Shizuoka seaside town offers an amazing experience even if you’re not staying overnight.

Living in Tokyo, you tend to get in a pattern of thinking in terms of train lines for cool places to go in your free time. Doing too much of that, though, means you’ll miss out on some awesome outside-the-train-line-defined box, as our Japanese-language reporter Seiji Nakazawa was recently reminded.

The other day, Seiji was talking with a buddy who’s really into motorcycles, and the subject of onsen (hot springs) came up. Seiji’s friend says that there’s one place in particular he and his fellow two-wheeled enthusiasts like to ride to and take a nice long soak. Though it’s affiliated with a hotel, the Akazawa Higaeri Onsenkan, as the place is called, is open to day-trip users too, and Seiji’s friend highly recommended it.

The problem, though, is that Seiji doesn’t have a motorcycle, or a car, and with the Akazawa Higaeri Onsenkan being located out in Shizuoka Prefecture, and not within walking distance of any train station, Seiji figured he was out of luck. After doing some checking, though, Seiji found out that there is a free shuttle bus from the nearest station, and you can get to that station from Tokyo in just about two hours.

That’s how Seiji ended up on the Izu Kuyko Line, heading towards Izu-Kogen Station after riding the Shinkansen from Tokyo’s Shinagawa Station to Atami. It’s also possible to make the trip without having to transfer by taking the Odoriko express train from Shinagawa straight to Izu-Kogen, but the total point-to-point time and price is about the same either way you go.

Stepping out of the train and onto the platform, Seiji was already feeling invigorated by the clean countryside air. Near the station’s Yamamo Exit he found the place to wait for the Akazawa Higaeri Onsenkan shuttle bus, with the posted timetable showing one to three buses per hour between 9:50 a.m. and 8:15 p.m.

From the station, the bus heads up a mountain road, and arrives at the hot spring about 15 minutes later.

It wasn’t just Seiji’s friend’s recommendation that had drawn us to this place, though. According to the rankings on Japanese travel site Jalan, the Akazawa Higaeri Onsenkan has the second-most beautiful view in all of Japan for a day-use hot spring.

So what kind of view does it offer? Well, while you have to take a mountain road to get to this place, the backside of the building offers…

……an absolutely stunning ocean view.

It’s especially awesome when you’re sitting submerged in the outdoor bath, since the tub has an infinity pool-type design, where the edge visually blends into the ocean.

The view from the indoor bath is no slouch either…

…nor is the one from the sauna…

…but it’s the outdoor baths that really earn this place it’s second-most-beautiful day-use hot spring in Japan honors.

The view is so incredible that Seiji describes it as something you don’t just see, but as something you feel. With the wind, sky, and sea all simultaneously seeming to calling out to him, he felt all of his accumulated big city stress melt away.

The Akazawa Higaeri Onsenkan charges an admission fee of 1,600 yen (US$11) ordinarily, or 2,000 yen during peak seasons, so it’s not the cheapest day-use hot spring around, but it’s definitely one of the most beautiful. For those looking to splurge a little more, they also have private family/couple baths with attached changing areas, which cost an additional 3,500 yen per hour on weekdays or 4,500 yen on weekends and holidays.

We’ve been talking about the day-use baths so far, but right across the street from the Akazawa Higaeri Onsenkan is the Akazawa Onsen Hotel, which has its own baths.

The hotel wastes no time giving you a glimpse of its views, with windows that look out over the bay from the lobby.

The restaurant’s dining area has a great view too…

…and, of course, so do the guestrooms.

Guests staying at the hotel also have access to the Akazawa Higaeri Onsenkan’s baths, but the hotel’s own are stunning too, if more modestly sized.

But even if an overnight stay isn’t in the cards, the day-use hot spring baths are an experience you’ll never forget.

Location information
Akazawa Higaeri Onsenkan / 赤沢日帰り温泉館
Address: Shizuoka-ken, Ito-sho, Akazawa 170-2
静岡県伊東市赤沢１７０−２
Website

Akazawa Onsen Hotel / 赤沢温泉ホテル
Address: Shizuoka-ken, Ito-shi, Akazawa Ukiyama 163-1
静岡県伊東市赤沢字浮山１６３−１
Website

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[ Read in Japanese ]