Japan - Lamp No Yado - Lap of Luxury

We got on the bus looking forward to relaxing for several hours. Even though we both had gotten international driver's licenses we decided that driving on the "wrong" side of the road and not being able to read directional signs might be hazardous. Besides after all the walking we had done for the last four days we were ready to be pampered.
This was the apex of the trip in a number of ways. Serena and I eagerly anticipated this most remote, luxurious ($$$) splurge of the trip, the Yoshigawara Onsen. Lamp No Yado, this solitary ryokan at the tip of the Noto Hanto Penninsula, was named from the fact that 300 years ago it was lit by kerosene lamps, now coverted to dim electric.

Dinner and breakfast would be included, a good thing because of the isolated location. We had taken a second local bus from Suzu, past some seaside residences and through the woods to the top of the hill where we expected to have a fifteen minute walk down to the sea. When we got off the bus we were amazed to be greeted by a driver who asked "Miss Serena?" We got into the car that was sent to pick us up! The turn was so tight at the last switchback that the car backed into it as to face forward on the final approach.

We were greeted cordially and escorted to our second floor room like we were visiting dignitaries. Instead of the yukatas and bedding being folded in a stack as we had been accustomed to seeing, the room was elegantly bare.

Our attendent brought several colorful yukatas for us to pick from


We wasted no time getting to the rotemboro for our first soak, looking out at ships on the horizon of the Sea of Japan, waves crashing below on the bolders.

We expected a fabulous meal but we never imagined the feast that was served to us in our room. The attendant, also dressed in a yukata, laid out four large trays on the floor. Each seasonal dish of the kaiseki, she placed in an artful presentation on our table. We ordered saki.

OMG! They exclaimed...



Where to start?

Oddly, our favorite dish

After ALL that and a dab of citrusy soy ice cream, and we left behind the carnage to enjoy our special invitation to indulge, gratis, in another hot soak, the Reserve Bath, normally about $30/hr.






Returning from "Nami No Yu"

we found our beds made and another frozen treat, my guess might have been a lychee nut frozen in the shell. It really couldn't get much better than this!

I took quite a few more pictures the next day, some of the staff, a fisherman on the rocks below, the many shoes outside the dining room, the irori room, all of which mysteriously disappeared from my camera card!

Text and pictures © 2008 Mona E. Dunn