Asahikawa to Higashikawa-cho

Our next destination was the town of Higashikawa which is located in central Hokkaido and is a part of Japan's largest national park – Daisetsuzan National Park. The tallest mountain in Hokkaido, Mount Asahi (2,291 m) is situated in Higashikawa. There is plenty of forest and spectacular landscapes which make this area a fabulous place to stay. Daisetsuzan National Park was designated a national park on December 4, 1934. This is a mountainous region with alpine flowers and sweet-scented herbs.

We decided to stay at Lodge Nutapukaushipe Yukomanbetsu, Higashikawa-cho, Kamikawa-gun, Hokkaido Tel 0166 97-2150.  We called the host,Mariko Haruna personally to book the lodging. We stayed for 2 nights and we chose half board and the bill came up to ¥ 32000.

It was a tough choice picking a suitable place to stay for our liking. We were spot-on when we found this Lodge. It is a large one-building-lodge which could accomodate 20 pax in all their rooms. I find the lodge charming in so many ways.

First it was the building itself. It appears to be hand-built and true enough, it was dreamt of, designed and with the help of builders, the owner (sorry i forgot his name) built it more than twelve years ago. It looks like a huge, double-storey log-cabin, but it has all the amenities that are equivalent to any hotels. Though the guest share the toilets and the long wash basins in a common wash area, they are ample and are with warmed-toilet-seats, electronic-bidets and electronic sensors for flushing and disinfecting after each use. The rooms are of the tatami and bedded types, up to the guests to indicate a preference subject to availability.

Second, it was the onsens. Both the indoor and the outdoor. The outdoor one is unisex though. The onsens are very traditional in taste and feel. Again, wood is featured prominently in the indoor onsen of the men's and women's. It could accomodate four or five pax at any one time. Adequate for the lodge's guest. The outdoor onsen faces the forest, is private and very well-blended into the environment with rocks and boulders and large leafy plants. The temperatures of the onsen is naturally dependent on the natural hot spring. However, if guests find the temperature of 42 degrees too hot, there is a cold spring-water tap that can be turned on to bring the temperature down.

Thirdly, the food cooked by the owner's wife is great! The seven or eight courses of each meal is very elegantly presented. Each meal for our two-day-stay is different and each has its unique feature. On our second dinner we we treated to grilled bamboo shoots. Asparagus-sized shoots that are grilled with their leaves intact and the owner taught us the special way to prepare the shoot for consumption. It was delicious. Fresh, crunch, sweetish and salted with table salt to taste. Many of the side dishes, like the bamboo shoots are made from plants that the owner picks from the forest during the day. There was a soy-sauce with garlic and other forest-herbs which we add to our chop-sticks-rolled sushi. It was a unique experience "rolling" our sushi without touching it with our fingers. Just the chopsticks will do the trick withe the nori prepared nicely with sauce.

Fourthly, the couple who manages...

Breakfast is also typical Japanese with some cooked fish, rice and miso soup, sometimes accompanied by some fruit or yogurt.

This is an absolutely beautiful house uniquely hand-crafted by the owner.  The lodge has 6 beautiful rooms of different shapes and sizes, mostly with tatami flooring. The place was impeccably clean. 

There’s a basic but wonderful onsen (hot spring bath) inside the lodge—completely made of wood too. On top of that there's a rotemburo outside. The latter can be booked for private sessions, so you can soak together with your partner!  Love it!