Heading to Minami-kodakaraonsen by Nagaragawa Railway!

Enjoying hot spring while seeing the great view of mountains of Minami-cho at the center of Japan is great!

Let us start bathing in the hot spring! The station is named Kodakara because it is located near to Katsuhara Koyasu-jinja Shrine which is enshrined the god of easy delivery of baby and baby blessing. Koyasu-jinja Shrine became the center of population of Japan after the census in 1990. Assuming all weights of 126 million citizens are the same, this place is the center to make the balance to support the whole piece of land of Japan. This center is just like the navel of Japan. People from all over Japan come here to pray to be blessed with children. You can get a Omamori (Good luck charm) for baby blessing at the front desk of the hot spring. Towels are sold at 200JPY each. Or you can borrow a larger towel with 100JPY. Makeup set, shaver, toothbrush set are available too. You do not need to bring anything.

Kodara-onsen is an alkalescent simple hot spring. It is good for neuralgia, muscle ache, cold sensitivity and recovery from fatigue. Indoor bath has a sauna while the outdoor wooden bath and steam bath are surrounded by trees. Wooden bath and steam bath change for men or women every week. This week, bath for women is the wooden one with herb of spearmint. Surrounded by the smell of podocarp and mint and under the wonderful sky, bathing here makes me feel relaxing! The water is kept at around 40 degrees, which is not too hot or too tepid. You can soak inside for longer period than other hot spring. You can see the river stream of Nagaragawa River in the steam bath for men this week.

After a hot bath, I highly recommend you sit on a massage chair and have a delicious bottle of milk! This bottle of milk, Seki milk is under pasteurization in 65 degrees. The taste is not too strong, similar to freshly milked.

We are going to have short rib rice bowl and Meiho ham for lunch! Dishes are all made from local food.

After refreshing in hot spring, we feel hungry. So, we decide to have our lunch at Restaurant Koyasu. Other than Udon noodles, Soba noodles and rice bowl, beer and Japanese sake are also available. We order the most famous Koyasu short rib rice bowl (770JPY). Beef short ribs in Gochujang sauce are placed on local Koshihikari rice with namul of sprout, wild vegetables and carrots. You can mix all of them and make it become a Bibimbap, a kind of Korean rice bowl). An Onsen-tamago, which you can only find in hot spring, is in the center of the bowl. If you mix the egg with rice, the taste becomes mild. As they use fresh eggs from Cokecocco Village in Gujo Hachiman, the taste is better. I am so full now!

Other dish we ordered is the famous Meiho ham (430JPY). Japanese pork is used for this pressed ham. The meat is so tender and firm. Staff recommend us to try this ham without cooking. You can feel the saltiness and taste of the meat. First try it without seasoning, and then try it with mayonnaise or cabbage. All of them are good!

After having a big lunch, we go to take a rest at the resting place with tatami matted. There are cushions for you to sit or sleep. Some visitors bring their game of go and play for the whole day. Wind blows through the window is so comfortable and makes me feel sleepy.

However, the souvenirs in the shop attract my attention. Gujo miso and Meiho ham that we had for lunch and other souvenirs are available. Bath additives of Kodakaranoyu and others can be found here. Having a bottle of Gujo cider or Nagaragawa cider after the hot spring seems good too. Kodakaranoyu 100yen morning market is opening during Saturday, Sunday and public holidays. Fresh local vegetables are all 100JPY each!

As we still have some time before leaving, we go for a walk outside and find a train with print of “GJ8 Man”, an original character of Gujo Hachiman created by Sakura Momoko. It is one of the mapping train of Nagaragawa Railway. You can see the view of Nagaragawa River within the area of the hot spring. Hydrangea flowers are beautifully growing by the side of the platform. If you have time, you can go back and bath again!