Notoya in Ginzan Onsen stop businees for renovation.

• Tweet
• Share
• Email
• CevherShare

• Tweet
• Share
• Email

Nostalgic world of “Spirited Away” will be faded away?

Notoya-ryokan Japanese inn, located in Ginzan Onsen, announced that they are going to close its business on July 1. Notoya-ryokan was a rare architecture constructed in the Taisho Era and has been registered as one of the national cultural properties. The owner of this old Japanese inn has tried hard to maintain and preserve its nostalgic original condition. However, it is almost 90 years past since its construction and the whole house and equipments are decrepit. They really like to preserve this cultural asset in good condition for next 50 or 100 years, so that they decided to stop business temporarily and start renovation from July 1, 2010.

Ginzan Onsen in the Showa Era.

The name of the hot spring “Ginzan”, meaning “Silver Mountain” is derived from the “Nobesawa Ginzan” which had been regarded as one of the largest silver mine during the early Edo period. There are many nostalgic western style bathhouses lined along both sides of the Ginzangawa River, which were built during the end of Taisho and the beginning of Showa Periods. The television drama “Oshin” and the anime film “Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi” made the hot spring nationally famous.

Although, the model of “Aburaya” bathhouse in the film “Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi” is not clearly specified, people believe that Notoya-ryokan in Ginzan Onsen is one of them among other existing bathhouses in Japan.

According to the article from “Wikipedia”, the free encyclopedia, “Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi” or “Sprited Away” is a 2001 Anime Film written and directed by a world famous producer, Hayao Miyazaki. The film follows a sullen ten-year-old girl named Chihiro who is in the process of moving to a new town with her family, and chronicles her adventures in a world of spirits and monsters.

Miyazaki based some of the buildings in the spirit world on the old buildings in the “Edo Tokyo Open Air Architectural Museum in Koganei, Tokyo. He often visited the museum for inspiration while working on the film. He had always been interested in the Pseudo-Western style buildings from the Meiji Era that were available there.

Renewed Notoya-ryokan will be able to start business again from in April, next year. We must keep our eyes on this old aged Japanese inn how they renovate and improve their facility. We hope that the nostalgic world of “Spirited Away” never fades away, however.

■General Information

As a certified guide-interpreter in English and also a writer of the website “Cool Japan Guide”, I would like to escort you to this wonderful world of Ginzan Onsen area.

Thank you for your kind cooperation, I am looking forward to your contacts.

Please contact to email address:  CoolToursJapan@gmail.com or miura.kiyohsi198@gmail.com

View Larger Map

Posted in Enjoy! Bathing in Onsen • • Top Of Page

(まだ評価されていません)

Loading...