Coming down the mountain and back onto the road, there are three onsen in sequence, all getting their water from the Jinba source but using it in various ways. Evidently the nicest-looking one is too good for the likes of us, not accepting day-trippers. It’s a mystery to me who would want to stay out here overnight, but that left us at the middle option, Jinkeien, which Woodsworth has visited many times (though, I’ll wager, not known the name of until now).
It’s positively welcoming, especially with all the early-summer foliage and sprays of blooming wisteria. If you lived here, this would be a great way to come home.
The nicest feature of the lobby (other than the tea service and the plethora of chairs to sit in while you drink it after being boiled) is these stuffed heads. They’re locally shot bears – look at the size of the horns on those bears!
And lest you think there wasn’t any option to get boiled, here it is. It’s in a separate wing of the building, and it’s a bit small, and the view is ordinary, but it’s a nice enough rock bath and the water is very smooth. I haven’t looked it up, but based on other onsen I’ve been to I’d say it’s good for the stomach, eyes, skin, liver, digestion, brain function, neuralgia, rheumatoid arthritis, degenerative macularism, pancreatic endocrinitis, alopecia, vitiligo, listeriosis, encephalitis, whooping cough, leprotic condyloma, cretinic influenza, and measles.
I know I feel better.
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Lovely!
And so important to keep after those cretinic maladies.
i would love to go to an onsen like this in japan! i've been to ones like it when i was in korea, but i have yet to visit japan. lovely pictures! =)