Heading for the Noh stage by boat. It’s quite an entrance and an even more unforgettable performance. Noh is staged here a number of times a year, and once announced Asaba books out quickly. If you manage to get a reservation on a performance night, you’ll be able to watch the show looking down on the stage from the comfort of your own room—better than any royal box.

      For relaxation, there are rocky outdoor hot-spring baths infused with the sweet scent of yuzu citrus, or a contemporary white-walled lounge serving cocktails and other drinks. There’s also an on-site European-inspired spa with a variety of body and facial treatments. And then there’s the food. Served in-room, the dinner at the Asaba is a supreme example of multi-course kaiseki cuisine incorporating seasonal produce and local specialties, weaving together platters of sashimi and in-season appetizers, with perhaps some river crab or conger eel stuffed with sticky rice, and maybe a hearty hot pot featuring local boar.

      From the Asaba, it’s an easy walk to take in the main sights of Shuzenji, crossing the distinctive red Kaede Bridge for a stroll through a small bamboo grove before following the river that cuts through the town to the Tokku-no-Yu footbath on the rocky riverbank—the hot spring that Kobo Daishi is said to have discovered and pronounced as holy on his first visit to the area—and on to the nearby Shuzenji Temple. By the standards of many of Japan’s leading temples and shrines, Shuzenji is quite modest (there’s none of the gilding of Kinkakuji Temple in Kyoto nor the intricate carvings of Toshogu Shrine in Nikko), but like the town—and like the Asaba—there’s a calming peace and quiet in the grounds.

      The bathing options include indoor and outdoor communal baths. Both have yuzu citrus floating in them, which gives an intense, yet calming aroma while soaking in the piping hot waters.

      As is the case with the communal areas, the guest room’s use of light woods and tatami gives them a refreshing brightness. The Asaba is a very historic property but certainly doesn’t feel like a museum.

      Like the dinner, breakfast is a classic Japanese affair, featuring in-season grilled fish, rice, miso soup, egg, and a variety of small vegetable dishes and pickles. As with most ryokan, both meals come as part of the accommodation package and are served in the guest room.

      Asaba あさば

      Address: 3450-1 Shuzenji, izu, Shizuoka 410-2416

      Telephone: 0558-72-7000

      Website: www.asaba-ryokan.com/en

      Email: [email protected]

      number of rooms: 17

      Room rate: ¥¥¥¥

      Served in-room on a mix of regal lacquerware and fine ceramics, the multi-course kaiseki draws on local produce, which might include river fish or even wild boar depending on the time of year. This being Shizuoka, there will also be excellent seafood on the menu.

      Asaba as night falls. The pond adds to both the beauty and the tranquility of the ryokan, and by day it isn’t uncommon to be able to watch kingfishers flitting around it.

      KAI ATAMI ATAMI ONSEN, ATAMI

      With a pair of aromatic outdoor baths overlooking the ocean and a hillside building that oozes old charm, KAI Atami shines in an area with a rich tradition of ryokan hospitality.

      The resort town of Atami, looking out over Sagami Bay on the picturesque Izu-Hanto Peninsula, has long been a holiday destination synonymous with hot-spring bathing and traditional accommodation. For generations, Tokyoites in particular have been making the sixty-two–mile (hundred-kilometer) jaunt west, leaving the rigors of the city behind to relax in the mineral-rich hot-spring waters that feed Atami’s numerous ryokan and unwind in timeless retreats like the KAI Atami ryokan.

      Now part of Hoshino Resorts’ KAI range, in many respects the 160-year-old KAI Atami is the quintessential ryokan. After leaving your shoes at the entranceway and then slipping into your cotton yukata gown, you become part of a hushed world where the pace of life slows to allow contemplation and calm; and where the senses can hone in on the finest of details—the mellow aroma of green tea, the sweet scent of tatami, the sound of waves in the distance.

      Cobblestones and bamboo lead to the entrance, the gentle lights at the end of the path draw you in.

      The building, though home to just sixteen guest rooms, is an intriguing maze of hallways and stairways spread out on a hillside overlooking the bay, close enough to the ocean to hear waves lapping as you fall asleep at night, yet high enough up the hill to take in broad ocean views from the guest rooms and from the large open-air communal cedar baths. Likewise, the open-air lounge halfway up the hillside, where guests can unwind with complimentary drinks, provides not just stellar views, but also offers contemporary relief from the aged woods of the main building and the tatami-mat guest rooms, blending modern touches with traditional ryokan surrounds—a common design theme found in the thirteen KAI properties across Japan.

      Whether KAI or Hoshinoya, dinner at any Hoshino Resort property is a special experience. The kaiseki here draws a lot on the area’s highly regarded seafood and is put together with traditional aplomb.

      Another of the key concepts of the KAI brand is the incorporation of local traditions and flavors, and in Atami’s case that most notably means tapping into local seafood. The multi-course kaiseki dinner, served in-room, eaten cross-legged at a low table on tatami, varies by season but is always heavy on freshly caught fish and shellfish, with signature dishes like whole red snapper and clams steamed in eight spices that the chefs prepare alongside more traditional kaiseki flavors. It also means giving guests the opportunity to experience Atami’s renowned geisha traditions at a nightly after-dinner show where geisha perform traditional dances and songs, before playing imperial court games with guests, such as the surprisingly addictive fan-throwing. It might sound touristy, but bear in mind that geisha go through years of training to perfect their arts, their movements, and each and every manner; and despite geisha playing a prominent role in guidebook and travel brochure imagery, to actually spend time being entertained by one is an experience usually out of reach of travelers to Japan (and most Japanese). Like staying in a historic ryokan, it’s an opportunity to absorb and interact with tradition, not just observe it from afar.

      It isn’t just Kyoto that has a long geisha heritage. Tokyo, of course, does too. And so does Atami. Celebrating that, a local geisha performs nightly after dinner at KAI Atami, giving guests the opportunity to enjoy traditional music and dance, but also take part in fun games like fan-tossing.

      Chrysanthemums,

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