Kirizumi Onsen Kintokan

"Mom, what happened to my straw hat?" I remembered a line from Seiichi Morimura's Proof of Man as I headed there from Karuizawa. Day-trippers need to walk for nearly 30 minutes from the parking lot. (Guests staying overnight are picked up at the parking lot.) Taking a bath after walking a long mountain path feels special. It would be even better if there was an open-air bath! It's perfect for those who want to experience the nostalgic atmosphere of a hidden hot spring. Those looking for comfortable service shouldn't go. It is said that Ito Hirobumi and others gathered here and drafted the Japanese Constitution.

I stayed for several nights. There is only one bathroom for men and women. The water was lukewarm and excellent. The food was delicious and the portions were too much to eat. There was only a fan, so it was a little cold when I opened the window. The only drawback was that there was no lock for valuables or a room key.

40-minute transfer from JR Yokokawa Station by the inn's car. This inn is located deep in the mountains, over 1000 meters above sea level. It is the inn associated with Seiichi Morimura's novel Proof of Man. It has a rustic atmosphere like a hot springs inn, and our room was in the new building. The hot spring is particularly noteworthy. The hot spring is fresh and bubbly, with a free-flowing flow. There is only an indoor bath, and the water is plentiful. It's so cold that it makes your skin tingle even in summer. Docomo signals are available.

After driving along the national and prefectural roads for just over 30 minutes from Yokokawa Station at the Usui Pass Railway Cultural Park, we arrived at a parking lot with a sign that read "Welcome to Kinyukan." We then got into the hotel's shuttle and drove up a steep mountain path for about 20 minutes to arrive at the hotel, which is located along a mountain stream. We could see an impressive red bridge and the entrance to Kinyukan, and the main building on the other side of the bridge is made entirely of zelkova wood and has been there since the hotel was founded in 1883. There are two guest rooms: the main building and the annex, and this time we stayed in Room 1 in the main building. This room is separated from the next room by a sliding door and has thick zelkova beams on the ceiling. Furthermore, this room is where 30 people, including Hirobumi Ito, visited and drafted the Meiji Constitution. The hot spring is in a separate building, and when you open the bathroom, you can smell the characteristic sulfur spring, and the spring quality is said to be a colorless and transparent calcium sulfate hot spring. You can enjoy the warm water for a long time, and when you soak in it, fine bubbles will stick to your skin. In addition to cuts and burns, it is also said to be effective for frozen shoulders. After getting out of the bath, dinner was prepared. Breakfast and dinner are served in the room at Kinyukan, and this time the room was connected to another room, so the living room and the bedroom were separated. Dinner was centered around the famous mountain vegetable tempura, which included Japanese knotweed, mugwort, kogomi, and taros. In addition to this, there was konnyaku sashimi, grilled salted sweetfish, and pork soup with plenty of vegetables, so you can order plenty of vegetables. At night, I was able to sleep soundly, lulled by the sounds of the animals and the river, which are unique to mountain lodges. There were martens and civets running around on the ceiling every now and then, but this was also fun. The next morning, I woke up to the sounds of birds singing, took a bath, and then it was time for breakfast. Just like dinner, the meal was decorated with mountain delicacies, and I was able to enjoy delicious ingredients that were good for my body, such as mountain vegetable side dishes, grated yam, and mushroom miso soup.

It's truly a hidden place. We drove endlessly on a rough road just wide enough for one car to get to the inn's parking lot, and then walked 1km up a rough road from the parking lot at the end. It looks close on the map, but it's actually quite difficult. We stayed in the main building, built in the Meiji era, but there were no windows, and the door between the hallway was a paper screen with no lock. There was no air conditioning, only a fan, and flying insects were flying around. Fortunately, there were no mosquitoes. There was a big spider in the toilet, and dead insects in the sink in the bathroom. It's a bit of a challenge for people who hate insects, but the best thing about this place is the hot springs. The source is lukewarm at about 39 degrees, so you can stay in it forever. The amount of water that flows out is amazing, and the overflowing water is luxurious. The water has a slight sulfur smell, and has a slippery component that makes your skin smooth. It's open 24 hours a day, so we enjoyed having it all to ourselves many times. Then there's the food. The tempura and large bowl of pork soup for dinner were delicious and the portions were amazing. The breakfast was also huge, and even half the amount was too much for me, who usually skips breakfast. It's worth going just for the food and the hot springs. Next time I go, I'd like to use the shuttle service from Yokokawa Station.