Akita City

Arriving at Akita Station around 7pm I disembarked the Shirakami and headed up the stairs to the ticket wicket. I was able to locate my hotel from the my iphone's GPS with no problem at all. From station to hotel is a nice five minute walk and since I travel light, the walk was well taken. I love Akita. Just walking through the area is historical in itself. The women are beautiful, but not the most beautiful. I still love the Hulking Bovine types.

Photo below was taken from the open air bath from the Dormy Inn.

Once my turn came up to check-in, the process was quick and painless. I went to my room got changed and got into the 100% real hot spring on the top floor. I

The photo above was taken the next morning right after breakfast. Not all Dormy Inns have real onsen, but the ones that do, namely Niigata and Akita, are simply the best. There are others but am not sure.

This is a sodium-chloride based high mineral rich natural hot spring. No chemicals added. The water was hot enough to make my face wince with pain and pleasure; water would have to be in the over 40Cs range to make that happen.. I felt as if the water went straight to my bones! As I slowly sat in the water I let out a huge sigh of relief as I adjusted my position. There's also a bunch of green onions in the water called "negi" in Japanese. What therapeutic value? Not sure. Once I finished up with everything I headed over to the Garaku.

All-in-all, this Dormy gets the highest marks for me. Mainly because of the cleanliness and quality of water. The breakfast was very nice, too! Kiritanpo for breakfast is not bad.