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There
are two hot spring areas in Atami. One is located around the city
centre, known as Atami Onsen (熱海温泉),
and the other is in the
southern part of the city, called Ajiro Onsen (網代温泉),
also referred to as 'South Atami Onsen'. Our onsen ryokan (温泉旅館,
traditional Japanese hot spring inn) is located in the southern
area. Ajiro
Onsen is small fishing town, so if peace and relaxation are
your priority, Ajiro is a good choice. |
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After driving along the
Atami coastal road for 20 minutes, I arrived at Ajiro. The drive itself offers many beautiful views. Ajiro is quite far from Atami city centre, and our ryokan for the night, Tsukinoakari (月のあかり,
literally 'the moonlight'), is also located far from the Ajiro town
centre, hidden on the hill surrounded by residential houses. |
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| While the ryokan's location on a hill may be a bit
inconvenient, there are some restaurants and a 24-hour convenience
store, a 7-11, located on the road leading up to the hill. I
stopped there to buy some snacks and drinks. |
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| The car park is slightly downhill from the ryokan. If I had parked
the car first, I would have needed to carry our suitcase uphill. So, I
decide to stopt right in front of the inn to unload the
luggage first. As soon as I stopped, about 10
members of staff came out of the inn to greet us and confirm
the booking details. They immediately help
us unload our luggage, took it to our room, and
helped park the car. |
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In a ryokan, each roome is assigned a dedicated member of staff
known as a nakai (仲居).
The nakai leads us to our room and introduces the inn's
facilities. I think this inn mainly serves local customers,
as the staff speak only basic English. However,
they proactively offer a translation device if there are any
communication difficulties. |
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After arriving in the room, the nakai introduce the room's
facilities and accessories, and also arranged the time for dinner and
breakfast. When arranging breakfast, the nakai asked us
to choose between two types of fish. We chose the
famous Izu fish, Kinmedai (金目鯛,
golden-eyed snapper), while the other optionwas Ibodai (いぼ鯛,
the Japanese butterfish). |
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| Tsukinoakari is a simple, upretentious hot spring inn with
no lavish decorations. It only has a restaurant, a beauty
room, and 15 guest rooms. Every guest room is equipped with a
private hot spring bath. There is no public bath at this inn.
The main areas for activities are the guest rooms and the
restaurant. If you prefer a more private, tranquil experience, Tsukinoakari
would be an excellent choice. Check-in and check-out times are
the same as in most hotels: check-in is at 15:00, and check-out
is at 11:00. |
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I booked an 8-tatami (12.4 metre square) Japanese-style room
with a terrace (balcony) and an outdoor hot spring bath. The
price also includes two meals: dinner and breakfast. However, I had
no choice in the room type when booking. This room
was the only one
available due to the peak season during the New Year holiday.
I booked it for four months in advance, yet rooms were still
scarce, and the price had increased. For this
stay, we paid JP¥30,100 (it would normally cost JP¥27,000
during non-peak season). Additionally, a JP¥150 hot spring tax was added. |
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The inn is divided into two areas: the 'main block' and the 'new block'.
The room I booked is
located in the main block. The new block contains hillside (no view) rooms as
well as three types of sea-view rooms. All sea-view rooms offer panoramic view of Sagami
Sea and the morning coastal sunshine. Enjoying both the hot
spring bath and sea view is truly wonderful. The hillside
rooms are available on a room-only basis, with no meals included. |
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Welcome refreshment – Izu Aizome (伊豆逢初),
made from sweet potato and beans |
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The hot spring bath and shower are located on the
balcony |
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After settling into the room, I had a shower and enjoyed the hot spring bath
before dinner. For guests in the main block, dinner is served in the guest room,
while those in the new block dine in
the restaurant. I had arranged a sake (Japanese rice wine)
pairing for meal, which included three bottles of local
wine from Izu. The dinner consisted of 12 dishes, including
an aperitif, soup, and desert. The nakai came to the room at 17:45
to prepare., and the meal was served at 18:00. |
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Aperitif (Apple Wine) and starters (abalone
konjac jelly, cod with egg yolk, crunchy prawn and fusilli,
chicken with burdock, Lily's bulb and spinach jelly) |
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Soup: fish stock with scollop and mozuku fish
ball (mozuku is a kind of seaweed) |
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Sashimi: sliced fresh raw fish in Ajiro |
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Mid-staple: Green tea noodle |
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Simmer dish: Tilefish with adzuki bean and
squash |
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Grill: Japanese amberjack with turnip sauce |
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Hot pot: Mochi
pork (kind of Japanese local pork) with vegetables |
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Ending soup: Miso soup with Nameko mushroom and
Japanese parsley; Pickle: three types of pickle; Staple food:
steamed Ishikawa pearl rice |
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Dessert: Sesame and potato mousse, and seasonal
fruit |
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We finished dinner around 19:30. The entire meal took about 1.5 hours.
At 20:00, the nakai returned to clear the table and prepare the
bedding. |
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After such a rich meal, of course, it was time to enjoy the
hot springs again! However, after drinking alcohol, it's important not
to immediately soak in
hot water. Both drinking alcohol and soaking in hot water dilate the
blood vessels, which can increase the strain on the heart. Fortunately, I
had only drunk
sake, which, like wine and beer, is a low-alcohol drink, and
I hadn't had too much. After resting for a bit, the effects of the
alcohol passed quickly. After enjoying the hot spring bath, I had a
late-night snack. |
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My late-light snack: instant udon noodle with
tofo skin |
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I woke up around 07:00, got ready, and then enjoy a morning hot spring
bath. We had booked breakfast at 08:00, and at 07:45, the nakai ringed to remind us that breakfast was approaching and that she
would come to pick us up at 08:00. Oddly, when the time arrived, no one
knocked on the door, and when I opened it, no one was there. After
waiting for another 5 minutes, no one had shown up, and I began to
wonder if there had been a communication issue. I decided to head to the
restaurant on my own, and as soon as I reached the staircase, I saw our nakai waiting at the corner... It was a bit awkward at that moment! |
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Sunshine and sea-view on the morning |
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The nakai led us to our seats and then left, and we were
attended to by the staff at the restaurant. The person in
charge of our table was a young man, and surprisingly, his
English communication skills were excellent! Actually, wouldn't
it have been better for him to handle the reception duties as
well? However, in traditional ryokan, greeting guests is
primarily a female role, while men
typically handle more behind-the-scenes tasks. Japanese ryokan breakfasts are always a pleasant surprise, with a total
of 10 dishes, ranging from starters to fruits. I remember
that I specifically chose the golden-eyed snapper yesterday, and it
was one of the dishes – ichiyaboshi (一夜干, an air-dried fish). |
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Starter platter: Tuna with mashed nagaimo
(Chinese yam), cuttlefish with miso, grilled egg with mushed
mooli raddish (daikon raddish), and seared cod roe |
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Salad: red leaf lettuce, cucumber, carrot, red
onion, radicchio, tomato, and raw ham; served with coarse salt
and sesame sauce |
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Hot
pot: homemade warm tofo; seasoning with spring onion,
katsuobushi (dried and shredded skipjack tuna) and ginger |
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Simmer dish: Hiryôzu (made with tofo, fish,
carrot, wood-ear, and egg) with aubergine, ebiimo (a type of
taro), and pea pod |
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Dried fish: one night air-dried kinmedai
(golden eye snapper) |
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Soup (1): clams miso soup with seaweeds and
spring onion |
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Soup (2): Japanese rice porridge with crab
meat, shiitake mushroom and spring onion |
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Pickle: Chinese leaf, cucumber, and dried plum |
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After finishing our breakfast, of cause, it was time to enjoy the hot spring again.
Then we packed our luggage to leave. The nakai confirm our exact check-out
time before breakfast and would come to our room for check-out process.
Everything was handled in the guest room, so we didn't need to
go to the front desk. When leaving the inn, the nakai and another male
staff member helped us load our luggage into the car. |
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One of the most awkward things at a ryokan is that the nakai waits
by the car until it's out of sight before returning to the inn. I
didn't want to take too long setting up the GPS, so I quickly drove off
and went straight to the 7-11 where we bought things the day before to set up
the navigation... |
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