens I visit, the more I understand about them.
There’s a disturbing pattern of truly great hotels and onsens falling on hard times and going out of business.
When most people in Japan go to an onsen, they usually just say “I’m going to an onsen now..” or “I’m going for a bath..”.
When I go to an onsen, I tell everybody “Hey! I’m going to this GREAT onsen..”
This day and age, there’s a flood of misinformation out there, making it hard for consumers to choose where they want to go.
The only remedies for this problem are knowledge and experience.
And of course, the owners of these establishments bear some responsibility as well.
I believe that the notion that expensive things are necessarily of good quality is slowly starting to fade. I think that these days, the ability of someone to say “I like this, because..” is only getting more and more important.
That’s why, of course, I can’t recommend Hanamai Take-no-sho to everyone who reads this article. But, in my own personal opinion, I have to say..
This onsen rocks.
If you think you might feel the same way, go ahead and give it a try! It’s difficult to put an experience like this into words.
Information:
Venue: Hanamai Take-no-sho Address: 487 Mine, Kawazu-chō, Kamo-gun, Shizuoka-ken 413-0511 TEL: 0558-32-0261 Bath Hours for Non-Hotel Guests: 3:00PM - 6:00PM Price for Non-Hotel Guests: 1000JPY
Onsen Information:
Composition: Sodium Chloride Water Source: 100% Natural (no artificial heating, added water, or chemicals) pH: 8.5 (alkaline) Water Temperature at Source: 99.3℃
History
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