This may just be the ideal Japanese hotspring stay for adventurous travelers, in terms of international bragging rights, quality of its mineral-laden water, and its inexplicable anonymity even among the Japanese themselves.
Despite its distinction as the only Japanese hotspring town enlisted as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Yunotsu is so off-the-beaten-track that most Tokyoites won't be able to point to it on a national map. To be fair Japan is blessed with numerous World Heritage Sites -- not to mention hundreds of hotspring towns with inferior water -- that enjoy far greater popularity with domestic tourists. So why haven't people heard of Yunotsu?
For starters we're on the isolated San'in Coast, hours away from the Shinkansen route and 8 hours from Tokyo even on the fastest trains. While Yunotsu remains severely underrated today, it was virtually unknown before the tiny hamlet was elevated to World Heritage status as an extension of the historic mines that produced a third of the world's silver back in the 17th Century.
Yunotsu was the ideal homebase for our visit to the silver mines of Iwami Ginzan, offering the convenience of a train station for our late arrival from Izumo and eventual departure to Tsuwano, not to mention the irresistible allure of a 1300-year-old hotspring on the rugged Japanese coastline. And once we stumbled upon the opportunity to rent our own traditional Machiya house in the hotspring town, it absolutely became one of the highlights of our 16-day trip.
Renting a Machiya, the classic wooden Japanese house centred around a living space of Tatami flooring, is one of those quintessential experiences that always make the best memories on our Japan trips. In Kyoto we rented an ageless Machiya near Nijo Castle, and in Kurashiki we rented a contemporary one overlooking the old feudal town, both times at prices comparable to (and even cheaper than some) bland Westernized hotels. This elegant 2-storey rowhouse, one of several available for rent at this charming hotspring town (see our complete list at the end of this post), would become our homebase for the next two nights.
Compared with our cozy rental Machiya at Kurashiki, our house in Yunotsu was much more spacious with one 6-Tatami living/sleeping space, a kitchen/dining area of similar size, laundry, bath and toilet on the main floor, plus another 6-Tatami bedroom upstairs to sleep up to six people in total. At the time of writing nightly rates start from 5400 yen (CAD$64) per person for double occupancy, similar to your standard midrange business hotel in major cities.
This rental Machiya was operated by Kiunsoh, Yunotsu's premier Ryokan where the cheapest half-board stay (including an extravagant dinner and breakfast as usual) started from 12600 yen (CAD$148) per person. Our entire house for 5400 yen per person was quite a bargain in comparison, and we did make use of this highly functional kitchen with an induction stove top and hood fan, gas broiler, full-sized fridge, toaster over and of course the Japanese essential of rice cooker.
One remarkable difference between Japanese and Western house layouts is that the bathroom, toilet and washbasin may be in separate rooms of the house. Our Machiya was fitted with a new Western-style toilet with a small washbasin on top of the water tank, a cool Japanese invention for water conservation where the incoming water is used for hand washing before it goes to flushing. The main washbasin for personal grooming may then be placed elsewhere -- outside of the toilet room and the bathroom in this case.
The best thing about renting a Machiya from Kiunsoh was the entitlement to enjoy the Ryokan's classy hotspring pool, in fact the only open-air hotspring pool in town, along with all the other guests paying 12600 to 18900 yen per night! And if you're too shy to strip naked in front of strangers (of the same sex of course), Kiunsoh had another small hotspring pool available for private use by couples or family members. This made the pictured bathtub inside our Machiya somewhat redundant, though we're really impressed by its state-of-the-art computerized control for water temperature. This was definitely our poshest Machiya stay so far.
It gets even better with the Japanese combo of integrated washer/dryer, always an oasis for independent travelers like ourselves on extended trips across a country where coin laundry shops are few and very expensive (try 1300 yen for wash and dry). Needless to say modern essentials such as air-conditioning, local TV channels and WiFi were also provided.
Aside from the pictured hotspring bath at Kiunsoh, the town of Yunotsu boasts two public bathhouses including the 1300-year-old spring of Motoyu. One morning I walked to the bathhouse carrying nothing but a Tenugui towel and the entrance fee of 370 yen, stripped off my Yukata into the wooden locker and entered a blindingly steamy room where the opaque springwater gushed out at a scalding 49.7 degrees Celsius. To be honest I had to stand up from the pool and cool down every two minutes, but it was my most satisfying soak in years.
After the morning soak it was time for breakfast at the Ryokan, a definite bargain for 1080 yen (CAD$12.7) considering the lavishness of the traditional 8-course meal. How lavish are we talking about? Well ...
How about some locally harvested Squid Sashimi with Ikura, or pickled salmon roes, so fresh and sweet that it came with no hint of fishiness whatsoever. And remember, we're not even at lunch yet.
This had to be the most perfect Onsen Tamago, or Japanese hotspring egg, I've had since our stay at Ryokan Aiso in Uji years ago. You simply can't get a more perfect yolk -- semi-solid and yet still melt-in-your-mouth -- with a velvety egg white that remained more liquid than the yolk. This was of course the Japanese magic of poaching eggs at very low temperatures, which is more difficult than it sounds according to my own experimentation at home. With deep Umami flavors from a top quality Dashi broth, I'd be willing to spend half of the price of our breakfast for this one egg.
The hot entree of the morning was a Nabemono of Tofu and Shimeji mushrooms in a savory Kombu broth, and on the next morning it was the Japanese adaptation of bacon and eggs, amusingly sizzling on a traditional Donabe clay dish. Steamed rice was all-you-can-eat, accompanied by the local specialty of Miso Soup with Shijimi clams, omnipresent wherever we traveled in Shimane Prefecture.
Of course it wouldn't be a complete Japanese breakfast without a grilled fish, an Aji (horse mackerel) on this morning and a small sole the next day. But the distinction of the best dish really belonged to its sidekick in the tiny pink bowl, highly recommended by Kiunsoh as a house specialty.
The little dish of Uni Shiitake, soy-stewed Japanese mushrooms in a spiced concoction of sea urchin roes, was seriously the best Chinmi (Japanese pickled delicacy) ever, imbued with essences of Mirin, chili peppers and that unmistakeable richness of quality Uni. Savoring each tiny sliver of Shiitake and downing it with steamed rice was my favorite part of breakfast at Kiunsoh.
Like any good money-making Ryokan, Kiunsoh makes its house specialty available for purchase from its little souvenir shop ... and nowhere else in the world! A neighboring Obaasan was apparently so impressed that she snatched up five packages of Uni Shiitake at 1080 yen each. I ended up buying some toothpick holders, a coaster made of the locally famed volcanic rock from Fukumitsu along with one package of Uni Shiitake, which I'm still enjoying at home whenever I wish to relive our two wonderful days in Yunotsu.
As for our own kitchen, it became our lifesaver one night when the only restaurant in town (Cafe Roan) was fully packed with visitor arriving for the weekend Kagura Dance performance. We filled up on three different flavors of instant Ramen and a variety of Age-Kamaboko fish cakes, bought for about 1000 yen at one of the town's two supermarkets.
Having spent most of our time in picturesque Omori and at our favorite eatery in nearby Nima, we hardly left any time to tour Yunotsu itself, a nationally protected town for Important Traditional Architecture. Even with 6 nights in Shimane Prefecture we felt like we're only scratching the surface of this exotic and ancient region of Japan.
PRACTICAL INFO
The hotspring town of Yunotsu is located on JR's Sanin Mainline, 1.5 hour west of Matsue, 4 hours from the nearest Shinkansen stops of Okayama or 5.5 hours from Osaka.
For fellow travelers wishing to rent a traditional Machiya house, here is a list of available houses as of 2017.
Kiunsoh
As mentioned above, Kiunsoh is a respectable Ryokan inn that also happens to rent out vacant Machiya houses in town. They have a total of 4 townhouses, starting from 5400 yen per person per night based on double occupancy, as of 2017.
Meguruya
One of Yunotsu's trendy cafe/zakka shops, Meguruya rents out the second floor of its shop for families or group of close friends to crash for a night, for 4000 yen per person. Bathing at the public bathhouse would be a must since the house comes with no shower/bathtub.
Yakushi-yu
The venerable Yakushi-yu, the larger of Yunotsu's two public bathhouses, has an entire house for rent for 8500 yen per person per night. We're talking a sizeable 20-Tatami house, including free bathing at Yakushi-yu of course.
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