It’s moving day again! I feel like every time I leave a city and I want to stay longer, it means that we had a good time and there’s reason to come back in the future. Check out was at 11 and check in at the Morizuya Ryokan in Kinosaki Onsen was at 3. In looking at Google maps, if we left right at check out and caught the train out of Kyoto, we’ll arrive an hour before check in so we had some wiggle room.
I absolutely love train travel, it’s my favorite form of transportation regardless of quality of train. Especially overnight trains where you have a bunk bed are super fun because you’re saving time getting to your next destination and sleeping at the same time!
This train ride was had very scenic views of the mountains, people working on rice paddys, and rivers weaving through the forests. I noticed a neighborhood just outside of Kyoto that had new houses being built up. Joanna and I are big fans of a newer home design called “Japandi” which is Japanese and Scandinavian styles which are very earthy and clean color pallets which use a lot of wood and stone as building materials. It’s something we’d like our future home style to be. The houses we passed definitely seem to fit that style as well.
After about an hour, the train came to kind of an abrupt stop. I thought it was weird as we weren’t at a train station. Inside the train car, it was dead silent where no one was talking even though it was half full of passengers. Eventually the conductor very obviously used google translate to make an announcement in English saying there was a tree on the middle of the tracks. Joanna and I imagined how they would clear the tree.
I said they called central command to send a giant mech like a gundam to fly over, pick up the tree, and fly away. She said the top of the first train car would open up and a crane would throw the tree off the tracks. After about 25 minutes we were moving again so they were somehow able to quickly resolve the issue. We arrived at Kinosaki Onsen and I saw the red lights in front of the train. We were both wrong, they used laser beams to disintegrate the tree…obviously.
The Kinosaki Onsen town office of tourism was waiting for our arrival and asked us which ryokan we were staying in. The lady wrote it down and invited us to take a free bus to drop us off at Morizuya which was really convenient. I was ready to make Joanna walk 10 minutes.
The manager Hachisuka-san was so nice and welcoming when we walked in. He immediately asked for my cell phone to take a photo of us to begin our stay. I asked how long he has run this ryokan for and he said it’s been in his family for 8 generations. He has 3 kids and expects at least one of them to take over when they’re old enough.
He introduced us to our nakai-san which is like our room attendant. She gave us the layout of the ryokan, what time to expect our meals to be served, where the onsens are, and lead us to a room where Joanna could pick out her yukata.
Side note: the last time we did a ryokan, I titled the blog post “wakaranai” which means I don’t understand (blog post). We were staying in a small town just like this where people didn’t speak very much English. I am SO glad that I took the semester of Japanese because now I can get the high level gist of what’s happening. I will say that it’s absolutely not necessary to know Japanese but I’m enjoying the deeper level of communication beyond using google translate and hand gestures.
There were a lot of options, Joanna wanted the green one with dragonflies. Nakai-san brought us to our room which was a very traditional Japanese-y looking room with the futons already laid out for us. She had Joanna undress and very meticulously helped her put on the yukata, brushed and pinned up her hair, and decorated the outfit with flowers on. Then she helped me with mine which had rabbits on it.
We were served green tea and a small locally made pastry with red bean paste inside. They were a nice contrast between sweet and slightly bitter.
Hachisuka san asked for my phone again and took a ton of pictures of us and then invited us to come next door to his home where his 75-yr old mother did a matcha tea ceremony for us. They served us some sweets to balance out the bitterness of the matcha. She instructed that you hold the bowl in the palm of your left hand, turn it to the right twice, drink, then turn it twice to the left before placing it on the table. This was a very nice and unique experience.
We had about an hour and a half before dinner was served so we wandered the neighborhood in our onsen wear. There was a shop down the street that had ramune soda flavored soft serve which Joanna had to have.
We did a photoshoot in this picturesque town as Joanna was perfectly styled in her outfit and we had some time to kill before dinner.
At 5:45, dinner was served in the room next to ours. Everything was beautifully laid out and they explained that we would have 5 phases.
Phase 1: fish and shrimp sashimi, pickled veggies, shredded crab with scrambled egg over rice, local Tajima wagyu beef (think Kobe beef from Kobe), and steamed crab which is a specialty in this region.
Phase 2: It was like a creamy soup with broccoli and pumpkin inside covered in a puff pastry
Phase 3: shrimp, sweet potato, and eggplant tempura. I assumed the white thing was mushrooms but she said it was fried somen noodles.
It was at this point Joanna needed to loosen her obi belt tied around her yukata because of how full she was getting.
Phase 4: local pork and vegetable shabu shabu, soup with a small piece of what I think was eel at the bottom. Look how detailed this food is where they cut the carrot into a shape of a crab.
Phase 5: Matcha pudding with red beans and a small orange slice.
The meal was so delicate and special, you couldn’t help but whisper or say nothing at all to enjoy the experience.
We were super full by the time we got to the end, all of it delicious and beautifully prepared.
The ryokan has 2 private onsens which are first come first serve. Of the one we grabbed, there was and indoor and outdoor hot spring tub.
This is like the ultimate relaxing getaway for both of us. The food is incredible, the vibe is just super quiet and relaxing in this mountain town, and there’s nothing to do but eat and soak in the hot springs for the next day and a half.
