There was one thing in particular on my Sendai itinerary that people oohed & aahed about when I mentioned it — sleeping at the very traditional Hotel Sakan, a Japanese ryokan.

“Oh my God, I’ve always wanted to stay there!”

“You’re going to just love the traditional rooms.”

“Don’t forget to bath in all of the onsen.”

These were just a few of the comments I heard, which got me pretty excited to take the hour and a half ride from Tokyo on Japan’s Shinkansen (the bullet train) to the city of Sendai.

What is a Ryokan?

A ryokan is a traditional Japanese inn where the floors are typically tatami mats and the rooms are separated with sliding shōji doors.Hotel Sakan is a small ryokan that began about 1,000 years ago by Kanzaburo Satoh. The family has carried on the Sakan tradition for 34 generations…and counting.

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It was not what I expected from an old ryokan, it was so much more luxurious.

The Room

When I opened the door to my room at the Hotel Sakan, I may have let out a squeal. For one night I would be enjoying this traditional ryokan, and its onsen that was over 1,000 years old!

A short table sat in the middle of the main room which was perfect for my morning cup of green tea. I would have never left my room if they didn’t have delicious dining and four onsen on premise, giving me a chance to relax in communal baths that are supplied by natural hot springs.

Dinner

Before soaking in the onsen, there was an evening meal scheduled. Dinner was not served at their on-premise restaurant, but rather in a private room set for just the three of us.

Course after course was delivered to the table until almost every inch was filled with a rainbow of deliciousness.

Definitely worth leaving my room for.

The Onsen

An onsen is a public bath house that is fed by a Japanese hot spring, and Hotel Sakan has one of the best.

Not knowing proper etiquette, I asked our host for the rules before entering the onsen, because I knew there was a high probability that nothing would be written in English (I was right!). Even so it was still a little confusing, so my plan was to just follow what everyone else was doing. Unfortunately, when I arrived there was only one other woman there and she wasn’t doing much. So I just creepily waited, pretending to need to use the sink to wash my hands and getting tiny cups of water to drink.

As others arrived, I was the ultimate copy cat.

I did as they did — got undressed, completely naked, and put all my belongings into a basket, laying my towel on top.

TAKE A SHOWER

I follow a woman into the bath facilities and saw a set of showers all in a row. Except they weren’t like Western tall ones, they were short with a tiny stool to sit on. There were about 10 stalls aligned along the wall and bare ladies sat facing that wall using a hose to spray down their bodies. I sat on my teeny stool and turned on the water to wash my entire body with the array of products they provided.

When I thought I was done and ready to leave, none of the other ladies had left their stall yet. They must have been getting extra clean! So I rewashed again and again until the first lady exited the shower. This may have been the cleanest I had ever been in my life.

THE POOLS

In this particular bath there were three pools. two indoors and one small open air. The women soaked in one for a short time, then moved on to the next. Of course, I did the same.

After the initial shock of being naked wore off, the baths were warm and peaceful — a time to reflect on the incredible Japanese Adventures that were experienced in the past week.

After my fingers were pruned, I gathered my things and headed back to my room. I laid down on the tatami mat floor and wondered how the Japanese could do without a memory foam mattress.

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Hotel Sakan | 28 Yakushi Yumoto Akiumachi Taihaku-ku, Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture | Booking & Pricing | MAP

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 My visit to Sendai was courtesy of Tohoku & Tokyo. All opinions are my own.