Seventy four years ago, in 1933, a female Korean pilot named Park Gyeong-won was soaring the skies in Japan when she tragically plummeted to her death. The movie "Blue Swallow" is based on her life and death in the hills of Izu Peninsula in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. Her body was buried in nearby Atami City. The city was once one of the three hot spring villages of Japan, along with Beppu in Oita Prefecture and Ito Shizuoka Prefecture, nestled on the coast of Sagami Bay. Atami has lost much of its former glory, and is now better known as the Tokaido Shinkansen transit station, passed through when traveling to and from Tokyo. But Ito city is still a luxurious hot spring resort, with travelers pouring forth in a steady stream.
The majority of customers are from Tokyo, who take the Shinkansen for 55 minutes to Atami. This place acts as the gate to the Izu Peninsula for tourists. And there is a reason why visitors choose to travel through this entryway. The biggest fishing port in the Izu Peninsula, Izu port, is home to the freshest seafood and boasts the largest water volume within the peninsula with 753 springs. You can experience both the wonders of Ito City with a trip to traditional Ryokan Izumi-So.
There are five ryokans by the name of Izumi-So in Japan, but there's only one place that means "Izu Peninsula's taste villa". The taste of Izu Peninsula is a mixture of tantalizingly fresh seafood and slightly saline thermal waters (less than 5 grams per liter of spring water) with a dash of salt. Ito City is only second to Beppu in its abundance of spring water. There are four in Izumi-So alone. There's even a sizable outdoor poor filled with spring water in the ryokan garden.
Ito Station welcomed us 22 minutes after transiting to JR Itosen from Atami Station, and 1.5 hours after setting off from Tokyo. At the station, the chief manager, Hayashida Genji, is waiting with a ryokan flag in his hands. Ryokan Izumi-So is five minutes away by car, near the river Masuka which divides Ito City. Entering the quiet seven-story building and ryokan residence, surrounded by a large garden, an enormous flower arrangement can be seen in the foyer.
The atmosphere is feminine, but there are no female chief managers (called Okami) in Izumi-So. The male chief manager, Hayashida, manages everything. And there are room maids, of course, called Nakai-san. The level of service here is slightly drier than traditional ryokans, and in today's Japan, such service is known as "Dry Service". This kind of service was created for those who feel overwhelmed by the genial service of Okamis and Nakai-sans, or feel an invasion of privacy when unmade beds are neat upon returning to their empty rooms.
Dinnertime is when you can taste succulent kaiseki dishes during your stay at a ryokan. This dish is made with great care from the finest and freshest ingredients of the local area. Ryokan was early in its development of epicurean culture, and your taste buds will be thrilled at such heavenly pampering. Anticipation rose at the mention of Izumi-So, since the word "taste" is in the name. Widely renowned in Japan, I salivated at the thought of the delectable seafood awaiting me at the dinner table.
We Koreans like to say, "Eat first", but let's forget this while in ryokan. No matter how busy you are, eating comes after a relaxing hot-spring bath. The reason for this is that the hot spring bath stimulates your appetite. The warm waters get your circulation flowing, which in turn raises the oxygen levels of your body and your metabolism. The warm tingling sensation passes through the skin and into the brain, creating a feeling of contentment through heightened serotonin and dopamine levels in the central nervous system (excerpt from Why Swimming and Hot Springs are Good for the Brain written by professor Toshiaki Tazawa). The saunas of Finland use the same principle.
There are two large baths in Izumi-So. They both have rotenburo (outdoor hot springs) in landscaped gardens with piled boulders, and the resulting mood is very luxurious. What catches the eye is the bathtub made with a Japanese cypress, called "Hinokiburo", which is said to be dried daily after the water is drained for hygienic purposes.
Finally, it's time for dinner. I was seated at the restaurant Zuyun overlooking the gardens. The ten-course kaiseki starts off with a sweet cranberry appetizer. Staying true to my expectations, sashimi placed atop a dwarfed pine tree garnish soon appears. Raw fish like horse mackerel, yellowtail belly, and flatfish fin looks so fresh it almost look alive. The horse mackerel is a local specialty.
After the raw fish comes a special dish called "gyokuro moshi". Made from one Kinmedai (Golden Eye Snapper, Alfonsino), which is captured and steamed on the spot, it is supposedly the best-tasting fish in these waters, and is steamed over green tea steam, which is made by pouring green tea over the hot plate.
The chief manager, Hayashida, explains that this is the taste of Izumi, the tradition of Izumi-So. He said, "The cuisine of Izumi-So is so well-known that a cook was scouted by Nobu Tokyo". Nobu is a world-class restaurant owned by cooking Guru Matsuhisa Nobu and actor Robert De Niro. It was introduced in Izumi-So's high-class magazine Kateigaho in the February and March issues under the theme, "Japan's famous ryokans and hotels", along with Gora Kadan Hotel (Ryokan of Hakone) and Park Hyatt Tokyo Hotel.
There are 34 guest rooms at the Izumi-So, none of which are the same. While the main seven-story building is modern, the two-story annex leans towards the traditional. The annex "takeizumi'" offers views of the pond and garden, and most of the rooms are luxurious with attached rotenburos. The top floor of the main building comprises four VIP suites that are popular all-year-round. The rooms look out over Hatsushima Island in Sagami Bay and in August you can enjoy spectacular hanabi (fireworks) from the balcony of the attached rotenburo.
If golf is what you desire in Izumi-So, Kawana Hotel comes highly recommended. The Fujisankei Ladies Classic was held at the Fuji course (for guests' private use, 18-hole par 72), which opened two years ago, and along with the Oshima course (18-hole par 70), is located on and around the cliffs. Jogasaki Coast is a beautiful section of coastline, famous in Izu Peninsula for its scenery, and is the perfect seaside cliff for a leisurely stroll or sight-seeing. It was formed when the lava from Mt.Omuro flowed and hardened. In downtown Ito there are ten co-owned hot springs. The Japanese also like to visit the world music box museum Izu Orgol Museum or the Ikeda Museum of 20th Century Art.
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