Esashi, Hokkaido (北海道江差町) – Ryotei Kuki (旅庭 群来) Shofu (韶風) room tour 2025 Nov. 03
So we are in Esashi, a remote part of Hokkaido. Remote in terms of it being south, not north. It’s uh actually about 90 minutes from Hakodate, which is the uh southernmost major, I guess if you can call major metropolis in the pre-ictur. Uh Hokkaido being the northern most major island in Japan. And um this place is in Esashi town called Dote Cookie. Um this room is called Chofu. One thing to note is all the rooms um are similar. So there’s no different categories of rooms per se. Um it’s a seven room luxury um in And it was built in 2009 and has seven guest rooms. Again, as I said, they are all the same. So, you walk in here. Let’s get these out of the way. So, this is the This is the toilet. And then coming around here, this is the bathroom. Single sink. This was built in 2009, so uh not the most ultramodern, but nor is it um crazy traditional either. So, Esashi, how this uh establishment was formed, the the the owner uh Kaicho or chairman, he was um uh I guess the mayor of Esashi town uh wanting to revitalize the local economy asked um the current m uh chairman of this establishment, hey, I got a plot of land. it’s in a good area. Is there anything you can do to help out the um the city or the town? And um the chairman said, “Sure. Well, I’ll think about it, but let me see. I’ll let me see if I can dig underground and see if the hot springs can come to life.” And uh sure enough, well not sure enough um over $500,000 and 1400 meters later underground he hit the jackpot. So um inspired by that he decided to form a higherend establishment. So, Isashi also is known for a traditional music style. Um, and they hold a festival every year which actually now attracts visitors from around the world. Not in massive numbers, but enough where you know uh the um there’s not enough accommodations to support that. So and some of the uh comments from the foreigners was that the quality of accommodations is a little bit lacking in Isashi. So he saw this as an opportunity. Um so this is how this place came to life. So you can see that um this is a 63 square meters. So, not gigantic, but um not like a base room at a Marriott either. So, you have a western style bed as I showed you here. That’s kind of the tatami room over there. You can put futons out if you choose. Uh if you prefer to sleep in a futon, you can also um uh you know, if you have more than two guests in a room, you could uh you can have them sleep in a tatami room in futons. So, uh you know, you have some view, not the best view, um but for privacy sake, there is a wall here. Um, so you can see there’s a sofa as well as a Japanese uh sitting area. Um, over here, let’s turn around here. This is where they have the uh the robes that you can wear on site anywhere around the property. And then these are intended as pajamas. So, not the yukat not the yucata robes. and typical um uh dioons. And over here you have a TV. If you don’t want to uh it’s showing, you can just kind of slide it closed like that. Um on this side is a lock safe um water uh boiler, coffee maker and a mini bar which all of it is complimentary. The uh I think did I show you the Yeah. So the hot springs itself is um as I said before he hit the jackpot. So, the springs he pulls from the onsite and um trying to open this. Uhhuh. So, um it is straight from the source, free flowing and not recirculated. So, it’s it’s the legit real deal. Um, what it doesn’t have is a public bath, nor does it have um uh a a a rental private bath because every room has it. Again, it’s not like the massive open air ones like you can find in some um others, but you can take solace in knowing that uh you do have a real um hot springs in your room, nonreirculated. So, this is a diote cookie in Esashi town about 90 minutes from Hakodate in uh Hokkaido. Um, diote, by the way, is a word often describes a establishment that is known for its cuisine um Japanese cuisine. And so, um you know, if we’ll find out whether it lives up to its name, do cookie inashi. Hope you enjoyed.
A walkthrough of Shofu (韶風), one of the seven rooms at Ryotei Kuki (旅庭 群来), a luxury ryokan located in Esashi, Hokkaido (北海道江差町). Every room is similar in size and layout (and the exact same rates), and features Gensen Kakenagashi onsen (源泉かけ流し温泉) , meaning the hot springs come straight from the source on-site, is constantly free-flowing and never recirculated. They all also have obscured views outside due to a wall that surrounds the property for privacy’s sake, despite being next to the ocean, which is a shame. Shofu is 63m² in size.
