In hot water

This place is a bit of a secret. So secret in fact that since visiting back in October last year, I haven't been able to find even its website. I'm mentioning it now because my dear friend R is visiting next Spring and this is exactly the kind of place she would love.

There are gazillions of onsen (hot springs) throughout Japan which make the most of the country's volcanic activity. Onsen are baths, many of which are public areas but are often run as part of a traditional hotel or ryokan.

We've visited a few onsen since living here, but none have lived up to my first experience. I came to Japan for a long weekend and spent 2 nights at Senjyuan in the Gunma Prefecture, about 3 hours from Tokyo. Its set in a river valley, and designed by an award winning architect, although the website makes no mention of it. Rather unusually, each bedroom has its own outdoor onsen, where you can sit and watch monkeys and snow capped mountains and experience what it must have been like way back when. You are given a yukata to wander about in and eat a traditional ryokan meal in your own private dining room. The food was gobsmackingly amazing and afterwards, with all that hot water, I slept for 12 hours. It is expensive (they all are, but seriously worth it).