Osawa Onsen
I see naked men
Day 1 of the revised plan sees us visiting Osawa Onsen after watching this video months ago. This traditional ryokan with multiple onsens was always going to kick off our Japan trip with a right royal traditional japanese experience. It did not fail to impress. We slept on a mattress on a tatami floor, bathed naked like locals and ate like kings.
To help rate and compare our experiences across our new itinerary, we developed a rating system inspired by BBC's Good, Bad Billionaire. The rating system for cities goes like this: Don’t bother, has merit, worth visiting, must see.
Osawa Onsen
It did not look anything like the video. The Onsen in late autumn was cold, damp and dark. But that kind of atmosphere greatly enhanced our experience. Simply put, it blew our mind. We knew we were arriving in late autumn, potentially crossing over to winter, and can’t expect to see much autumnal colours. However, we were slightly hopeful. It looked like autumn arrived late in Northern Japan and even though we missed the height of autumn by a couple of weeks, the colours were still stunning. The ryokan was surrounded by beautiful gingko and maple trees. It was a beautiful setting for a wonderful experience.
The Kaiseki meal was a whole other experience that blew our mind. Dishes were progressively brought out and Reza, our Nepalese server carefully explained our meal to us. He was a friendly soul in place which did not speak much, if any English and for a Japanese meal steeped in formality and structure, his explanation was deeply appreciated.
As wonderful as our experience was, Osawa is off the regular tourist track. That is generally a major plus in our books, however, unless you have a car or have confident knowledge of the local bus network, you will not get to enjoy the delights of the area around Hanamaki. As such, it limits enjoyment you get. Fresh from our rental car, lack thereof, adventure, we rate Osawa Onsen in Hanamaki as a “has merits”. Visit if you can organise yourself well enough to travel well around Iwate prefecture and are comfortable bathing naked.