Put Your Body Into Wine!

Put Your Body Into Wine!

Are you tired of daily life? There is a place for you in Yamanashi in Japan. I am from Gunma prefecture that is famous area for hot springs. Also, I myself have been to so many hot springs in Japan, and I am familiar with them. Yes, I love hot springs. And as a lover of hot springs, I found a Japanese style inn which provides a wine buro (風呂) in Yamanashi prefecture. The word “buro” means a bath in English, and it is bit smaller than typical hot springs. The wine buro contains actual red-wine essence. What is more, wine made in Yamanashi is popular in Japan. The wine is always highly ranked in Japanese wine competitions. I am sorry if I offend you, but the combination of hot springs and wine sounds as mismatched as pieces of pineapple on a pizza. So, I thought this place was worth exploring.

The name of the inn is Minamoto-ryokan (みなもと旅館). It is located in Isawaonsenkyo (石和温泉郷) in Yamanashi. The term “onsen” in “Isawaonsenkyo” means a hot spring, and Isawaonsenkyo is a famous area for hot springs in Japan. More than 3.5 million people, about 4 times larger than population in Yamanashi, visit Isawaonsenkyo annually.

Minamoto-ryokan is the place where we can actually experience “Yamanashi” with our bodies. It was founded in 1977. It is when Japan started to be modernized. However, the first impression that I had when I arrived at Minamoto-ryokan was the feelings of traditional Japan. It is rare to see and feel traditional Japan today since Japan has been modernized for decades.

I was pretty stressed from my work at that time, so I entered the inn with a high expectation for wine buro to relieve my fatigue. The inside was as quiet as the inside of a museum.

“Sumimasen! (Excuse me!)”, I asked.

Soon after that, an old woman came out from a door.

“Hai irasshaimase (Hi, welcome to our inn)”, she said.

Then, an old man came out from the same door.

“Youkoso (Welcome to our inn)”, he said.

They are an elderly couple, and Minamoto-ryokan is run by them.

“Because of Covid-19, we have had a few customers for a couple of years. So, please make yourself at home”, he said.

Actually, this situation is not good for them…, but at the same time, this is a great chance for us to fully enjoy wine buro without any consideration for others.

After some conversation, I immediately went towards wine buro. I took off my clothes in a second in a changing room, while I was getting more and more excited by wine buro. There was a regular onsen inside. But I did not see it because I was not interested in that one, and my goal was “to put myself into wine buro”. The wine buro was outside. I washed my body quickly so that I could achieve my goal.

I stood in front of the door for wine buro.

“Finally, I can see and “put myself into wine buro”, I thought that in my mind.

“Konnichiwa, wine buro! (Hello, wine buro!)”, thinking to myself, I opened the door.

Once I opened the door, I saw a wine-red onsen that I had never seen in my life. My excitement peaked. I cannot express the excitement in words. The reason why it looks wine-red is that it contains actual red wine essence. There is one thing that we have to know: we CANNOT drink wine buro. Not to mention, there are seldom people who want to drink onsen water. The red wine essence creates sweet smells like red wine without alcohol. Usually, when we go to a typical onsen in Japan, we smell like a rotten egg, which people do not usually prefer. I finally put my body into wine buro. Before I put myself into wine buro, I expected that my body would be sticky since the wine buro has actual wine. However, it was different from what I had thought. As soon as I put myself into the wine buro, I was about to ascend to heaven because of its comfortableness. The temperature of the wine buro was not too hot; it was perfect. The sweet smell of the wine lingered, and my body became warmer and warmer like spring.  As I said, I had stress from daily life, and I was tired of all I had to do. The wine buro extinguished my tons of stress, fatigue and all my responsibilities. Eventually, I forgot everything including stress and what I had to do, and only I remember is warmth form the wine buro.

Unfortunately, the time to say goodbye to the wine buro came. I thought my eyes were wet with tears, but it was not. It was just because of the vapor from the wine buro.

“Sayounara, wine buro! (Goodbye wine buro!)”.

Leaving the wine buro, I noticed that my skin became smooth, and my body slightly smelled sweet. To be honest, I wanted to be there 3 more hours.

When I leave Minamoto-ryokan, the old man owner said

“Thank you for your visit. The wine buro has good effects on your skin. I am looking forward to seeing you again”.

I felt the owners were so kind and many people would visit there if it were not for Covid-19.

As mentioned in the beginning of this review, I am familiar with hot springs in Japan. However, I had not known the existence of wine buro and its quality before I visited Minamoto-ryokan. I do not usually drink alcohol including red wine. But this innovative utilization of red wine is impressive. I would say that Minamoto-ryokan is the greatest place to visit in Yamanashi because we can enjoy the wine buro which provides us a unique experience as above. Again, if you are tired of your daily life, you should visit Minamoto-ryokan to experience unusual innovative onsen called wine buro. I highly recommend you to go there.

Minamoto-Ryokan's Website (Japanese):
山梨県 石和温泉郷 みなもと旅館 【公式サイト】 (minamotoryokan.jp)

References:
https://www.isawaonsen.or.jp/history.html
http://www.minamotoryokan.jp
https://www.pref.yamanashi.jp/miryoku/shoku/wine/index.html

Yusei Yamagishi