*Click Here for Day #3 of our New Year’s Road Trip in Japan.

We got up around 7:00 and got packed up to start Day #4 of our New Year’s Road Trip in Japan. The night before we didn’t have a chance to try either of Yunotsu Onsen’s two famous onsen. So, we decided to hit one up before heading out. We went to Motoyu Onsen which was located just down the street from Travel Inn Kiunso.

Motoyu Onsen

The onsen was pretty small. There was an attendant at the front who took our entrance fee. Inside there were a dozen or so cubies for our clothes and personal belongings. We liked the wooden walls and ceiling. Combined with the lights, it made the changing room very bright. The bathing area was in close proximity to the baths themselves. We sat on the ground and washed ourselves with small buckets of water.

There were three tubs to soak in. Each had water at a different temperature. One of them was way to hot, even touching it with our hands produced a sharp reaction. The second was still really hot. I was able to get in and soak my body for a couple seconds before getting out. The third was much more comfortable and I stayed in there for over a minute. It was interesting to see the large concentration of minerals that had built up over time on the floor and walls of the tubs. We’re glad we got to try Motoyu Onsen. It definitely had a more communal atmosphere to it, in the sense that locals come here to hang out and chat in addition to taking a bath.

We finished up with our bath and got checked out of the hotel. We were able to head out by 8:00.

Senjojiki

We made our way southwest along the coast. We passed by a number of quaint seaside towns and villages. Along the way we stopped a couple of times to view the ocean and some interesting rock formations. We drove for about three and a half hours before reaching Senjojiki. The views from the highland were absolutely beautiful. They also had this large bungee structure that was fun to climb up and quite high off the ground.

Country Kitchen

We had a delicious lunch at Country Kitchen. We then jumped back in the car and made our way to Motonosumi Inari Shrine. It was a short 10 minute drive. As we got closer, the road was pretty narrow and we had to pull over a couple of times to let oncoming traffic go by.

Motonosumi Inari Shrine

The design of the parking lot was very interesting. It was situated on a terraced hill with multiple levels. There was a decent amount of car parking, as well as a section for buses. They also had a second parking lot that was a bit of a walk from the shrine. Fortunately, we went in the off season and were able to park in the main lot.

We made our way to the shrine and passed through a small souvenir shop. We first went up a fairly steep ramp to check out the shrine. One unique thing about this shrine was that the tori gate had a osaisenbako (offering box) near the top. We saw many people trying to throw their ¥5 coins into it. We joined in and were able to get it after a couple of tries. Our recommended technique was an underhanded toss, as we believed it was the most accurate. We saw a number of people struggling with overhand throws.

Motonosumi Inari Shrine Goshuincho

The goshuincho area was located in a separate stand alone building on the side. There were five to choose from. Each of them represented a different value like love, victory, luck, happiness, and wealth. We decided to go with luck and wealth. Interestingly, there was no set price and the sign said to pay whatever we thought was fair. We decided to pay ¥300 each as that was going rate we’ve seen.

We then headed over to the main spectacle. The sight was very beautiful. This shrine was known for their large number of tori gates. Comparable to Fushimi Inari Taisha in Kyoto, 123 tori gates were placed in close proximity to each other to create a “tori gate tunnel”. We especially liked the contrast between the red tori gates, the green foliage, and the blue ocean waters. We headed down the path and came to a nice open area.

Ryugu Wave Splash

We also got a good view of and felt the power of the Ryugu Wave Splash. Whenever a large wave crashed against the coast, a unique rock formation caused a large amount of mist to spray in the air. It was pretty windy, so the spray travelled pretty far. We felt it as we were walking through the tori gates. We also saw the waves crashing over a man made barrier that protected the small fishing port of Tsuo. It must be scary in stormy weather, as it was a clear day and the waves were already crashing over it.

On the way out we decided to try some of yuzukichi soft serve ice cream. It was really good. It had a light key lime pie type flavor. We would definitely recommend trying some.

Milch

We were running a little short on time, so we decided to book it to Yufuin in Oita Prefecture. It was a long three hour drive, thankfully the scenery was beautiful. We got into Yufuin just before dark. Our goal was to try the souffle cheese cake from Milch which was just down the street from Yufuin Station. Unfortunately, they had already sold out by the time we got there. We settled with a Paris Brest which was a delicious strawberry and custard cream puff with a flakey on the outside and soft on the inside bun.

Yufumabushi Shin

After our quick snack, we had a wonderful mabushi meal at Yufumabushi Shin. The meat was flavorful and super tender. We would highly recommend if your planning to go to Yufuin.

After dinner we headed to our lodging for the night at Yufuin Besso Shikisai Hotel. We were pretty tired by the time we got to the hotel. We took a quick bath in their onsen and called it a night.

Final Thoughts

We did close to seven hours of driving during Day #4 of our New Year’s Road Trip in Japan, which was straining. Fortunately, we started early enough in the day and were able to knock out a good portion of it in the morning. Time seemed to pass by quickly as the scenery was mesmerizingly beautiful and the traffic was pretty light. We really enjoyed Senjojiki. We’d like to come back in the future and try camping at the campground. It was quite cool and windy, so the temperature must be more mild in the summer. Yufuin was comparable to Kinosaki in that we could easily see ourselves spending an entire day exploring the town. There was also a lot of nature spots in the greater Yufuin area that we’d like to check out in the future.

More to Come…

*Click Here for Day #5 of our New Year’s Road Trip in Japan.