Indulge in Endless Onsen and Gourmet Food at a Forest Resort in Japan | Yutomori Club

Indulge in Endless Onsen and Gourmet Food at a Forest Resort in Japan | Yutomori Club

Hi! We’re heading to Sendai Station, about 90 minutes from Tokyo by bullet train. Tonight we’re staying at a quiet hot spring hotel surrounded by forest. I wonder what mountain that is. Arriving at Sendai Station. Sendai is the biggest station in northern Japan. You can also get here by highway bus from Tokyo. Got a Zunda shake, a local soybean sweet in Sendai. This is so tasty. We’re taking a Miyako Bus from platform 33. It goes to Togatta Onsen about once every one or two hours. It’s about an hour ride to the last stop at Togatta Onsen. No reservation needed. IC cards are accepted. The green rice fields look beautiful. Arrived at the Togatta Onsen bus stop. Thanks for the ride. There are some shops around, but it feels small and quiet for a hot spring town. Oh, there’s a public hot spring bath. The hotel does not offer a shuttle service. Since there are very few taxis in this area, you need to book one in advance. We were really lucky to get one. It’s about 7 minutes by car from the bus stop, but walking there is hard. The scenery is starting to look more like a forest. Our hotel is a forest retreat inside Zao National Park, set in 130,000 square meters (32 acres) of woods. For guests 6 and up, made for a relaxing adult stay. Meals and activities are included in the room rate with an all-inclusive system. The interior has a nice natural feel. The shop sells original goods, aroma items, and snacks. >> Staff: I’ll use this brochure to guide you through the hotel. >> Staff: If you open the brochure… >> Staff: One side is the grounds, the other is the hotel map. >> Staff: Your room for tonight is number 320. >> Staff: The small key is for the safe, so please use it. >> Staff: Please enjoy your stay. First stop, gelato! Seven flavors. I’ll try them all before we leave. All of them are handmade by a pastry chef. The flavors change with seasonal fruits and vegetables. The lounge has a fireplace, giving it a warm atmosphere. Raspberry, and watercress from Miyagi. I’ve cleared 2 of the 7 flavors. Wow, the raspberry is so good. Crunchy fruit bits give it a nice texture. The watercress gelato is surprisingly good. Refreshing. I’d get another. Since it’s an all-inclusive hotel, there’s still much more to enjoy. But first, we’ll go to our room to drop off our luggage. There are two wings, Komorebi and Sakura. We’re staying in the Sakura wing. Our room is at the very end. Opening it with a cute mushroom-shaped key. Sakura Corner Twin, 2 guests: 72,000 yen (487.13 USD / € 416.59). It’s a cute room with a mix of Japanese and Western styles. Since we spend less time in the room, this simple style is just right. Still, the details are stylish and uplifting. Through the window we see a spread of forest greenery. It looks like a painting. In summer it’s lush and green. In spring it’s cherry blossoms, in autumn the colors of fall, and in winter snow. The rich forest of Zao in Miyagi is soothing just to gaze at. There’s a sofa and table by the window. It smells so good. Two Simmons beds face the TV. The loungewear is cute. The room only has glasses and a fridge. Each guest gets one bottle of water for onsen hopping. Other drinks are available in the lounge. Here are the shower room and toilet. Some rooms don’t have showers, but this one does. The washroom has a heated towel rack. It’s spacious and clean. That’s enough for the room tour. Let’s head out. You can walk around the grounds in special slippers. From 3:30 to 4:30, there’s a forest s’mores experience. Two biscuits. Marshmallow. Chocolate. The venue is right next to the entrance. The Forest Keeper’ has a fire waiting for us. The Keeper takes care of the forest, makes good coffee, and even makes friends with little birds. First, we roast the marshmallow. Nicely toasted. Put the chocolate and marshmallow between the biscuits and it’s done. Mmm. Good. The heat from the marshmallow melts the chocolate. Enjoying it with coffee made by the Forest Keeper. A soothing moment. The Keeper’s little friend came by!! So cute!! The Forest Keeper helped me give it a snack. The hotel is set in a vast forest of 130,000 sq m (32 acres). There are private hot springs in the woods, so let’s walk there. We’ve arrived at the outdoor bath area called Owl Forest. I wonder if owls live here. The riverside cottage in the natural forest can be used as a lounge or a place to relax after bathing. “Why not forget the world for a while?” Right in front flows the Koaterasawa River. It really does make you forget reality for a while. The air is so clear and refreshing. Below here there’s even a meditation space where you can feel one with nature. Let’s step inside the riverside cottage. The wooden furniture gives a warm touch and is spaced out in the room. You can relax with a drink or a book. With hammocks and games, you could laze here all day. The private baths can be used when available. No soap or shampoo here. You need to shower in your room or the public bath first. There are two types, Maru and Shikaku. Let’s start with ‘Shikaku.’ The changing room is surprisingly spacious for a private bath. ’Shikaku’ means “square” in Japanese, and the tub is square just as the name suggests. The hot spring water comes from two private sources on the grounds. It fills the bath generously. The combination of hot springs and forest bathing feels like real therapy. And here’s the other open-air bath, Maru, which means circle. This one has a low-temperature stone sauna near the changing room. The round-tile bath feels a bit different, and it looks beautiful. You can hear the sound of the river flowing right in front. It’s the kind of bath you never want to leave. The gentle water left my whole body refreshed. After the bath, we enjoy a walk in the forest. We found a red bridge. Beyond it is a 1.2 km trail. Quite a big area. In the afternoon there’s also a guided walk with staff. Joining such activities is part of the fun of all-inclusive. But we felt like heading back to the hotel to relax again. Okay, let’s drink to our heart’s content. I love that there’s flavored water with herbs and fruits. Local craft beer from Miyagi called Hoshizora Weizen. The glass is cute. A beer after the onsen feels perfect. I also like the fruit-infused Japanese black tea. There’s also coffee, hot tea, and more. Snacks include dried tomatoes, waffle cookies, and honey nuts. Back for round two of gelato! Mint-grapefruit and melon. That makes two more checked off. Where should we sit? Since the weather is just right, we’ll sit outside by the courtyard. The courtyard is spacious, well kept, and very pleasant. The drinks and snacks are all high quality. It’s so nice not to worry about prices every time we eat or drink something. The melon gelato is sooo good. The restaurant opens at 4 p.m., and you can come and go freely during hours. At opening it’s drinks, at 4:30 snacks, and from 5:30 dinner dishes start coming out. The menu grows as time goes on. You can sit wherever you like. It’s already past 5, so the full dinner menu is served. Order what you want and the chef prepares it in front of you. The dishes look like a fine hotel course meal, beautifully plated. Wow, this side looks good too!! Flounder steamed with local wakame, served with cream sauce. Grilled thigh of chicken from Fukushima. A plate of vegetables too. We’re ordering everything for now. There’s also a section with desserts, drinks, and ready-made dishes. Many options. The variety of drinks was surprising. Plenty of choices for those who don’t drink alcohol. Isn’t the alcohol selection amazing? This one’s mine. Perfect. My husband took forever to decide. He chose flavored water. The dishes made with local ingredients are all excellent. Especially the local vegetables, so fresh and delicious. The fish is tender and melts in your mouth. Since it’s a buffet, you can even get seconds of your favorites. We ordered whatever caught our eye and shared. There’s too much we want to try. Time isn’t enough. The menu is structured like a course. For the second round we focused on meat dishes. They served Zao beef steak and lamb on one plate. What a treat. Seared Zao wagyu beef with multigrain rice. With so many drinks, it’s easy to overdo it. But that’s part of the fun of all-inclusive. This is non-alcoholic sangria. We also brought some extras, like chili shrimp with scrambled eggs. And rice cooked with olives and octopus. The menu changes with the seasons, using fresh ingredients. It’s no wonder so many guests return. The meat is grilled to order, tender and juicy! Zao wagyu beef is light, so I could easily have three more plates. It’s time for dessert. Chiffon cake made with local chamomile. Strawberry and raspberry sorbet from Miyagi. They look so cute. The sorbet and chiffon cake are refreshing and perfect after a meal. With so much food and drink, we ended up spending a lot of time here. We’re satisfied. Thank you for the meal. At 7:30 p.m. there’s live music by the fireplace in the lounge. Tonight it’s a piano and violin performance. The fifth gelato flavor is mango-cilantro. The garden is lit up at night, creating a magical scene. We fully enjoyed the whole day. Good night. Good morning. We slept well on the Simmons bed. It feels special to wake up and meet nature right away. There’s also a morning yoga activity here, perfect for early risers. I’m starting to feel hungry. Breakfast is in the same venue as dinner. It’s also free-order style, with plenty of local Zao ingredients. Homemade pancetta and summer vegetable risotto. Made with local rice and vegetables from nearby farms. Zao tomato pasta. Sprinkling cheese on top. Paté de campagne and herb sausage, with steamed vegetables. French toast with royal milk tea flavor. Croissants, yomogi bread, bagels… so many breads. This area is also famous for dairy. Got some butter and cream cheese. Homemade fresh smoothies made by a vegetable sommelier. We got all three: komatsuna-banana, orange-pineapple, and tomato. A morning toast with non-alcoholic sparkling drink! Let’s eat. This risotto is so good. The focus is on quality, with each plate carefully made. Lots of vegetables too, making it light and easy to enjoy in the morning. French toast made with eggs from a local farm. It really tastes of milk tea. I like it even more than regular French toast. This Zao cream cheese is so good. I want to buy some. Dessert is baked cheesecake and fruit. There’s no alcohol in the morning, but plenty of coffee, tea, and juice. There are private baths and public baths inside too, so we’re off for a morning soak. On the way there’s a space to play darts and table tennis. There are two private hot springs. You can use them anytime if they’re available. This one is called Kamoshika. It’s so spacious inside. Big enough for a family to bathe together. The open-air bath is charming and beautiful. Morning sunlight through the fresh leaves feels wonderful. Having this bath all to ourselves is pure luxury. What a morning. Let’s check the public baths too. (Filmed with permission.) The powder room and changing area are spacious, so it never feels crowded. You can store valuables in lockers with keys. According to the official website, people with tattoos, including sticker tattoos, are not allowed to bathe. The greenery reflected on the water is beautiful. Lots of showers. Nice that they provide cleansing products. The showers are the type that stop automatically after a while. Of course the water is hot spring water. It feels so good. The water is soft and smooth with almost no mineral smell. The temperature is just right. It gets a little hotter near the spout. The large sauna is open daily from 3 p.m. to midnight. It’s closed in the morning. Here’s the outdoor bath area. Each bath has a different atmosphere. It’s nice to be able to try as many as you like during your stay. Let’s take a special look at the men’s bath too. The indoor bath feels similar. But the outdoor bath looks quite different. It’s surrounded by rocks, with a wild and natural atmosphere. Finally, my gelato challenge comes to an end. Enjoying it with morning coffee. Relaxing until checkout at 11. The last gelato flavors are Zao milk vanilla and chocolate. Both are rich and gooooood. I wonder how many scoops of gelato we had, including seconds. This inn offered healing nature, wonderful food, and warm hospitality. We’d love to come back again in another season. Thank you for watching until the end. If this video soothed you, please check out our other videos too. See you next time.

📌It’s Time to Travel Map
https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=1jon84Y-_3WyjALR0oQSPBDFw3KPLcLA&usp=sharing

🔻Support this channel by becoming a member
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQDKpfTS6haXS6BAHebR8Hw/join

💻Yutomori Club
https://www.ichinobo.com/yutomori-club/
*This video was filmed with the hotel’s permission.

🗒 How to book
Agoda: https://px.a8.net/svt/ejp?a8mat=3TLBA5+BIDQL6+4X1W+BW0YB&a8ejpredirect=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.agoda.com%2Fyutomori-club%2Fhotel%2Fsendai-jp.html%3Fcid%3D1844104%26ds%3DvhWWWFzFuw2555W5
Trip.com: https://www.trip.com/t/BEErsPniHR2
Expedia: https://expedia.com/affiliate/GIuqMHp
Hotels.com: https://www.hotels.com/affiliate/DO0wQh0

🚃🚶‍♀️How to Get There
About 7 minutes by taxi from the “Togatta Onsen” bus stop. Reservations are required!
MAP: https://maps.app.goo.gl/B9zNQFCVqUBzd6Qi7

💰 Price
Sakura Corner Twin (2 guests per room): 72,000 yen (487.13 USD / € 416.59).
*Prices may vary depending on the season and room type.

🚃 JAPAN RAIL PASS is an economical and convenient way to travel throughout Japan by rail!!
https://click.jrpass.com/aff_c?offer_id=19&aff_id=1038

⌛️ Timestamps
0:14 How to get there
2:55 About Yutomori Club
4:07 Fireplace Lounge
5:23 Room Tour
8:20 Forest S’mores Experience
10:41 Forest Walk
13:06 Riverside Open-Air Bath “Kawano-Yu”
15:04 Koaterasawa Stream
15:46 Drinks, Snacks & Gelato
18:05 Free-Order dinner
23:40 Fireplace Live Music
24:46 Morning Walk
25:42 Free-Order Breakfast
28:38 Private Open-Air Bath Inside the Hotel
29:44 Large Public Bath & Sauna
32:36 Morning Café

#miyagi #tohoku #onsen #japan #japantravel #asmr #cc_for_subtitle

――――――――――――――――――――――――
・Titles, descriptions, and subtitles are provided by automatic translation and may contain inaccuracies.
・The prices in the video are based on the exchange rate at the time of editing.
・Prices may vary with the season.
・We may use affiliate links.