The three main elements of a ryokan or hotel are facilities, food, and service. In addition to these, what makes a Japanese inn many times more appealing are the hot springs and baths.
In the coming season, soaking in a famous hot spring will relax your mind and body and set you up for a good year. In this 17th installment, we will introduce accommodations in Shizuoka Prefecture, "Bath-Proud Inns: Central Japan Part 7."

Kannon Onsen, an inn in Oku-Shimoda, Izu, with drinkable spring water and its own hot spring source, is a single inn with a superb hot spring source, nestled in the lush mountains of Oku-Shimoda, Izu. In 1963, the previous president began digging for the hot spring, and when the water started flowing, he unearthed a Kannon statue, and thus Kannon Onsen was born.

The rich alkaline spring water has a pH of 9.5 and a hardness of less than 1. The super soft spring water gushes out from three sources at a combined flow of 500 liters per minute, and the quality of the spring water has gone beyond just "beautiful skin water" to be called "new skin water." The water is delicious and perfect for drinking, and is expected to help balance the body, which tends to be acidic.

The large public baths include Galatia Kannon-no-Yu, which has a "large cypress bath" with a rich cypress scent and an impressive "starry sky open-air bath" with a panoramic starry sky, and in recent years, the "Kannon Principle" has been very popular. You can enjoy the finest hot spring water in a day trip hot spring. There are four accommodation buildings: "Pygmalion," where all rooms have private open-air baths; "Main Building," which has a cypress bath; "Seiunkan," which has a garden cypress bath nestled in a lush forest zone; and "Ubusuna-tei," which reopened in spring 2022 with the birth of three connecting rooms.

Sando-tei is a spacious space where you can stay with your pet (one small dog). Some of the connecting rooms are equipped with foot baths, making it an appealing place to gather with your family and chat while gazing at the starry sky. What's even more noteworthy is that all the baths in the entire building, including the guest rooms, are "direct from the source." Other than Sando-tei, the building has been designed with barrier-free access in mind, with as few steps as possible and handrails in all large baths.

The hot spring water "Drinkable Kannon Onsen" is available in bottles and can be purchased in the hotel. It has received both the Grand Gold Award and the International Quality Award at the Monde Selection in the past. It is also used in soups at three-star restaurants in Tokyo, and at Kannon Onsen, this hot spring water is used in all cooking, including washing, boiling, cooking, and steaming.

The dishes made with this hot spring water are made with an abundance of fresh seafood and mountain produce from Minamiizu. Home-grown vegetables grown with hot spring and geothermal energy add color to the dishes, allowing you to enjoy a variety of visually vibrant dishes.