Nom Nom Nippon: Day 19 - To Kagaonsen: Our Lavish Hotel at Beniya-Mukayu

Lauren and I departed Otsu and bid farewell to the lovely staff at Inase just before 10AM. I took the opportunity to take some of our latest souvenirs to the nearby Japan Post office, to ship them home and keep our baggage manageable. We took a local train to Kyoto, before catching a Thunderbird express train northeast towards Kanazawa. The trip to Kanazawa is just over 2 hours, though we would be getting off two stops earlier at our destination of Kagaonsen. We arrived in Kagaonsen around 1:30PM, and caught a local taxi to our hotel which is located on a beautiful hillside on the site of an old shrine.

The lobby of Beniya Mukayu.

Our accommodations in Kagaonsen were Lauren's anniversary present to both of us, as our hotel Beniya Mukayu has been voted the top boutique hotel in Japan because of the lavish service and beautifully appointed rooms with private hotsprings. A very polite staff member Tsuji-san greeted us at the door and took our luggage before seating us at some nearby tables as they prepared our check-in documents. We were offered fresh squeezed juice, and hot towels while we waited for Tsuji-san, who shortly joined us to inquire about our preferences for dining times, food preferences and to offer a tea ceremony with the owner of the hotel, Nakamichi-san.

Since our room wouldn't be ready for another hour or so, Tsuji-san showed us to a private elevator for hotel guests that would allow us to get down the hill to town. We took the elevator down, and soon found ourselves exploring the tiny town of Yamashiro-onsen. The town is one of four that make up the combined area of Kagaonsen, and is known for its shrine and hotsprings. We initially walked down the shopping street, but found most stores were closed, so we wandered up the hill slightly to see a beautiful pond with sakura trees lining the shore, and giant carp swimming the waters below.

After the pond, we walked down the hill to a local Lawson Station, another of Japan's famed conbini stores, so Lauren could get a snack as she hadn't eaten much since breakfast. I was also fighting off a cold, so we grabbed some Vitamin C chews that resemble giant yellow jelly beans, though they tasted horrid.

We continued to wander town for another few minutes, and had the chance to see the elementary school children walking home in their adorable little uniforms and yellow hats. One student had her hat blow off, and was extremely grateful to Lauren, who ran after it.

The grounds of the shrine were covered in moss

As we made our way back towards the hotel, we spotted the shrine that the town of Yamashiro-onsen is well known for. The shrine seemed to be set back onto a massive hill, and was covered in beautiful green moss and stone edifices. As we walked up the hill into the center of the Shrine, we found a small staircase leading further up the hill. Intrigued, we followed the winding path of stairs and stones up the hillside, eventually reaching a small altar, and another set of stairs that led towards the summit of the hill where our hotel was.

Eager to try for a shortcut, I convinced Lauren to give the stairs a try, so we made our was slowly up the hill, enjoying the peaceful susurrations of the wind and beautiful moss covered ground until we eventually reached the top. What we found at the top was a complete surprise, as instead of a hotel as we had expected, we found an abandoned building with shattered windows, and a cautionary rope blocking off the entrance. We continued along this rutted and clearly unused road, finding yet another hotel that was derelict, with many of the rooms still having furniture and tatami mats inside.

Lauren waiting for the lazy photographer to catch up

This carving of a horse was to the left of the entrance, covered in vines

As we wandered past these buildings, the road curved sharply to the left and downhill, allowing us to see the much larger back-side of both hotels. These hotels were absolutely massive, sprawling about 20 meters or more up the hillside with dozens of rooms. Most of the glass was intact, but much was shattered, and parts of the foundation had begun to decay. Rusted metalwork and decrepit boilers were simply sitting there, left to the ravages of time.

The front of the hotel still had furniture and slippers scattered around the lobby

The rear side of one of these derelict hotels

The entire experience was both surreal and somewhat creepy, as the wind was blowing through these structures so strongly that we could hear it moaning and wailing as it gusted, and a few rooms at the top of the hotels had water streaming down from their decks onto lower floors. We finally passed the abandoned hotels and made it back to Beniya Mukayu just after 3:30, although Lauren had a little scare when we saw a bear trap just outside the driveway, so we were happy to be safe and sound in our hotel at last.

From the rear, the decay and neglect of these buildings becomes more apparent

I inquired about these abandoned hotels at our hotel, and was informed that during the massive boom of the 90's here in Japan, many tourist attractions like Yamashiro-onsen expanded rapidly, building new hotels to service the influx of tourists and customers. Unfortunately, this boom didn't last, and just a few years later when the market crashed, many of these new businesses were left with no way to support themselves, and were left to decay.

Lauren surprised me by reserving one of two suites in the hotel, a lavish set of rooms called the Wakamurasaki Suite. One of the hotel staff walked us to our room on the second floor, and gave us a brief tour of the bedroom with its two queen beds, living room, dining room, sunroom with floor to ceiling windows looking over the gardens, and finally a gorgeous bathroom, shower room and private outdoor hotspring bath. While I've stayed in my fair share of hotels before, I've never been in a set of rooms quite this fancy. The two of us had just over 1100 square feet of space to ourselves, and it was all beautifully appointed.

Our sitting area/sunroom with a view of the gardens

The lovely moss coated gardens of Beniya Mukayu

The private hotspring bath (onsen) in our hotel room

We thanked our tourguide, and got settled in, immediately taking a shower and heading to our private onsen for a soak. Afterwards, we changed into our Yukata and made our way downstairs for the tea ceremony with the owner, Nakamichi-san who was incredibly gracious and interested in meeting every guest of his hotel.

Following the tea ceremony, we went up to the other side of the 2nd floor for dinner at 6PM, where we would enjoy Kaiseki cuisine. For those who are unaware, Kaiseki cuisine is a traditional form of Japanese dining in which multiple courses are served with each course representing both concepts and ingredients of the current season. The restaurant at Beniya Mukayu is called Kaiseki Horin, and is a large open space that seats all the guests of the hotel, just under 50 people from what we could tell.

Our meal consisted of several courses of cooked and raw fish, with many featuring sea bream, including one large piece that had been roasted and was truly delicious. We wrapped up our meal with bamboo shoots and a rice porridge that was prepared table side by one of the waiters.