Over a thousand years ago, there was once a holy man by the name of En No Gyōja making his way across the world and travelled through a region of Japan that is the modern day Mie Prefecture. While in the region we now call Mie, he found himself in lush and beautiful mountains draped in waterfalls, rivers teeming with mysterious, massive, ancient giant salamanders and forests that wrapped around the sides of the mountains like an exquisite jade green sokutai of a noble aristocrat. 

In these mountains, it is said he came upon the flaming god Fudo Myo-o, who burns away evil with his flames, riding on a great bull with eyes that were lit with the same bright god fire. 

So from then on, all who visited called the place Akame, Red Eyes, for the bull that Gyōja saw carrying the great being. 

Just like the cleansing fires of that deity, some time in Akame will rid you of the material things that plague your mind and leave you feeling free and refreshed. The crisp mountain air invigorates, the steep trails and thriving nature that is all around provides natural obstacles courses that promise breathtaking sights and magical views, and the hot mineral water that wells up from deep within the mountains creates springs to step into when the exploring is done and is time to let the mind process the beauty it has seen and the muscles of the body to relax and recover. 

It is for all these reasons, as well as its being a very strategically important location in long ago times of war, that the ninjas of the Iga clan found themselves in Akame and for some time made it a base of training and rejuvenation. 

There, among the stands of trees and waterfalls, the Iga ninja honed their skills in marksmanship, balance, coordination, and the secret ninja arts that made them such infamous spies, assassins and warriors. Afterwards, the ninjas would then plunge themselves into Akame’s soothing hot mineral springs, ensuring their minds and bodies were at the ready again soon for more training or battle. 

Standing outside of the tiniest train station I had ever seen, the December mountain air bit my cheeks until they were as red as the fabled Ox’s eyes of flame. Night was coming quickly, the train ride from Osaka had been long. After an hour, even though it was so different from the country sides I was used to, even I had to admit watching the rural landscape roll by from the windows had grown a bit dull. By the end of the train ride Cuong and I had found ourselves just a little bit tired and cranky. 

Unfortunately we discovered when we got into town that the onsen we had booked was about another 20 minutes or so by car and much too far to comfortably walk with our large luggage. The town was small enough to not have much of a taxi stand at the station and after a conversation with two kind local men who emerged from the small restaurant across the street who gave me a taxi company’s phone number, only to then discover that my cellphone did not allow me to place any calls to japanese numbers. 

A very exasperated Cuong, who was well within his right to be a bit annoyed because I had been responsible for planning this particular adventure, found after some searching on reddit about the best app to use to get a taxi (GO), even in rural Japan. Soon we were in a small taxi winding and weaving our way into the mountains. 

The weather had gotten bad on our journey from the station and the sky berated us with intermittent aggressive bursts of showers and glowered a gloomy grey at us from above. 

Luckily a cab was available right away and arrived to us fairly quickly. The starched and tidy gentleman greeted us warmly, helping us with our heavy suitcases and we began the drive into the fog that was nesting around the base of the mountains and surrounding rice fields. 

Roads grew even narrower than they had been in town as we made our way into the forests around the mountain base and the trees grew taller and taller all around. 

Our driver dropped us off at the end of a short drive up to the grand and elegant Taisenkaku Onsen. 

Once through the onsen’s doorway I immediately felt underdressed and raggedy in my damp traveling clothes, stringy windblown hair and heavy mismatched luggage.

A vast lobby spread out before us, with cushioned seating, large windows overlooking the forest and river views, a distinguished looking cocktail lobby and mirror polished wooden floors. 

Hotel staff appeared before us immediately after ringing the welcome bell, so fast that I don’t think it had time to finish chiming. 

She had a panicked expression and seemed very confused to see us in front of her. After greeting her in my rough understudied conversational Japanese, she quickly pulled out a very sleek looking device that revealed itself to be an instantaneous translating device. After introducing myself, I soon found out the reason for her initial reaction to us was that I had fumbled up this particular adventure even more than I had thought: Our one night stay at this amazing hotel was yesterday. 

Luckily, they still had a room available for us. Unfortunately, we did have to pay full price for another night and I was very relieved when even though he seemed thoroughly finished with all my disorganization and this adventure I had dragged him on, Cuong graciously offered to pay for half. Taisenkaku is an incredible place, but I will say that an evening there will run you a bit on the pricier side. 

The staff gave us tickets to be redeemed for free cocktails during the cocktail evening later, gesturing towards the cocktail bar area, and went over everything we might need to know about the gendered onsens, the hours which each was open and their locations. 

Once we made sure our accommodations had been secured we left our suitcases and went in search of a hot meal. At the end of the long gravel drive was a cultural center, museum, and small cafe that beckoned us with tantalizing aromas. 

Perched on stools by the center’s windows overlooking the river, we filled our belly with spicy curry that warmed our bones before exploring what else was around the onsen. 

Further towards the tree line was the entrance to the trails that cover the mountain and surrounding forest. That day they were closed to the poor weather and we made note to return the following day before we left. 

Though the reviews were incredible, and the website said there were not very many rooms left when I had first booked the room, there didn’t seem to be a single soul in the Taisenkaku aside from the staff that had magically appeared to greet us at the door staying with us from what we could tell when we returned so we padded towards our room, carefully, afraid to disrupt the peaceful tranquility around us with our loud clunky suitcases. 

Everything about the decor looked too beautiful and fine to even look at for too long, especially in our water-logged weary condition. I found myself very self conscious of the flip flop of my slippered feet echoing down the long and empty corridor. In large glass cases, like a prestigious museum, artifacts from across the history of Japan caused our quickened footsteps to halt temporarily. Tokens from famous Japanese leaders and centuries old throwing knives and samurai armour twinkled at us from their pedestals and I made a mental note to return to spend time pouring over the information placards once I was more warmed up and settled in.

The room was a massive sprawling stretch of traditional tatami and ended in a carpeted lounge area with big windows that made the mountain view into a beautiful mural across the wall. A low table contained instructions and information about the hotel, amenities and baths, tea and a kettle, snacks, and the things needed to make a hot pot of tea.   

Clothes quickly discarded and donned in the yukatas provided, I felt slightly more at place in my surroundings. We decided to check out the cocktail hour we had been given tickets for and took some time to investigate the artifacts in the halls and marvel at the centuries old swords and shuriken. 

The lounge area attached to the lobby featured the same large paned windows that were throughout the onsen and museums to showcase the glory of the jade mountain sides. Many different bowls of small snacks covered a large central table along with squares of beautifully patterned origami paper and instructions on how to make some simple figures. A few pieces laid on the table, both completed and half way done. It was our only evidence so far that we were not as alone as we felt in the long quiet hallways of the onsen, though perhaps it was staff to encourage guests to participate in the activity. 

I  was delighted to have a craft to play with instead of my cellphone for a change while I sipped on a perfectly chilled and dry glass of champagne that was given to me by a bartender in a sharply pressed uniform in exchange for the ticket I received at reception.

After we enjoyed our drinks and fumbled our way through a few attempts at origami, it was time for a soak. 

Taisenkaku had both inside and outside baths available, the indoor was just a single bath that alternated hours between male and female to allow privacy. I chose to try out the outdoor option and sucked in a brave breath before opening the door to the cold mountain air and began my short accent in the courtyard up the stone steps lined with lush plants, flaming Japanese maples and countless other types of foliage. 

The outside bath, on both sides of the gendered wall, Cuong had chosen inside for his first soak, seemed to be completely unoccupied and I ended up having the entire large sauna all to myself. 

There were locker areas and places to get your things together before you arrived into the bathing area. The stone floor was cool under my feet but the fluffy white towels kept me warm as I got myself ready for the healing mountain spring waters. 

Though technically, “Outdoors” the bath itself was quite protected from the elements, more of a 3 wall situation that let the bather swim up to the edge of the view of the woods and peak at the mountain side towering alongside the edge of the onsen.   

 The opposing side of the women’s bath was lined with mirrors, stools and amenities to shower and get clean before submerging yourself in the communal waters before opening with low stairs to climb into the large rectangular bath. 

Within just a few moments I found my movements as I went from one side of the bath towards the view slower, lazier, as the minerals and warmth of the water coddled and relaxed my muscles. The weather was still unpleasant and occasionally a bit of rain would blow its way inside, rousing mist and prismed little dancing rainbows from the onsen lights glowing through it, giving the bath an mystical and sacred feeling. 

I let my brain wander and bones relax for a bit and practiced the Japanese art of writing haikus to help me describe the wonder and peace I was experiencing and then after a little bit I emerged from the silky waters to rush back into the hotel once more before I lost the warm feeling in my chest on my way through the chilly courtyard. 

I met Cuong back at the room and we gathered our things, hungry once again, and headed towards dinner. 

Greeted again by only a single staff member and shown to our table, we found ourselves in a completely empty dining room. Tray by tray she set our glittering delicacies and traditional Japanese dishes in front of us. 

Though clearly freshly made, no clanging or crashing could be heard, 

The food was incredible. I have never been a huge fan of seafood and sometimes find myself a picky eater but I ate everything that was placed in front of me that evening without question. 

Every piece of fish was so fresh that it just tasted like a waft of ocean air, with little hints of umami to tingle your tongue. The rice; fluffy and endless, we shoveled it into our mouths before washing it down with beautifully crafted bowls of miso soup. 

Our bellies full, we shuffled our slipped feet back down the labyrinth hallways of Taisenkaku, this time taking a few moments to soak in the history decorating the hallways. 

Our sleep was deep and restful on the traditional Japanese bedding that we found spread out across the tatami floor and waiting, warm, plush and welcoming, for us when we returned. The chirp of crickets sang us songs as we fell asleep along with the other night creatures and we dreamed of the next day of adventures we would have in Akame.