A Travelogue of Oritate Onsen at the Turn of Autumn

Although 'Aki-tonari' (the approach of autumn) is a summer seasonal word, I traveled around Uonuma in Niigata Prefecture during the Obon holidays, which fall after the start of autumn on the calendar, in search of lukewarm hot springs. I will leave a record with plenty of photos this time as well, so that I can convey even a little bit of the changing of the seasons.

The Original Purpose

I arrived at Urasa Station in Niigata Prefecture in about 90 minutes from Tokyo Station. Originally, I intended to go sightseeing in the places that appeared in volume 7 of my favorite manga, 'Zatsu-Tabi'. I planned to visit the Bishamon-do Hall at Urasa Station and extend my trip to the roadside station, but Uonuma was experiencing a scorching heatwave of 37°C that day...

Because of that, I changed my plans and headed to my inn early. I took the Joetsu Line from Urasa Station to Koide Station.

I arrived at Koide Station after two stops. Since you can also transfer to the Tadami Line, which is famous for its spectacular views, you can also extend your trip to Aizu in Fukushima Prefecture.

I used the Uonuma City shared taxi from Koide Station to my destination, Oritate Onsen. The number of buses is limited, so it is very convenient for people from outside the prefecture who cannot drive, like me, to be able to use it if they make a reservation (400 yen per ride). It takes about 20 minutes to reach Oritate Onsen.

Yamakiya Ryokan in Oritate Onsen

I stayed at Yamakiya Ryokan. Oritate Onsen is a part of the Yunotani Onsen Village, where four inns are in operation. Yamakiya is the newest inn among them. I arrived a little earlier than planned, but they kindly showed me to my room.

The Room

The room I reserved was about 4.5 tatami mats in size, but it had a good view and was equipped with a small refrigerator (with about two cans of beer).

The view from the room looks like this ↓, where you can see the rural landscape. I leaned my elbows on the railing and read a book, and since it is in the mountains, the cool breeze blowing through felt wonderful.

The Bath

I immediately enjoyed the hot spring I had been looking forward to. Since it is a lukewarm spring, I bathed four times, with each session lasting 60 minutes. It is heated in winter, but you can enjoy the free-flowing source water during this season.

The hot spring has one indoor bath for men and one for women (no rotation). The tiles are a beautiful light blue and reflected the scenery outside. The water quality is an alkaline simple hot spring, and while I initially thought it might be a bit cold, it gradually became comfortable, and after soaking for 30 minutes, I felt so refreshed that I was glad I came.

Inside the inn

There is a tasteful book corner and board games (though there was no Go). There are no vending machines, but beer and soft drinks are kept cold in the inn's refrigerator (there is a Coca-Cola vending machine near the bus stop, but the last convenience store was NewDays at Urasa Station).

The connecting corridor has an unusual design, built over a pond. The water level is low, but if you look past the wooden bridge at the bottom right of the photo, you can see the water surface.

Dinner

For dinner, I ordered a sake tasting set. In terms of classic sake, Midorikawa (far left) was light and delicious, but Iitkey (second from the right) was also delicious with a floral quality like white wine.

Dinner included salt-grilled char, shabu-shabu, and simmered dishes (the item between the bitter melon and pumpkin is kuruma-fu wheat gluten). It paired very well with the sake, and I enjoyed it immensely. And of course, this is Uonuma City, Niigata Prefecture, one of Japan's leading rice-producing regions...

When I opened the rice pot, it was rice cooked with clams, carrots, and fried tofu! It goes without saying that it was delicious, and the scorched rice at the bottom was also great. By the way, I took a photo of the river view and the rice pot, but the bottom right ended up looking like a ghost photo (lol).

Reading

Returning to my room to read while drinking a highball, taking a bath once I sobered up, and then drinking beer and reading again... This cycle is the real thrill of a solo hot spring trip.

Breakfast

The next morning, I woke up just after 5:00 and enjoyed the first bath of the day. I went back to sleep for about an hour before having breakfast.

Niigata Prefecture is famous for its mushrooms, as seen in the "Yukiguni Maitake" brand. The grilled maitake mushroom on a ceramic plate was served with ponzu sauce, but adding a drop of soy sauce directly made it fragrant and a perfect match for white rice.

And the homemade Koshihikari rice! The more you chew, the more delicious it becomes; it is worth visiting just for this alone.

Before Obon, it cost 13,600 yen for one night with two meals and a sake tasting flight. I highly recommend it for those who love lukewarm baths, but please be aware that it is in the mountains, so those who dislike insects should take caution (I am completely fine with them, but while reading at night, I could hear insects hitting the window, drawn by the room light).

Tochiomata Onsen Jizaikan

After checking out of Yamakiya, I headed toward Tochiomata Onsen on foot. It is like a sacred place for hot spring lovers, and the protagonist of "Zatsu-Tabi," which I introduced at the beginning, also stays here.

It is about 4km from Oritate Onsen to Tochiomata Onsen. It was an uphill climb, and it took me an hour to complete the journey.

Tochiomata Onsen is also famous for its lukewarm baths. It is a rare hot spring area where three inns operate and jointly manage three large public baths.

(As of the time this article is posted) Only Jizaikan accepts day-trip bathing from 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM (by reservation only, starting one week in advance).

It has a strong atmosphere of a hot spring cure resort, and it seems many people stay for multiple nights. I got the impression that they only accept day-trip bathers during the day while the overnight guests are eating lunch.

The Taisho building was built in the Taisho era. I want to stay there someday. As an aside, the double-page spread in Volume 7 of "Zatsu-Tabi" is drawn from the corridor on the left.

For day-trip bathing, you are assigned one of the large public baths on a rotating basis, and on this day, it was the "Shita-no-yu" bath.

There is the beautiful blue-tiled 'Kami-no-yu' and the 'Oku-no-yu' which also has a washing area, but 'Shita-no-yu' is considered the most effective because it is the oldest and closest to the source. Since it was also depicted in 'Zatsu-Tabi', I personally felt like I hit the jackpot.

On the left is the heated rinse bath, and on the right is the free-flowing source water. My impression of 'Shita-no-yu' is that it feels cramped once about five people enter, so day-trip bathing would probably be difficult to enjoy without a reservation system. I was lucky enough to have the bath all to myself for about 90 minutes that day.

The water temperature is a 37°C simple radioactive spring, and although I soaked for about 90 minutes, it felt like my fatigue was melting away and the hot spring was penetrating and warming me from within (it was truly close to 'nothingness'). The tiling was also beautiful, and the greenery outside reflected in the hot spring, making the time fly by in an instant.

At the end of the journey

The two hot springs I visited this time are called 'insensible temperature' baths because they are close to body temperature, so I was able to take long soaks and relieve my fatigue (I bathed for about 7 hours over two days). It was great to be able to visit the sacred sites of my favorite manga, eat delicious food, and soak in the hot springs I had wanted to visit.

From Tochimata Onsen, I took a shared taxi back to Koide Station, went to Echigo-Yuzawa Station, and returned to Tokyo by Shinkansen. Finally, at Koide Station, a mascot character? was introduced, but...

Am I the only one who thought he looked like Sai from Hikaru no Go? Maybe it's just my imagination (lol). Well then, I hope you all have a wonderful summer vacation!