This Remote Onsen Town ♨️ Will Make You Want to Visit Japan | Ginzan Onsen

Foreign.

Hey everyone and welcome back to the channel. Today we're kicking things off right and early. Like 4am Early. That's the price you gotta pay for adventure, right? We've got nearly a three hour drive ahead of us to go from the Niseko village to the Nujitosi airport. And our destination is one of Japan's hidden gems, Ginsen Onsen. But before that, we need to make a quick pit stop at the Grand Seik Studio Shikuishi. It's four in the morning. Just got all packed up. Going to head to the airport right now to Nu Chitosi.

Taking a taxi, an expensive taxi.

Back to Nu Chitosi from Niseko about a two hour.

Then we're going to Harami Airport. I think I can't remember but in my pocket got a mask up. Thank you man. Thank you very much. Have a safe.

Thank you.

Now, you've probably never heard of of Hanamaki where we're flying into. Neither had I, to be honest. But it's the gateway to one of the coolest spots for any watch love. The grand seiko studio overlooking Mount Iware was open to celebrate the brand's 60th anniversary in 2020. Unfortunately, not many people have had the chance to go visit. Well, you know, the world decided to shut down right after it opened. But today we're making it happen.

Just got to the airport.

It's really cold.

Really cold. Flight wasn't too bad. I got to use my mittens. Okay, let's go check.

The journey started with a little excitement. Our flight had to be de iced before takeoff. Fun fact. Hokkaido, where we started gets almost 20ft of snow each winter. After landing in Hanamaki, it was another hour long drive to the studio. When originally making our itinerary, I didn't think we'd be able to go to the studio. But luckily I reached out and they were able to open up some tours that day for us and some other people. Now here's where it gets tricky. The Grand Seiko Studio is really strict about what you can film. So unfortunately I couldn't capture much on video. But they let you take as many pictures as you want. This place is something else. Every watchmaker inside is a master of their craft and they take their apprenticeship seriously. It's like a real life, high stakes mentorship program where masters teach their apprentices until they surpass them or risk losing their master status. It's intense. But that's what make Grand Seiko watches so special. After wrapping up our tour at the studio we jumped back into the car and headed to our next destination, Obana Sawa, better known as Hinton Onsen. Now, this drive took us four hours, and as we got closer, the weather started to get serious. Snow started coming down harder, the sun was setting, but we made it just as night fell. Pro tip. If you're driving here, make sure you have a solid plan because it's easy to get lost in the dark if.

You'Re gonna stay here. The Gintanto parking right there, and then they take you.

Once we arrived, we checked into Cosequilla, right in the heart of Ginseng. Onsen, we did get a little lost, and after talking with the staff, we found out we needed to park at the Cosequilla Yabe Kan parking lot and they would send a shuttle to pick us and our bags up. You can also schedule them to pick you up from the nearby train, if that's how you're getting there. This place is famous for its traditional hot spring, and we were ready to dive in. Figuratively, of course. When we got there, the hotel staff showed us the ropes where the men. Men and women's onsens were and how they switched halfway through the evening. And during the day. It's all part of the experience.

Today, 8:00 o' clock PM change.

It changes.

Ladies gentlemen, 8:00 clock PM change.

So women can use it until 8. And then after that is meant this.

This, Ladies gentlemen, this exchange. 8:00pm okay. And today, 12.

Midnight. Yeah.

Midnight is close, close, close. And tomorrow morning, 4:00am Open.

Your room.

Two to three. Second bus. Okay. And 40 is three.

Three. Okay.

Please, gentlemen, ladies, check room keys.

Okay.

Smoke. Safety box.

Safety box. Gotcha. Thank you.

How close?

This bottom.

Oh, gotcha.

Box.

This close.

Perfect.

Beautiful.

I love it.

Okay.

So sorry. Okay. They're okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. This cost.

This number. This Three.

Okay.

Japanese yukata's. Lady Scar Yellow. Jamaica blue. This size. Choice.

Oh, size for what? Your bathroom.

Oh.

Probably biggest.

Big size.

Yeah.

Two people.

I'll do double large.

You want large?

Large. Okay. Yeah. Sorry.

But tofu. Japanese tofu, man. No, that's okay.

Mushroom.

Mushroom, Louis. Okay, sure. Mushroom and vegetable rice.

Gohan rice.

Okay.

Yeah.

Rice and miso soup.

Rice. Miso soup and vegetables.

Perfect.

Pickles. Okay. Pickles.

Pickles and Japanese tsukemono.

Sure.

Yeah, I'll try it. I don't know.

Sorry.

Japanese name.

I'll try.

I'll try.

Sorry.

That's okay. Eat a.

But.

Thank you.

Thank you. Okay. Hi. Sorry.

That's okay.

Thank you. Thank you. And then food at six. Six.

Okay.

Six. Six, six.

Okay. Okay. Oh, we go now.

No.

Okay.

Three Japanese inside, then five types, three goods. No, nothing.

Okay.

Mix vegetable, mushroom and paprika, broccoli and card sauce.

Just. Hi.

No, sorry.

Japanese.

Oi. Sorry, nothing. A fish and shell. Sorry.

It's okay.

Sorry.

Drinks. Free drinks.

You like how? It's really okay.

Thank you.

Sorry.

First dish, finish and we change next dish.

Okay, thank you. Sorry, I.

Thank you.

Thank you so much.

Sorry.

Two, three minutes. Wait for it.

Okay.

One more dish.

Update from hotel. We've lost power in the middle of our meal.

I was just trying to find out what kind of team was there.

Update. The server just came by.

He asked if we were hurt.

I think we're okay. Other than the lights being out, nothing has attacked us. She bathed her, and I packed my head next. But now that the lights in the hotel have been turned off.

Who's laughing now?

I am.

Back to eating our delicious food.

Hooray. Hooray. Oh, we got fire too. Kampai. Hooray. Hooray. Everyone saved.

We don't have to resort to cannibalism.

Well, I was just gonna leave.

Oh, no, no cannibalism here. Thank you so much.

Sorry.

Yeah, all the calls finish at this end of.

Yeah, perfect.

Thank you.

Long time wait.

Sorry.

No, no, it's all good.

Thank you.

Thank you.

We appreciate you.

Oh, thank you.

Same table?

Yeah. Okay.

Thank you.

Thank you. Communication was a bit challenging. Thankfully, Google Translate came to the rescue. Dinner was fantastic. Traditional Japanese cuisine, perfectly prepared. But halfway through, things took an unexpected turn. The power went out. The entire building went dark. But you know what? Your boy came prepared, Headlamp in hand. We continued eating dinner like pros. The power came back on soon enough, and we finished up before heading back to our rooms.

We're staying in room 203. Do we have the big one? Guess we have the biggest one. The bathrooms are over here. Not included in your room. I'm a shy pooper, so we'll see how that goes. Ah, the light. This is our room. This leads to the outside, which is pretty cold, but you can see everyone walking around, which is kind of cool. All the shops are starting to close because I think the last bus might have left already or is leaving. So it gets a little less crowded. So it gets a little chilly. And they just turned down our bed. This is our bed for tonight. They came in and made our beds for us. They're very nice. And that counter over there, trying to figure out how to turn on the heat because it's very cold. These paper thin walls don't do much good for insulating. Right outside of this one as well, there are two chairs. But as well it's a cherry. The outside. Oh, I guess I should close the door. There's people over there having tea. I should close the door. Yep. And this is our roof.

After dinner, we made our own beds. Took a quick sauna. That water's no joke. It was so hot. And then strolled through the quiet street. By then, most of the town had gone to sleep, so we had the place practically to ourselves. Everything closes pretty early since the shuttle stopped in the evening. But that just means fewer people and more peaceful moments. Breaking news.

You might want to bring your own pillow because I didn't get the memo, but these pillows are beanbags. Literally.

Like, that's a rice bag.

Yeah, they got. I don't know what's in them, but you can hear it.

It's just beans.

So it's not. They got some weird pillows here. So I don't. I don't know.

True Japanese experience.

We might be rocking these as. As pillows for the night. Yeah. So glad we're only staying here for a night. So I don't know how long I can do a bean pillow for.

Oh, they got.

They might have regular pillows. Oh, I don't know. Yeah, there's everything but pillows here. Everything but pillows. All right. Yeah. Slumber party apparently. So this is the bathroom. That's the girls. The easy set. And then there's a voice urinal. Super small. You don't get your own. And a washroom. This is the onsen. That's where you take a shower and then you get it. Side. It's pretty small. There's not much going on inside of it. Inside of here. Gotta take a picture of it. It changes from girls to boys halfway through the day. But that's essentially it. Not much to it.

You go down the stairs.

And you put your shoes in those little cubbies and then you go in. Welcome to Chandler's show. Harmonica. This is the Chandler show where she plays her harmonica while we look at the many, many sights of the Ginza onsen. Japan.

It's quite cold, but quite pretty.

It's quite cold, but the water is quite hot.

It's too hot for channel.

It's burning hot. It's almost too hot for Louise.

No, it's too hot.

Yeah. Breaking news.

You're on. You're on a picture.

Everybody. You're everybody. Say cheese. Cheese. This is Ginza onsen where you can stay for many nights or just one night because there are no toilets in your room.

Yeah. You might only want to stay for one night.

And your showers are in the onsen as well. So that's the only way you can shower. But all in all.

But if you want traditional like old school Japanese style, this is it.

That's it. We're staying at one of those. Not the wooden one, but the wooden one next to that one. That one over there. You're going to slip and fall. This is not the place to slip and fall. You can slip and fall at home. Not in Japan.

Dr. Matt. And then I'll all bigger.

Yeah, he's Dr. Matt.

You hear me?

He's not here.

Help a girl out.

Yep. But this is the spot.

I wonder how late these little shops are.

They are all closed. I think they probably like nine or eight. But this is the spot into Ansen. Tada.

We were told by other people who come to Japan a lot that this is the place to go if you want like traditional old school. Slow pace of life.

Yep. This looks like it. It's pretty slow pace.

The water is so hot that it's not freezing with the snow all around it.

Yeah. Breaking news.

Breaking news. A lot of blisters on my feet from how hot the water is.

The water's hot. So yeah, we're probably just gonna walk around a little bit, take some pictures and then go to bed. And it's still snowing out. I don't know if you can see it. I don't think we'll see monkeys. Nope. You should definitely not jump in. But yeah, we're just gonna walk around. Bye.

The next morning we woke up early to explore before the shuttle buses started bringing in the day visitors. One of the main reasons I booked our stay at Kozakiya was because of their connection with their sister onsen at the top of the hill, Ginsenso. This place is modern and you can even get a private onsen in your room. But the real highlight is the outdoor onsen. Half inside, half outside with the snow falling around you while you sew. It's unbeata. Unfortunately, part of the outdoor section was under maintenance so we didn't get to experience the full effect. But the views from the onsen were still stunning.

So when you come in, this is.

Where you put your shoes and then they give you.

Oh yeah, the name with your room. And then they give you slippers. I got big slippers. I got big feet. Maybe it'll close by itself. This is the place that we're staying at. I gotta take off my jacket. This is the one that we're staying in. We gotta go that way. This is Ginger Onsen sleeping. Wasn't too bad. No, I.

That's probably the best sleep I had.

Yeah. It was honestly pretty cozy sleeping on the floor. Really cozy on the bean on bean pillows because the beans form to your neck and head.

I did not sleep on beans. I slept on that.

Yeah, good. All in all, it's pretty good. Can't complain. Oh, no. I lost child. Go follow the water child. Ohio. Ohio. Whoa. There's a lot of lost children around here. There's another one. Then we go this way up the hill towards the lost children. Towards the lost children up the hill. There goes the school bus with the school children in it. And this is the one that we're gonna go into. And we're gonna go into this onset. The guy said just to show them our room key from our hotel to go to the sister hotel so they'll let us into the onset. I'm not sure if I'll be able to show you because there might be naked people in there, and I don't think they want to be reported. And this is it right here at the top of the hill. We were on the fourth floor where you come in on the fourth floor, but the onsen's on the first floor. So you have to take the elevator to go down. This is the man. The woman's over there, but I don't think I can. I definitely still. I can't go in.

I'll take.

If I can take a video of it. If there's not anyone in there, There's a toilet and then little lockers that you can put your stuff in. This is the onsen. That's where you shower. And this is the inside.

And there's an outside, but I think.

There'S people on the outside ones. So this is all you get to see. Might be my favorite onsen that we visited yet. It was pretty cool.

This resort's pretty cool.

But if you can't get into this one, get into the sister property. Then you can just walk over here. But now we're gonna go to breakfast. Look at the views. There's a river down here.

In Sanso is surrounded by forest with a river running by adding to the serene atmosphere. Getting reserv reservation at either of these hotels is tough, so we were lucky to even get a night. After our relaxing soap, we headed back to Costa Kia for breakfast and spent a little time on the balcony watching the workers shovel snow off the roofs and into the river. It was a peaceful end to an unforgettable experience. I think I got octopus and salmon and unknown things.

Oh, you got octopus too. You can eat the egg and that looks okay. This is our room right outside. They're dumping all the snow into the river. That guy's too. They're dumping out all the snow on top of the roofs in the water. Pretty cool looking. They're pretty fast at it too. Oh, look at that one. That one stayed. Oh, I think that big one's gonna fall next. Oh, breaking it apart. Come on, big piece. Come on, big p. Yeah, window lady. Everybody's looking at the people shoveling the snow off. So.

Whoa.

Off the roof. Everybody's so amazed.

All in all, Ginton Onsen is a magical place. And if you're thinking about visiting, I highly recommend it. Just make sure to book early as spots fill up gas.

When you leave, they carry your bags to the information station and then from.

There a bus comes and picks you.

Up, loads you up and takes you back to your parking. So check out with that 10. So they got brawler bags here. Now we're waiting for a little bus to come fix up. It looks like people are waiting at the information station for a lot of different things. You get back on the bus and then it takes you bye back to your car. Easy to say than done.

Well, that's it for now. Thanks for joining me on this journey. If you've ever been to Ginton Onsen or have any other hidden gems you'd recommend, drop them in the comments. Don't forget to like subscribe and hit the notification bell so you don't miss our future adventures. This is only half of our Japanese honeymoon. Until next time, keep exploring.

So this is our car. Apparently in Japan, Mazdas are made with diesel engines. That's our view of the mountain. I wonder why.