Japan’s island of Kyushu typically will get neglected by plenty of abroad vacationers to Japan, but it surely’s a spot that deserves to be in your itinerary, with hidden gems and off-the-beaten-path discoveries you gained’t discover anyplace else.
One spotlight is a cease in Hita City, a web site so steeped in historical past and tradition it’s generally known as the “Little Kyoto of Kyushu“. Developed because the political, financial, and cultural centre of Kyushu in the course of the Edo interval (1603-1868), as a tenryo (land beneath the direct management of the Shogunate), Hita has right this moment turn out to be sacred floor for followers of the anime Attack on Titan, because it’s the hometown of Hajime Isayama, the manga artist behind the favored collection.
▼ Hita is simply over an hour away by automotive and practice from Fukuoka Airport in Hakata, the place you’ll be greeted by large sushi on the bags carousel.
Hita is on the way in which to well-liked vacationer websites and onsen hotspots Beppu and Yufuin, making it an ideal place so as to add to your travels. There’s plenty of idyllic surroundings to take pleasure in right here, particularly at Hoshuyama Station on the JR Kyushu Hitahikosan Line, which is called a “県境駅” (“Kenkyuu eki” or “Prefectural Border Station”) because the station platform spans the border of Fukuoka Prefecture and Oita Prefecture.
That’s not the one native secret you’ll discover right here, as we have been just lately tipped off to a fantastic sizzling spring onsen facility only a 10-minute drive from Hita Station, in an space south of town centre that seems like an unexplored area. As you proceed alongside the Takase River in Oita Prefecture, you’ll come throughout a signboard with “Kotohira Onsen” printed on it, and shortly after this you’ll arrive on the secret vacation spot.
▼ Yume Sansui.
This is each an inn and day-use onsen facility, so if you happen to’re visiting on a daytrip, you’ll be able to pay the showering charge to enter on the retro-looking reception sales space. Adults (junior highschool college students and older) pay 800 yen, whereas youngsters (4 years previous to elementary faculty college students) pay 400 yen. There are additionally a complete of 16 “Family Baths” that may be reserved for personal use at a price of two,000-2,500 yen per bathtub for 60 minutes.
Our reporter Masanuki Sunakoma was fortunate sufficient to go to the onsen, opting to dip into the open-air out of doors bathtub for males. There are altering rooms on both facet of the curtain after you step via the gate to the boys’s out of doors bathing space, and that’s since you’ll discover two totally different open-air baths right here — “Norari-yu” on the left and “Aun-no-yu” on the appropriate.
This setup meant Masanuki ended up strolling stark bare previous the doorway gate when he made his manner from Norari-yu on the left to Aun-no-yu , as indicated by the purple line under.
Of course, bathers cowl their entrance bits with a small towel as they transfer about, and Masanuki did too, however when he visited he was the one one there so he didn’t need to really feel embarrassed. Although he may’ve modified out and in of his garments within the change rooms, he most popular to keep away from the trouble by hotfooting it from one bathtub to the following, and because the space behind the gate is supposed to be for males solely, he felt secure sufficient to stroll rapidly between the 2 out of doors bathing areas.
Whether you stroll between the 2 baths in your birthday go well with or select to vary in between, you’ll positively wish to go to each of them, as they’re blessed with probably the most stunning riverside surroundings.
You can absolutely benefit from the nice nature of Hita from these baths, together with the sound of the river because it passes by. The high quality of the spring water is improbable, and the delicate, moist water feels nice on the pores and skin.
While the photographs above present “Norari-yu”, “Aun-no-yu”, which faces downstream, sits a lot nearer to the river because it’s positioned straight subsequent to it. The open-air bathtub there sits on the similar peak because the floor of the river, making for a very exceptional expertise, even for an skilled bather like Masanuki, who rated it as a reminiscence that may stick with him perpetually.
Masanuki imagines that soaking in these baths at night time could be much more romantic, however he personally most popular his daytime go to. However, if you happen to do have an evening to spare when visiting Kyushu, he extremely recommends staying on the hooked up inn, so you’ll be able to absolutely benefit from the baths at your leisure, earlier than persevering with on to take pleasure in all of the hidden gems Oita has to supply.
Onsen data
Kotohira Onsen Yume Sansui / 琴ひら温泉 ゆめ山水
Address: Oita-ken, Hita-shi, Kotohira-cho 1571-1
大分県日田市琴平町1571-1
Bathing instances: 12 p.m.-8:45 p.m. (weekdays); 11 a.m.-9 p.m. (Sat, Sun, and holidays, please see web site for particulars)
Website
Photos ©SoraNews24
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