Beppu Kan-nawa District Jalan-Jalan

Looks like I woke up a bit too early.

I'll take a morning bath, wake myself up, and then head out.

Maybe I'll try eating "jigoku-mushi" (steamed dish) after a long time.

At the Kan-nawa hot spring treatment inn, you can eat whatever you like, whenever you like, from the inn's hot spring steam pot, but this time I have to choose from the prepared ingredients.

The ingredients provided used to be simpler, but it seems like the service style has changed.

I used to like eating cabbage, bean sprouts, and pork steamed with ponzu sauce on top.

But it seems like they don't provide that basic option here.

I was given a timer and set it according to the ingredients. Now I just have to wait!

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With a friend from Melbourne, Australia I stayed at the old-fashioned hot spring inn "Futabaso" for a few nights.

We bought vegetables, seafood, meat, sausages, eggs, etc. from the supermarket, chopped them up, steamed them, and enjoyed them while making sounds of satisfaction.

That was delicious!

Those were the days! Mate!

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Well, the taste was different from the nostalgic one, but after enjoying the "jigoku-mushi" meal, I'll take a walk around Kan-Nawa to aid digestion.

This is the temple associated with Ippen Shonin, the founder of Kan-nawa hot spring steam baths.

There is also accommodation available here.

There is a shortcut to exit the temple grounds.



In front of the plaza is the "Shibu-no-Yu" hot spring.

It's a must-visit place for hot spring cure guests to enjoy different hot springs outside the inn.



Kan-nawa Mushi-yu (steam bath)

The steam bathroom is lined with a fragrant plant called Sekisho, and when you lie down, you start sweating after a while.

I'll pass this time.



Free Leg & Foot steamer

You can use it with your pants rolled up.



This plaza always gives me a strange feeling.







After a short walk, you will find the old-fashioned hot spring inn "Daikokuya" and the outdoor jigoku-mushi pot.



It used to be a hospital, but it was renovated into a café.

I planned to take a break here, but it's temporarily closed.



Popular "Netsu-no-Yu" hot spring.



Laundry area.

I like this small path.

"Sally Garden," a separate building tea room of the popular inn "Yanagiya" which has renovated the old hot spring cure inn into a stylish one.

When I hear "Yanagi (willow)" and "Sally Garden," I can't help but think of W. B. Yeats's poem "Down by the Salley Gardens."

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DOWN BY THE SALLEY GARDENS

Down by the Salley gardens my love and I did meet;
She passed the salley gardens with little snow-white feet.

She bid me take love easy, as the leaves grow on the tree;
But I, being young and foolish, with her would not agree.

In a field by the river my love and I did stand,
And on my leaning shoulder she laid her snow-white hand.

She bid me take life easy, as the grass grows on the weirs;
But I was young and foolish, and now am full of tears.

                                                 - W. B. YEATS

Twice, the memories of youthful days are repeated "young and foolish", accompanied by the pain...

In another poem, 'No Second Troy'...

Why, what could she have done, being what she is?
Was there another Troy for her to burn?

The despairing separation from the woman he loved...

I was inspired to read W. B. Yeats when I heard him recite "THE LAKE OF INNISFREE" on a radio program and was deeply moved.

I bought "Collected POEMS of W. B. YEATS" (Macmillan) at Maruzen and immersed myself in reading it.

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We enjoyed a cake finished with hot spring steam provided as a service while sipping hot coffee.

When I told the beautiful woman at the shop about it, she mentioned that she named it "Sally Garden" or "Yanagiya" after Irish folk songs based on Yeats' poems, as expected.

Out of habit, I inadvertently mentioned that in W. B. Yeats's poem, it is spelled "Salley Gardens"...

It's been years since then, and the shop is still called Sally Garden, I muttered, "But, I was young and foolish."

"Jigokubaru Onsen" across from "Futaba-sou"

Futaba-sou Front Entrance

The indoor bath here is a real hot spring cure with a stone bath and stone Buddha enshrined, like something out of Tsuge Yoshiharu's works.

My friend asked me to take a photo of him soaking in his favourite indoor bath with his smartphone and sent that photo to his friends in Europe and other countries.

Immediately, they replied, "What a wonderful place you're in!"

At that time, foreigners were not accepted without a Japanese companion because they couldn't handle them properly, but I wonder how it is now?

I wonder if the landlady is doing well.



Walking behind Hyotan Onsen



This is a mysterious device for cooling hot spring water using bamboo branches.



When you walk this street at night, you feel strangely like you're being carried away somewhere by the steam.



"Tani-no-yu (The Valley Hot Springs)," the oldest hot spring in Kan-nawa District.



The white rhododendron is in full bloom.　

If I go to the mountains, maybe I can still see them...

Now, where should I go next?

  

* Cooling hot spring water using bamboo branches