Arima Onsen

The wife suggested a quick trip to Arima Onsen (Hyogo Prefecture), which is about an hour outside of Osaka. We decided to make the side trip during our latest of many trips (house hunting) to Osaka. I had never been, and it turns out to be one of the oldest hot springs with 1300 years of history. Due to it’s history and prestige, the ryokan (Traditional Japanese-Style inns) tend to be pretty pricey. We found a discount on a Sunday evening with the cheapest meal plan for just over 50,000yen ($400). The in-laws said they usually pay double that, but that means they get a fancy kaiseki (multi-course) meal served in the room. We found a direct bus route from Osaka station, which was perfect since we were staying near there.

Hoye Koyokaku

The ryokan we stayed at Hoye Koyokaku was pretty fancy, and just steps from the main touristy area of town. While we were checking in, they served us tea and measured the daughter for a yukata (robe) and obi (sash) to wear during her stay. An old lady showed us to our room and even offered to take our luggage, but there was a small flight of stairs involved and that didn’t seem right. She didn’t object too much when I refused that bit of service:)

The room was rather big, with a view into the valley. There was enough tatami to sleep a large family, and traditional sliding doors which have a calming effect and separates the entrance and hallway to the bathroom. The tatami area is also where they do turn down service and lay out futons at night. If we went for the more expensive in-room dinner, then they would serve some Michelin star worthy dinner here too. We’ll save that for another time, when our daughter might actually eat any of it:)

After a quick exploration of our room, and our daughter eating all the manjyu (sweets) they provided us, we decided to explore the town.

Arima Onsen Area

The town is rather small and has a few windy streets that have a preserved traditional look to them. The shops cater to tourists and sell gifts/sweets, we stocked up on some sake for later. There is a river and some bridges which make for a photo spot.

Our favorite part of town was a shrine on top of a hill. First, we gotta climb up some stairs to get there. It was well worth working up a sweat, to find a peaceful place for a quick prayer.

There was a temple here too, but feet were worn out and ice cream tax levied, so we will save that for next time.

Baths

Since Japan is sitting on some major fault lines, there are many hot springs areas scattered around the country. What makes Arima unique is that it has 2 types of hot spring water. Kinsei (Gold-colored) is rich with iron and gives it an orange/rusty color and a more distinctive aroma. Ginsei (Silver-colored) is actually pretty clear and almost seems plain in comparison. The place we stayed at has both, and in fact the 3 full bath areas contained multiple baths of both types. The bath to person ratio was quite good during out stay, and there were moments I had a whole bath area (including 4-5 baths) to myself. Each bath area had inside and outside baths, which was pretty amazing when mixed with rain, garden and spacing out on the rocks. Sorry, no pictures allowed in the bath area, but you can probably find some on the web.

So naturally, we took 3 baths during our stay to try them all. One before dinner, one in the morning before breakfast and finally after breakfast. I felt pretty clean, till we got back to Osaka and had to lug around our stuff in the heat again and got sweaty. That clean feeling didn’t last too long after all:(

Dinner

The ‘viking’ (buffet) dinner was worthy of mention. I ate over 3 plates of sashimi and a solid helping of Kobe(?) beef steak. Throw in some shrimp and clam soup, and I was uncomfortably full by the end. We reluctantly headed back to our room after some ice cream and mochi, then realized we had a bottle of sake to drink too. That stuff was gonna be too heavy to carry home, so we had to polish it off.

Breakfast was good as well, but we were still kinda full from the night before and I just ate mostly curry and rice to prevent any onset of hang over feelings. After another bath, I felt fine!

Summary

For the price we paid, we felt the quality of food and bath experience was well worth the price. Since we found one of the cheaper options on a weeknight, and not even the most fancy ryokan, we didn’t take too big a hit on the pocket book. In fact Hyoe Koyokaku advertises a stay with fancy dinner at closer to $400 per person, so what a steal!? It was an unique experience though, and the hotel had impeccable service and would even serve us complimentary tea/sweets outside the bath areas. They had some koi ponds and beautiful garden areas too, so a very iconic Japanese experience. If the ryokan is really as old as they claim, then maybe some shoguns and samurai pondered their next move while sitting in the same baths hundreds of years ago. To complete the trip, they had a Tanabata tree so we wrote some wishes and hung them up. Perfect and peaceful, before returning to insanity of Osaka.