Takinoya ryokan, nestled among the leafy forests of southern Hokkaido's Noboribetsu resort area, is a glorious location to rest your eyes on the wonders of nature as you soak away your cares in some of the finest hot springs in Japan. Whether you are after the healing waters of Noboribetsu onsen or the area's natural splendor, Takinoya is an excellent choice in any season.
In spring and summer, the prime seasons in this northernmost prefecture, the area buzzes with visitors from all over the world, attracted by the beauty of the natural surroundings.
Winter is somewhat quieter, with a tranquil beauty all its own, muffled by blankets of snow.
Autumn is also a popular season, when the foliage turns from summer green to blazing fall colors.
Inside, Takinoya is elegant and tasteful - Japanese art, both traditional and modern, graces the interior spaces, which are outfitted in the lovely, spare, zen-inspired geometric simplicity of traditional Japanese design. The ryokan's hallways are floored with tatami, and guests pad around in bare feet or special socks, unlike most ryokan, where slippers are the norm.
The owners, the Suga family, have five generations of experience serving up their exemplary brand of hospitality, having operated Takinoya since its beginning as a small restaurant in 1918. Let them and the rest of Takinoya's staff show you what omotenashi, traditional Japanese hospitality, is all about.
UNDERSTANDING THE RYOKAN CULTURE
The Ryokan Collection consists of Category AAA ryokans where you will experience authentic traditional Japanese culture and customs and indulge in traditionalold-fashion Japanese hospitality and service at its legendary best.
By understanding some of the customs and practices of a ryokan, you will be assured of a memorable experience and be able to enjoy the most of your stay.
WHAT'S A RYOKAN
A ryokan is a traditional Japanese-style inn and has been a central part of Japanese culture for centuries. Here guests can get a taste of Japanese traditional home life. The earliest ryokans were built along the Tokai Highway for travelers journeying between the capital city of Tokyo and the Imperial Palace in Kyoto.
The simplest ryokans were actually homes offering extra rooms for travelers. Others were more elaborate, offering little luxuries and exquisiteelaborate cuisine. Today, there are around 63,000 ryokans in Japan, of which 1,800 are high quality establishments belonging to the Japan Association. Many are located close to hot springs (onsen).
The onsen baths boast five different types of water, piped in from the famous Jigokudani onsen source, with different mineral content, acidity and alkalinity to ease both body and mind.
Takinoya's premium room, this is a 92-sq.-meter, four-room Japanese-style suite floored in tatami throughout. The rotemburo is a huge tub made of local slate and set amidst a spacious wooden deck overlooking a forest glade.
Large living and sitting rooms complement the deck, and in-room meals are served in the dining room next to high windows overlooking a forested hillside.
This is a large, 91 sq. meter Japanese/Western style room, with a mix of Western style furniture in the living room and Japanese floor-level seating in the dining area. Sleeping arrangements are comfortable Japanese futons on sweetly aromatic tatami mats.
The spacious rotemburo is a big beautiful slate number overlooking the maple woods, complemented by a big wooden deck – an ideal place to sit and contemplate the northern seasons.
Room boasts a large tatami room and dining room, and the lovely big stone rotemburo is an inviting presence out on the spacious wooden veranda, a good place to sit and ponder the drama of nature outside.
This combined Japanese/Western room has twin Western-style beds, and a sitting room overlooking a forest of Hokkaido maples.
The sense of luxurious comfort is enhanced by a cheerful fireplace, big couches and corner windows overlooking the woods and the garden, as well as the large hinoki wooden bathtub inside next to a huge window that looks out onto the woods.
This combined Japanese/Western room, meant for two to four persons. Twin beds provide a restful environment for sleep.
This two-person room is a combined Japanese/Western type, overlooking the ryokan's Japanese garden with its trout pond, traditional stone lantern and beautiful maple and birch trees.
It sports a spacious wooden ofuro made of hinoki wood, as well as a double vanity.
All kinds of alcoholic beverages are served on a bar hewn from a huge slab of ced.
Bar Shirakaba is a friendly counter bar overlooking the garden.
20.30h - 00.00h
Dinner in the restaurant, Genseirin (the name means "wild woods"), is kaiseki ryori Japanese haute cuisine with a strong emphasis on local Hokkaido offerings, chosen to match the season and the view from the huge, ceiling-high windows.
The fresh vegetables, mouth-watering beef and pork, and fresh seafood, are all done up in delicious, artful and innovative ways.
The lounge is an inviting presence on the cool Hokkaido nights, with a cheery fire and a friendly stand bar.
There is also a shop that sells local crafts, culinary specialties and alcoholic beverages.
The lower level spa, "Chien no Yu," has five different rocky bathing pools, each with a different kind of natural onsen water, such as salt spring, ferric spring (which is replete with iron), and sulphur spring, as well as different levels of acidity and alkalinity.
The top floor spa, "Kumoi no Yu," is a rotemburo outdoor bath which, with its cave-like dark stone walls and ceiling, appears to flow out into the woods infinity-style.
Services in the Treatment Salon Spa include head, foot and body massages, facials, and salt oil treatments, as well as aromatherapy and original spa treatments.
A peaceful Japanese garden complete with a traditional stone lantern graces Takinoya's inner courtyard, a fine place to contemplate the changing of the seasons, accompanied by the music of falling water.
The large, beautiful "Kiri" ("Pawlonia") banquet and meeting hall is a wa-shitsu in the Japanese style with tatami mats, and can accommodate large groups of people.
TAKINOYA
162 Noboribetsu OnsenchoNoboribetsushi, Hokkaido 059-0551Japan