The Oldest Inn IN THE WORLD is in YAMANASHI, Japan

The oldest inn in the world is right here in Japan. We're specifically in Yamanashi. So over the next two days, we're going to be exploring this lesser-known area. So let's go! This is Hayakawa-cho, nestled in the Minami Alps in Yamanashi Prefecture. It's a village that is 96% mountain. It's a very remote area and is actually the least populated town in Japan with a population of only 863 people. If you're down for an off-the-beaten-path adventure, here you'll find luscious scenery, hot springs, and amazing food and wildlife. For centuries, Akasawa has been known as a post town where pilgrims would stop on the way to Mount Shichimen. The amount of travelers passing through has decreased since the 1950s though as more roads have been built and public transportation has become more convenient. The houses here have the same appearance as they always did, giving it a historical feel. In the 1990s, this post town was even designated as a preservation district by the national government. This is mame-mochi. It has some kind of bean in it, I guess. It's really savory. I've never had any kind of mochi like this before, so it's really interesting. And I'm eating it on this kotatsu table that has a heater underneath. After the tea and mame-mochi, we headed over to Healthy Misato, a recreation center with hot springs that utilizes the wooden school building of what used to be a junior high school. They have 14 rooms that you could stay overnight in as well. We took a look around the accommodation before checking out the hot springs. We're about to go in the baths now. I think it goes without saying, but you're usually not allowed to film inside of public onsens because it's a place where people are bathing, so yeah, that's a no-no. Unless you have permission, of course, which I did, so that is why I'm going to film in there. So let me take you inside the bath and we can see how the water is. The women's bath is here and the men's bath is on the other side. They said that the baths look pretty much the same on both sides though, and it's a pretty small bath, so you can have six people in here. Okay, it was really nice water inside of that bath. The water is apparently very salty. They said that maybe the sea was here a long, long time ago, but that's just a legend. There's no proof of that, but maybe that could be one reason why the water is very salty here. But yeah, it was really nice. I enjoyed that bath. Also, at Healthy Misato, you're not allowed to have tattoos in the bath here. If you do have tattoos that you can cover up, you can use one of those patches or seal things. They don't sell them here, but you could bring your own. I got this teinugui, a lightweight cotton hand towel that has spaces for stamps from all the onsen in the area. It's kind of like an onsen scavenger hunt. Lunch was at Osukuni, a soba noodle shop. I ordered a lunch set. As I was waiting for the food to be cooked, I stepped outside to say hello to the dog, a kaiken, a breed that is native to this region in Yamanashi. The breed is also nicknamed Todainu, or tiger dog. There's a sign at the foot of the bridge that says, because it's dangerous, you should go just one by one. Now that I'm walking on it, I can kind of see why. It's very, very bouncy. It's windy, but the view is really beautiful. But the more I think about it, the scarier it gets, so I'm gonna go back. Okay. This tree is more than 1,200 years old. I don't know if you can tell how big it is, but it's huge. And finally, we arrived at Keiunkan, the oldest inn in the world. I've been eager to visit this inn for quite a while and was really excited for my stay. In typical ryokan fashion, you'll eat dinner and breakfast here, sleep on a futon, and can of course take a dip in the hot springs. They have both public and private baths that you can use freely during your stay. I was also pleased to learn that there's a free shuttle bus from Minobu station for guests who are spending the night. That's pretty convenient for those who don't come by car because the ryokan is about an hour's drive from the station. We will see more of the baths later, but let's do a little room tour, then head over to the dining room for a multi-course dinner. This is goma dofu, sesame tofu. It is amazing. This is one of my favorite things. You really can't go wrong with sesame. I think this is a samurai. But yeah, this is much more comfortable than sleeping in yukata, so I'm looking forward to it. I was able to use one of the private onsen in the morning too, around 7am. I'm not much of a morning person, but I will wake up for hot springs. It was really peaceful to bathe outdoors, surround my mountains, and hear the sounds of birds all around me. It was great at night as well in its own way, but of course in the morning you can actually see your surroundings. And by the way, if you're wondering, tattoos are okay here, even in the public bath. Remember how I said earlier that Hayakawa has some interesting wildlife? Upon leaving Keiunkan, we went to Minami Alps Wild Bird Park for a bit of bird watching. Our guide had already set up the scope and had spotted a crested kingfisher. Unfortunately, I don't have a camera lens that could capture the bird at such a distance, so I tried my best to film the view from the scope. There were some binoculars I borrowed as well. We saw a hawk too. I've always seen them from a distance, but up close, they're low-key kind of cute. It was really chilly that day, so after the bird park, we went to Narada Onsen Shiraneikan. This facility has some interesting lore. It's also known as the hot spring of the seven wonders. There's a story from over 1,300 years ago that says Emperor Koken, a female emperor, came to the temple and prayed to the gods, and the hot spring gushed forth and cured all illnesses. So usually at onsens, they say like the water is good for a specific type of ailment, whether it be like blood circulation, good skin, all that kind of stuff. I'm not sure what this one is for, I should look it up later, but they said the water is kind of like sticky or slimy, which sounds a bit weird, but it was really, really nice water. Immediately, my skin felt so soft and silky, so I would love to come back here. For lunch, we went to the nearby Narada Hot Spring Empress's Bath Restaurant. There's a bath there too, which we will see later, but for lunch, I had a bento. I wanted to have the windows open because the view is really nice, but it's really cold, so I'm sitting under a kotatsu again, one of those like little tables that have a heater inside, and there's also a heater in the corner over there, so it's nice. There is a menu, but I think it's more interesting to just take a bite of everything and see what I like. This must be pumpkin, I like it. Just a short walk away, you'll find the Hayakawa Town Folklore and History Museum. You can check out an old folk house, see farming tools, and get an idea of what life was like here back in the day. The final onsen of the trip was Narada Onsen Empress No Yu. Legend has it that Empress Kouken visited this bath in hopes of curing a specific ailment, and she fell in love with the place and stayed for several years. I can definitely see why, it's a really beautiful area and this bath was nice too. The very last place I stopped by was Minami Alps Plaza to grab some souvenirs before I headed back to Minobu Station to begin the journey home to Osaka. I hope you enjoyed the video and got some ideas and inspiration about a lesser known area of Japan to visit. Let me know if you would like to check out any of these places shown in today's video. Thanks for watching, bye!