An inn built on a mountain peak at an altitude of 2,000 meters above sea level,
offering both good property hot spring water and a spectacular view at
the same time.
But behind the scenes, the inn's hard work is indispensable.
The owner of the inn is very passionate about hot springs,
which is very rare in Japan.
To give you an idea of how passionate he is, please visit .......
With all due respect, it's somewhat astonishing. |
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"Lamp Inn" it’s called "Lamp no Yado" Takamine Onsen,
owner: Hideo Goto...more later.
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| Oh, I see. You're jealous ? |
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Before riding up the mountain, we took a short break at a fancy café.
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| Ms. Tamon is riding her 750cc motorcycle with ease, and I am taking pictures
from behind with my camera. |
I am very lucky. This time, I was taking a hot spring tour with a beautiful
woman named Tamon. It's good to have this kind of thing once in a while,
isn't it ?
Although it was ......, I was accompanied by my wife as a photographer
and assistant. Naturally (and unfortunately), Tamon and I would not be
sharing a room.
On the uphill winding road to the inn, I followed Ms. Tamon's bike as it
turned left and right with ease. Her riding style in her leather jacket
is really cool. You're riding well, you chic lady !
It's autumn now. Red, yellow, and orange leaves greet us on the mountainside,
while golden larch trees add a splash of color to our ride.
My ears were ringing, probably from the sudden change in air pressure,
and I occasionally swallowed my spit to recover. We can tell that we've
gained a lot of altitude. |
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| The view from 2000 meters above sea level, just before the inn. We can
see Mt. Fuji with snow on it. |
Eventually, we reached a mountain pass. Up until now, I've been focusing on the asphalt, but if I widen my gaze a bit, I'll see a spectacular view! What beautiful autumn mountains !
At this point, I tried to tell her one information. But ,she was wearing
a helmet, so I had to speak loudly.
"We're going to ride on a dirt road from here to the inn for a little while."
"Oh, I'm not good at dirt roads."
However, we made it through without a care in the world and arrived at
Takamine Onsen in an instant.
"Oh, no, it wasn't so bad."
That's right. Even though the road was unpaved, it was flat enough for
ordinary cars and buses to drive without difficulty. However, motorcycles
should not be careless, though. |
| Outstanding spring property and wilderness baths above the clouds |
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After checking in, we took a break and soaked in the indoor baths for men
and women. This time, instead of my bathing scene, I'd like to show you
Tamon's specially.
The bathtub has two types of hot water: the lukewarm water of 34 degrees
Celsius at the source, and the boiled water of 41 degrees Celsius, and
it is nice to take turns. The color of the water, translucent milky white
with light blue and blue tones, is beautiful. |
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No, no, no, this indoor bath is not just about feeling good or the beautiful
color of the water.
...... Actually, in the fall of 2021, two years after this interview, I
broke my shoulder, which is called forty or fifty shoulders, and went to
the doctor for about two months, but it did not heal at all. Finally, I
couldn't even get a good night's sleep, and I thought, "Oh, I remembered
there was a hot spring inn with alternating baths," so I went back
to Takamine Onsen.
When I told the owner of the inn about my symptoms, he said, "Actually,
a few years ago, I also suffered shoulders pain, and I went to the doctor,
but I couldn't get better."
I was a little skeptical, but when I asked him how he did it, he told me that he alternated between warm and boiling water for an hour, and repeated it three times a day for three to four days. It was hard to believe that I could be cured in just one night, but I mmediately tried to rely on the hot spring instead of the gods. As a result, that night, I slept like a baby ! Until yesterday, I could only sleep for about two hours a day due to the pain, but now I slept like a baby !
However, the effects of staying only one night lasted for three days. After
all, if I stayed at the inn for more than three nights, I would be able
to achieve what the owner said.
Incidentally, the property of the hot spring water in this inn is as follows
Sulfur containing - calcium, sodium, magnesium, bicarbonate hot spring
I guess there are some therapeutic ingredients in it. In addition, the
water was clean and pleasant, and I realized firsthand that this was indeed
an amazing hot spring.
Now that I've talked about recuperation, let's go to the open-air bath.
If I'm lucky, I'll be able to see the sea of clouds (sometimes every day),
and in autumn, the sun will go down before dinner, and countless stars
will be shining brightly in the night sky above the bathtub. But it’s cloudy
out there. OK, let's continue to have the beautiful Tamon soak us. |
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| Dinner, and some fun afterwards. |
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| The photo shows some of the dishes, which vary from season to season. Horse
sashimi, sweetened carp, and char bone rice-wine are available by special
order. |
After dinner, it was time to talk with the owner.
The place was the lounge. Looking out through the large window glass, I
saw a raccoon dog wandering around. ...... While I was enjoying the peaceful
scenery, the owner appeared with a crisp expression on his face.
Takamine Onsen was first opened in 1902. However, when the foundation of
the building was laid, it was washed away by heavy rain. The second generation
took over the source and found it to be a very good spring. He built an
inn in the valley where the spring was located and started business with
the third generation. At that time, there was no electricity and the inn
was truly a lamp inn.
Later, however, the inn was destroyed by fire when the current owner, the
fourth generation, was 17 years old.
"My father was in a state of depression, so I encouraged him and
helped him to finish the hot spring first."
The inn was moved to its present location at an altitude of 2,000 meters
and reopened in 1983, five years after the fire. ...... Although he had
some bad luck, he was able to continue as a hot spring keeper for generations
because of the good property of the hot spring and his strong belief.
By the way, the inn's signature open-air baths have a variety of unique
features.
The women's bath is 0.5 degrees Celsius higher than the men's because of
the difference in optimal temperature.
In general, women's body temperature is a little lower than men's, and
they also feel the right temperature differently due to their muscle mass
and subcutaneous fat.
In addition to the temperature difference between the men's and women's
bathtubs, the bathtub is slightly inclined and the water is poured with
dead leaves to keep the surface of the water clean. He also mentioned that
they have installed a thermostat under the chair in the bathtub because
the water temperature drops in winter. Even though it is a small open-air
bath, it is full of hidden innovations.
Speaking of ingenuity, the inn has a variety of events.
For example, after dinner at the inn, there is a lecture on the history
of Takamine Onsen, a lecture on hot spring therapy, and a star gazing party
with a large telescope in front of the entrance. In the daytime, there
is a guided hiking "nature observation session" and in the winter,
a trekking "snowshoe". And they even lend out their equipment
for free. Well, it was cloudy that night, so the star gazing event was
not possible, and it was changed to a slide show indoors, but the owner
himself took the lead in entertaining the guests. I was amazed at his unbelievable
service.
I've never been to an inn like this before. The owner is on the move from
morning to night, though he seems to be enjoying himself. |
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The photo of the Milky Way from the vicinity of the open-air bath was borrowed
from owner.
You can also borrow photos of the magnificent "sea of clouds,"
but it would be wiser to stay at the inn and see the real thing in all
its power. |
| It's beyond hot-blooded. |
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The image of an owner of inn is that of an owner who makes landlady work
while he himself sleeps in the living room ....... In many TV dramas, this
is the case.
However, this is not the case in reality. The owner of Takamine Onsen,
in particular, is an incredibly hard worker. What, you're digging another source ? What, just you alone ? |
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There is an inn owner who seems to think that his only hobby is hot springs.
That's Hideo Goto, the Owner of "Lamp no Yado Takamine Onsen".
My first visit to Takamine Onsen was in the fall of 2017. When I first
met him, my impression of him was that he was a serious person who was
passionate about his work. Of course, it's not that other innkeepers are
not serious, but I felt that he was an outstanding worker.
At that time, I heard about the new source drilling. I remembered that
and called him in July 2019.
"I'll try to stay out of the way of the drillers, so let me interview
them." Then owner said something outrageous.
"I don't do interviews normally, but if it's Mr. Mitsuhashi, it's okay." Besides, "I’m digging by myself."
I appreciated the fact that this was the first time I was being interviewed,
but it didn't mean that he was digging by himself. Of course, digging is
a job done by specialized diggers, and I've never heard of an innkeeper
digging. When I asked this to the owners of other inns that have their
own hot springs, they all replied in unison, "That's absurd !"
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To begin with, drilling for hot springs requires the submission of various
application documents, a license related to the drilling of natural gas
and coal mine crude oil, and a safety supervision license from the Ministry
of Economy, Trade and Industry. It's a lot of work to get them. In addition,
even if you get a drilling machine, how do you get it to work ? You will
have to study hard. So, in late July 2019, I went to Takamine Onsen, located
at an altitude of 2000 meters. And as soon as I arrived at the inn, I finally
headed to the drilling site, 180 meters
below sea level from the inn.
Owner drove me down to the site in a caterpillar work truck, but it wasn't
fun like a ride at an amusement park, and the slamming and banging made
my butt hurt.
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I heard there are bears living in these mountains. The owner works alone
in such a place.
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While running, I tried to talk to owner, but the noise of the engine and
the shaking made it impossible to have a conversation.
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| 500 steel pipes 3 meters long to be embedded in the ground. |
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While drilling, water is injected and pumped up along with mud and rocks.
I keep an eye out to see if there is any gold or diamonds mixed in, but
the owner says, "No, nothing like that will come out."
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A satisfied crane operator at the excavation site…No, he
is owner of the inn.
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A caterpillar work truck driven by owner. I ride on the back of it, but
my smile disappears once it starts moving.
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If I don't hold on tight, I might be shaken off.
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We arrived at the excavation site where the yagura was built in a little
over 10 minutes from the inn.
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The inside of the yagura, which owner assembled by himself. A boring machine
hums in the center. In the hard lava layer, a diamond drill is used to
carefully drill little by little to prevent cracks from forming in the
rock.
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| This is a photo of the crane truck being lowered onto the site to build
the yagura. So he start by building a road, not having one. |
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The excavation site. The yagura was 18 meters high, much higher than I
had imagined. I was told that owner built this steel frame yagura by himself.
He said, "The other day, a bear pooed in the middle of this yagura,
and I thought, This is my lucky day."
This is no time to be laughing. If you fall off the top of a yagra, you'll
be in trouble, and if something happens, you won't be able to get a cell
phone signal here. Even if there were bears nearby, there were no people.
Not caring about such worries, the owner pressed the switch of the boring
machine. The iron pipe filled with water made a great noise and started
to grind. He had started drilling about half a month ago, so we were still
about 20 meters underground. The hard lava layer was sometimes only 50
cm deep even after a day of digging. The current source is close by, so
we had to be careful not to adversely affect it.
The owner of the inn is always on the move from early in the morning, drilling
all day long, welcoming guests in the evening, and entertaining them with
events such as star gazing parties at night. And, of course, they manage
the hot spring without fail. ...... With all this, I wonder when he get
to rest his bodies. The reason for digging up a new source is not only
that there are concerns about the current source.
"When my great-grandfather opened the bath in 1902, I heard that beautiful milky white water was coming out. However, it was destroyed by a flash flood. I want to revive that fantastic hot spring."
We don't know exactly where the source is, and we don't know for sure if
it will actually come out or not. Moreover, we don't even know what color
the water will be when it gushes out. This can only be described as a man's
dream.
...... And in December 2021, two years after this interview, I contacted
the owner to ask about the situation.
The depth of excavation is 280m, and the expected depth of the source is
800m, so there is still a long way to go. Although the work cannot be done
during the winter because of the snow, if the digging continues smoothly,
the source will be reached in 2023.
It will be interesting to see the different property of the spring water
that will come out. What color will it be? |
| What are we going to do ? |
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The next morning ...... We are in trouble! It's snowing !
It's mid-October, and I hadn't heard that weather forecast. Owner smiled
and said, "Oh, it's the first snowfall." Ms. Tamon, on the other
hand, said, "Well, so beautiful !" Not kidding, we're here on
motorcycles ! However, it was snowing, so we had no choice. We decided
to take a bath in the snow.
The temperature was minus one degree Celsius. I quickly took off my yukata, splashed some water on my body, and soaked myself in the bathtub. My face was cold, but ...... felt good. If it's a clear day, you can see the beautiful mountains in the distance, and on some days you can even see a sea of clouds. I guess I'm lucky. But can I ride my bike home ?
The staff at the inn said, "If the first bus of the morning coming
up from downstairs doesn't have chains on, you
might be able to ride." I was relieved to see that the bus that eventually
arrived had no chains. It's been fun, Ms. Tamon, now let's go home.... |
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| In winter, the road in front of the inn becomes a slope, and a snowmobile
takes you about 1 km from the ski resort parking lot at the pass of the
Cherry Park Line (free of charge for stay guests). I'd love to take a ride. |
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| There is a direct JR-bus that runs from Shinjuku Station in Tokyo to Takamine
Onsen. It is an inexpensive and convenient means of transportation. (In
winter, the bus goes to the neighboring ski resort.) |
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Lamp inn Takamine Onsen
704-1 Takamine Kogen, Hishihira, Komoro City, Nagano TEL 0267-25-2000
Rates are from 16,650 JPY per person on weekdays (tax included for one
room for two people). Total 23 rooms.
A heating fee of ￥1,100 per room during winter, is not included room rates.
￥500 is allowed only for the indoor bath on the first floor without stay
(Winter: ￥1500 including snowmobile fee)
English conversation of the staff of the inn・・・Not available.
[Hot water property]
Sulfur-containing calcium sodium sulfate and bicarbonate hot spring
[ hydrogen sulfide type ].
Number of sources: 1 Power pumping hot water Gush volume: Approx. 60 ℓ
/ min
Fountainhead temperature: 36 ℃ pH 7.0 Neutral Dissolved substance
(excluding gas component): 1928 mg/kg
Open-air bath: There is no addition of water and heating, and it is fountainhead
free-flowing hot-spring water.
Inner hot water: No water addition and heating circulation filtration (the
bathtub of a lukewarm water is free-flowing hotspring water)
Bathroom: Open-air bath 2, inner hot water 4 (each sex distinction)
[Inn data] As of December, 2021
Official site https://www.takamine-onsen-hitou.com/ |
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