Nishiyama Onsen Keiunkan has a lot going for it, but a few things detracted from the overall experience - many of which are not the fault of the ryokan itself, but it's worth noting. We've stayed at tons of top onsen ryokans throughout Japan, but what intrigued us most about visiting Keiunkan had to do with its history - it's officially recognized as the oldest continually operating inn/hotel in the world. It was established in 705 A.D., and has been run by the same family which is in its 53rd generation. That alone had us excited. The fact that the Suite that we booked - the ”special room Kitadake,” with its top floor corner location and free-flowing open-air outdoor Onsen (natural hot springs) bath, had us giddy with excitement. The two primary downsides are its location (and surrounds) and lack of any historical vibe. First, it’s in the middle of nowhere. Usually, that would be fine, but there is nothing to see and do within 30 minutes (driving) of the ryokan. Minobusan (and Minobusan Kuon-ji Temple) are about a half-hour away, but not really a must-do. Aside from that… nothing. Also, along the way there, all we saw were trucks after big trucks (hardly any cars) carrying gravel/rocks. And all along the Hayakawa River, there were mounds of sand and massive boulders that either were excavated by the trucks or were dumped there. And then there were tons and tons of quarries. And lots of road construction, with construction staff managing traffic every 5 minutes or so (the roads were one lane each way, naturally.) It was dusty, and the river was not picturesque at all. We later learned from our room attendant that Japan is building a Magnetic Levitation Train with much of it planned to run underground, so there was a ton of work in the area in building the tunnel that would pass through Shizuoka and Yamanashi. This will continue until at least 2027, so this is something to be mindful about. Secondly, if you didn't know that Keiunkan was originally established in 705AD, you would not have any sense of Keiunkan being an old, historic property. This has to do with a massive typhooon which completely devastated the property (and the entire area) about 60 years ago, and all of the then-exhibited items from antiquity (scrolls, ceramics, paintings, etc.) were also lost. That said, this is not unusual in Japan, where typhoons, fires and earthquakes are the norm, and Keiunkan was probably rebuilt at least 8 times over the course of its history. Still, it's a shame that no trace of its historic past is evident to guests when staying at the ryokan. FYI, the current building was built a few miles away from the original location in 1997, and let's just say it is not exactly an architectural beauty. It's also a rather large property by ryokan standards, with 37 total rooms. This can be a plus, what with Keiunkan having quite a few public Onsen options on site - something that only a handful of much smaller luxury ryokans can offer on the same scale. As a ry
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