A classical ryokan(Japanese style hotel) in Izu

After a 4-hour train journey, I visited a classical ryokan (Japanese style hotel) with my friends. This ryokan, Ochiairou-Murakami is not appropriate for me, ordinary people. This was constructed by skillful carpenters who were ordered to by a millionaire. He asked them to make a ryokan as you like, no matter how much it costs. So the construction and art of this ryokan is extraordinary fine, of course the accommodation fee is so expensive. However, one of my friends knows the ryokan owner so we were able to stay there for a reduced cost. Therefore we could stay there in other world.



constructed in 1933 to 1937.




Entrance. Japanese younger people sometimes feel classical Japanese design is tired and old-fashioned, not beautiful. However, I feel this design as modern, simple and beautiful.




The room we stayed. This suite room contains other one small room and one classical western style room with a table and chairs. May I stay in such a luxurious suite?




Small lighting window made with wood and paper. This design is also modern, simple and beautiful. All of the rooms window designs are different.




Library room. One of my traveling dreams was to stay at a hotel which has a library room since I had read Haruki Murakami's short novel whose story was set in a library room of a hotel. My little dream has come true.


Hot spring bathes are also marvelous. There are outside natural bath and a private bath which you can reserve. Both bathes are popular Japanese style Roten-buro, which is located outside of the building (Of course there are shade screens surrounding the bathes, but sometimes in men's bath there aren't any so as to enjoy the good scenery).




Dinner was perfect for its taste, amount and looks. This is an hors d'oeuvre.




Serving eleven dishes, I was satisfied with all of those. The best one was this raw fish on the bamboo dish. I think the chef choose the best fish at the marketplace.

After dinner, we talked about our favorite music with iPod+spealers till 3:00 am.




Breakfast was also such a lot!! We had enough.




A ryokan staff opened our room window for receiving April's confort breeze. Pleasant breeze and neat Japanese garden made us calm and happy.

My friend and me participated in a tour of this ryokan building at 10:00.




Partition slide between rooms and corridors. As usual, those designs are all different.
A tour guide explained to us that carpenters of this building used precious materials. For instance, a wood board was made of a log which had been treated for becoming a perfectly flat board for thirty years.




I was impressed with this design because of the designer's playful spirit – normal designers would have never thought of such a design for a classic Japanese lighting window. It was based on a legend of a female spider in the area.




Going out of this ryokan, we went to Jyoren Falls by a rent-a-car. The falls fed us a cool and comfortable atmosphere.




For lunch, we had Japanese noodle soba with wild boars soup. I'm a big fan of soba so I visited many soba restaurants, this was one of the best dishes.

We separated at 15:00. The stay was full of delicious dishes, relaxing bath and delightful conversations.

Ochiairou-Murakami seems to be the best hotel that I have stayed at. I have traveled to fourteen nations in the world and received good accommodation at almost every location, for aspect of building's beauty, cleanness, design, dinner and bath. Of course rack rate is also No.1... Anyway, I would like to stay this in ryokan again, after I grow up more and become the man who is appropriate for this ryokan (be more gentleman).