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The Future of Japanese Tradition

RYOKAN RYOKAN

For the departure of Ōtomo no Yakamochi when he set out for a distant post, his aunt, the poet Sakanoue no Iratsume, recited “Praying for your safety on your Grass Pillows (journey), I place a vase of sacred sake beside my bed.” Travel had a long history of hardships, such as sleeping with pillows of grass, and could have tragically ended with the traveller perishing. To improve travelling conditions for the increasing numbers of visitors to shrines and temples in the late Heian period, lodging facilities gradually started to be built around religious institutions. Later, when the system of posting stations was built for military, economical purposes across Japan, inns were born alongside the main travel roads, and eventually, in the early modern period, lodging towns were formed. But it was in the 17th century when travelers were freed from the burden of carrying their own food when the inns provided them with both lodging and meals. However, it is still remarkable that we can learn from the record of the Imagire boat crossing of Lake Hamanako how busy the traffic on the Tōkaidō Road used to be. We can assume between 1,000,000 and 1,500,000 travelers (excluding the official Alternate Attendance processions and those who took detours) passed this point. Considering the entire population of Japan was only between 20,000,000 and 30,000,000, this is an incredible record considering that traffic was limited by barrier gates. The Japanese traveled frequently all over the country with surprising enthusiasm.

As the number of travelers and accommodation facilities both increased, the inns competed in quality and ideas in order to obtain more customers. As a result, their services became more sophisticated. As of the end of March 2014, 43,363 commercial accommodation facilities are in business in Japan. Among the 27,441 companies which have more than one hundred years of history in Japan, the number of companies which operate hotels and inns is in a solid second position after sake brewers. (Source: Tokyo Shoko Research, Ltd.)

Ryokan is a setup which fulfills all aspects of our life – food, clothing and shelter. But, rather than being domestic, a ryokan’s facilities have a highly polished standard to awaken customers’ senses through the majestic outline of extraordinary, and yet it relaxes the visitors’ feelings. Physical assets from even the smallest amenities to the entire architecture are enhanced by the even more essential human care. People supervise all the services, dealing directly with customers. The technique and spirit of hospitality in people elevate the space of the ryokan to the ideal state of our life in which everything is so well and thoroughly managed.

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Forms of Hospitality | 
Kazufumi Nagai

You can fully enjoy comfort beyond description when you stay at a good ryokan, a Japanese inn. This is because the vital spirit of hospitality is embedded in every single detail at a ryokan. Three ryokans—Gajōen (Myōken Hot-Spring, Kagoshima Prefecture), Beniya Mukayu (Yamashiro Hot-Spring, Ishikawa Prefecture), and Tsuru no Yu (Nyūtō Hot-Spring, Akita Prefecture)—are introduced with the realistic feeling that you are actually experiencing their hospitality in real time.

Myoken Hot Spring, Wasure no Sato Gajoen

Myoken Hot Spring is located a 15-minute drive from Kagoshima Airport, on the foot of the Kirishima Mountain Range, which is famous for the legend of Tensonkorin (the descent of the grandson of the sun goddess to earth). The Amori River runs through a vast volcanic ash plateau and carved the valleys to cradle bathing resorts like Myoken. Historical celebrities such as Ryoma Sakamoto and Takamori Saigo visited here to enjoy the outstandingly famous quality and yield of Myoken spring water. In this location Wasure no Sato (Village of Forgetting), Gajoen is equipped with thatched roofs and hearth and actively preserves a quiet traditional lifestyle. What we have here are Guest rooms under the thatched roofs of relocated farmers’ houses, The cock crowing in the morning, Just-picked fresh vegetables and eggs, Rice cooked on a firewood stove and miso soup with tons of ingredients Somehow everything has a smell of nostalgia here. Men and women, young and old, all work together in nourishing nature and being sustained by it one year after another.
Here, a welcome decor and hospitality to visitors reflects the four seasons and a faithfulness to seasonal ingredients. If there is a spiritually traditional Japan, we can be proud of it to the world, such serene landscapes can be seen here. Gajoen might be a homeland people would wish to return to.

4230, Makizonocho Shukukubota, Kirishima-shi, Kagoshima
gajoen.jp

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Yamashiro Hot Spring, Beniya Mukayu

Beniya Mukayu is an inn located in the mountains of Yakushiyama, embracing a wild garden filled with red pine, cherry, maple, and camellia.
This in was designed by Sey Takeyama and is almost like a cottage with only 17 rooms. Nevertheless, each of these rooms has an open-air bath connected to the indoor space which is quite literally mukayu, meaning “empty” but with the landscape streaming into the rooms.
The “Spa Entei Sejutsu-in” provides healthy treatments using hot spring water and oriental medical herbs. Every morning a yoga class is held in front of the sacred red pine tree.
The inn’s name “Mukayu”, which means “non-existence” or “in the natural state”, is a word that Zhuangzi was particularly of.
To borrow words from Takeyama, who designed this inn, here is “the time that rests as empty space”.

Yamashiro Onsen 55-1-3, Kaga, Ishikawa
mukayu.com

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Nyuto hot spring Tsuru no Yu

Nyuto hot spring is located in the highlands on the way from Lake Tazawa to the foot of Mount Akita Komagatake. The name Nyuto comes from Mount Nyuto, a mountain shaped like a woman’s breasts. Fabulous milky-white water is gushing out in Nyuto. “Tsuru no Yu”is the oldest inn in Nyuto hot spring with 15 generations of history for almost 400 years. An antique thatched-roofed farmhouse welcomes contemporary visitors just as the Lord of Akita Clan was when he visited here in 1638. On the hearth the pot is heated, and Japanese yam in rich Akita flavor are served. Milky-white hot spring bathing takes place out of doors with minimalist buildings, such as a natural-wood gazebo, humble wooden changing facility, and modest fences. In winter, the entire inn is buried under heavy snow. White, turbid, hot water has a delicate translucency which proves to be effective in curing the body. Mysterious and enigmatic. Power and wisdom always belong to Nature, and we humans receive a small portion which is just enough for our survival: You cannot help believing this is true here. Therefore, this is the place for Japanese people to feel their ancestral, spiritual landscape.

50 Kokuyurin Sendatsuizawa Tazawa Aza Senboku-shi Akita
www.tsurunoyu.com

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