Emperor and Empress in a Ryokan

Naomi and I at Senzairou

Senzairou is a special Japanese Ryokan dating from 1764 nestled in the wooded mountains of Yoro. Yoro town is itself a special place, famed for the purity of its waterfall, and the bizarre ‘Garden of Reversible Destiny’. So this special place is where I took Naomi for her birthday weekend.

We checked into the Ryokan and were greeted with traditional Japanese hospitality. Every detail was authentically preserved. We drank tea in our gracious rooms, with doors sliding out to the garden and pond below. Century’s old calligraphy and painted screens adorned our room.

Senzairou, first built in 1764

Naomi bought the sunshine with her. We blissfully strolled through the falling ochre leaves of Yoro Park, ate deer sausages and explored the Site of Reversible Destiny, an “experience park” conceived on the theme of encountering the unexpected. The sad thing about this fascinating project is that the site is beginning to weather and wear with little sign of maintenance. Carefree, we made our way up to Yoro falls which Naomi felt gave good energy. We then found a new wooded path leading back to Senzairou.

Our Ryokan was vacant aside from us, and the owner was kind enough to drive us into town to a recommended Yakiniku restaurant. We talked while Naomi worked the hotplates without having to even think about it. Great food, おいしかった。

Inside Senzairou,

Meanwhile, while we dined, our Onsen bath was prepared. The original charm of Senzairou’s the large ‘family’ bathroom is also preserved. (The bathroom was actually my starting point for finding a Ryokan, since Naomi is bath obsessed). We didn’t know it, but while we soaked, our room was being transformed again. We felt like Emperor and Empress lying on our Futon that night.

And like a King and Queen we woke up the next morning to a set breakfast, which in Japan is elaborate like any meal. As well as rice and miso soup, fish is always on the menu. So was squid.

Senzairou, breakfast

The owners then went out of their way again to show us around the upstairs guest areas, talk about the history, and the problems of maintaining the Ryokan in this day and age.

And so we coasted back on the country train some time later feeling a little like we’d just stepped back a few hundred years for the weekend.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 23rd, 2007 at 4:00 pm and is filed under Japan. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.