Okuhida Hot Spring Hirayukan

At dinner, I was thinking about what would be a good time to enter the open air bath. Normally, on a weekend, when it’s the most crowded, I wait until after midnight. That’s of course if the open air bath is available for 24 hours, in which case it was for this hotel, so with that in mind I was able to take my time and enjoy the delicious spread that was in front of me. First, there was the Hide Beef sashimi in picture one, which had a very interesting texture to it; smooth, beefy and wonderfully fatty. In the second picture in the green bowl is the raw nose flesh of a salmon which is regarded as rare and full of collagen. As for taste, well, to each his/her own. It was a bit crunchy and tasty. The third picture we have a classic winter dish neatly garnished with seasonal delights like salmon, lotus root, and a young potatoe in the shape of a mushroom. The entire course menu which consisted of six dishes was delicious as was the jizake which is called "Tenriyo," and is a seasonal sake that came highly recommended. Awesome taste!

Soon after midnight fell upon us I slowly slid out of bed, grabbed my camera bag and sake and headed down to the bath. Walking down the hallway as quickly as possible trying to avoid being noticed and old man was leaving the changing room. We nodded our heads in a gesture of respect toward each other and then quickly he scurried off to his room. Now was my chance. I was alone in the dressing room, not a robe or a slipper in sight. I quickly got undressed, arranged my tri-pod and camera and dashed to the outdoor bath. I think the temperature that night was 7 below zero. I was dancing around naked trying to fidget around with the camera’s settings; slow shutter, timing, DOF, and so on. Finally, found the best setting and took the shop. By the time my whole body was shivering then I quickly jumped into the water to regain myself: