A Birthday and A Bare Soak in Kii Katsuura

My heart was still pounding on the ferry, even though I knew the dogs chasing us only minutes earlier were left on shore in Kii Katsuura.

Being chased by stray dogs was not something I anticipated on this Kumano Kodo pilgrimage, but such is life. If there was a lesson to it, I wasn’t ready to learn it.

On the ferry, my mind wandered. It was the last leg of our Kumano Kodo pilgrimage, day five. We still had a 3+km hike to Nachi Katsuura tomorrow, which Fafa had been trying to convince me to take the bus to instead, but that was an afterthought in my mind then.

The day after was my birthday, and all I could think about (after my heart returned to a regular beat) was that I was about to celebrate it in my favourite corner of the world!!

A Night in Kumano-bettei Nakanoshima Resort in Kii Katsuura

Soon after, the ferry docked in front of a resort by the water, our accommodation for the night, Kumano-bettei Nakanoshima.

A few hotel staff members came to greet us and took our backpacks from our hands. Under different circumstances, I would insist on carrying it myself, but imagine running with a 30kg backpack while being chased by a pack of strays after a long day of walking; you would appreciate the gesture.

During check-in, the staff apologized for the miscommunication when I called earlier, confirming that there is no way of reaching the resort from the mainland by foot (which you might want to take note of in case you are booking Kumano-bettei Nakanoshima after reading this post).

We then confirmed our dinner time – 8 PM, breakfast time – 7 AM, and the time we wanted to be picked up by the ferry the next day – 8:20 AM. Confirming timing and schedule while checking in accommodations in Japan is a pretty common practice, and I love it as it makes everything more efficient.

They also invited us for free refreshments and Umeshu in the main lobby near the entrance starting at 5:30 PM. Free flow of Umeshu? It seemed like my kind of birthday eve, alright! After an exchange of “Enjoy your stay” and “Arigato,” we made our way to the room on the third floor.

Japanese-style corner room

It was a fancy Japanese-style room, a splurge for my birthday and the last stay during our Kumano Kodo Pilgrimage, which I agreed to only after Fafa pushed me a few times. And I’m glad he did. The room was beautiful, with stunning views from two separate big windows on two separate balconies. It also had two entrance areas, a separate bathroom, shower, and powder room, along with a huge tatami room as the main room. It featured a huge TV, paintings, a massage chair, a fridge, and a shoe cupboard that was bigger than my clothes cupboard back home.

If we were staying for more than a night, I would very much like to spend the whole day in this room, but with very limited time, I did what I loved the most in Japanese accommodation: checked out the in-house onsen.

After enjoying the small refreshment and green tea waiting for us in the main tatami room, I replaced my hiking gear with a Yukata (and triple-tied the ribbon so it wouldn’t come undone in public), said goodbye to Fafa (who opted to stay in), and made my way to the first floor.

Soaking in Onsen in Kii Katsura

To reach the onsen, I had to walk down a super long corridor, go through a tunnel, and emerge at another site where the onsen was located. After checking the noren for the “Female” sign, I made my way in and was surprised by the size of the place. I was expecting it to be spacious, but this one was huge and could easily accommodate more than fifty guests comfortably.

It had a wall of different shampoo and soap dispensers and other fancy beauty products. It was my kind of heaven. I quickly changed, avoiding eye contact, and went inside.

I always wonder how Japanese women perceive me and my brown ass. Because as far as I know, even though there are tourists in Japan, not many of them use the onsen or are comfortable bathing naked. Even then, from personal experience, I have only seen white foreigners but never brown ones. And truly, going to the onsen would be less anxiety-inducing whenever I am with my friends; going alone (even though I have done it plenty) is still pretty daunting. All these thoughts were running through my mind when I got naked and made my way inside the bathing area.

To my delight, it was empty! My good luck, I guess. So, I quickly and thoroughly showered to clean myself before soaking in the 36-degree water.

After a while, I went to check out the outdoor onsen. It was in the open air, and I had to wear a funny-looking bathing gown provided by the hotel for all the guests.

There, I got the answer for the empty bath inside. Everyone was there, soaking, chit-chatting, and relaxing by the seawater.

The outdoor onsen was separated into a few sections based on the water’s heat, but I didn’t really notice the difference in the changing temperature – I tried all of them, and I was curious.

A Soak and A Show Somewhere in Kii Katsuura

I also made a friend, a middle-aged woman from LA. We introduced ourselves, and she went on to say that it was her second time in Kii Katsuura, staying in the same resort, which got me interested. Then, she nonchalantly explained that she and her husband love Japan and that she has been to Japan at least twenty-five times (and I thought my eight times were excessive) because she loves exploring small towns in Japan. I finally met my hero!!! We continued our chitchat while soaking in 40-degree water.

Mid-conversation, I heard someone yelling, “Are those dolphins?!” while pointing at jumping fish a few meters from us. Apparently, the resort was also a dolphin sanctuary, and it was feeding time, so I got to enjoy the dolphins’ acrobatics while soaking in a tiny island in Kii Katsuura. Happy birthday to me, indeed.

Soon after, I bid goodbye to my role model and made my way to the free flow of Umeshu waiting for me.

Umeshu Tribe

By the time I joined Fafa in the lobby, it was almost full, with mostly yukata-wearing guests. Thankfully, we managed to get a table between two middle-aged couples—local and foreign. Fafa went hunting and came back with Umeshu on ice (for me), with soda (for him), and delicious tiny crackers. Though we could not chit-chat much due to the close proximity to other people and lack of personal space, the ambience was still pretty cozy.

You know when, at times, you realize you are in a safe space, in a place where you belong? Well, I felt the same in that lobby, surrounded by people who were equally tipsy or drunk. These were my people—my tribe. I don’t remember how many Umeshu top-ups we had when the hotel staff came to inform me that the private onsen I requested was available at that moment and asked whether I wanted to use it.

The Private Onsen

Since it’s a private onsen, Fafa decided to join me. The private onsen is located near the guests’ onsen but has a different entrance and floor. There were two of them side by side but completely separated. Inside the private onsen, there was a small changing room followed by another room where you could bathe before getting into the indoor tub or going outside.

We didn’t want to waste any time (the booking was 3000 Yen for 50 minutes). We quickly showered and went out to check the outdoor onsen – naked, which I thought was fine as the resort was surrounded by sea, and it was a private onsen, after all.

However, after a few minutes of taking in the surroundings, I realized there was another resort on the other side, attached to the shore, facing our resort. We could kinda see them from our side. And from the look of it, through the thousand windows it has, the people in that resort could see us too. At least with binoculars or a phone with better-zooming power than an iPhone.

I tried to rationalize that it wouldn’t be the case, as the hotel staff would have warned us. To make sure, I went inside to check whether there was an instruction inside. Apparently, yes, it was clearly written on a printed and laminated instruction to wear bathing gowns provided when using the outside onsen. So I wore mine and came out to warn Fafa, who shrugged and said, “It’s okay; it’s too late for me.“

If I were to pick only one thing as the highlight of my stay in Kii Katsuura, it would be the private onsen experience I shared with Fafa. Even then, I knew and reminded myself it was a moment to savour – or as the French call it, Profiter. We talked, we took pics, we zoned out. Fifty minutes went by. We dressed and made our way to the second-best thing about this place: dinner.

8 Course Dinner

Dinner was at the resort restaurant, Kumano No Megumi. We had muscat and boiled prawns and salmon roe, grated radish dressed with sweet vinegar and figs wrapped in prosciutto hom made from tuna for an appetizer.

Next was Sashimi – served on a dry ice bed inside a lacquer box – tuna from the Kumano area. It was followed by steamed abalone, lotus root, and yam topped with yuzu peel.

The hot pot dish was of thinly sliced beef meat from the Kumano area served Shabu-Shabu style with onion, green onion, garland chrysanthemum and turnips. This was my favourite from the course.

After that, we had Inari sushi of chopped conger eel. This was my least favourite, maybe because I am not a fan of all generally, but the Shiitake mushrooms and sweet, thin fried tofu placed on top of sushi helped to elevate the taste a bit.

For the main dish, we had grilled yellowtail born in the Kumano area marinated in miso sauce and lily root mixed with plum and tuna flakes. It’s Accompanied by rice cooked with Kumano chicken sweet potato and burdock (using the ancient rice “Izanami” produced in Kumano) and an assortment of Japanese pickles.

For dessert, we had the savoury miso soup of taro and tofu skin and sweet Fruit punch with jelly made from mandarin oranges produced in Kumano with blueberry produced in Kumano.

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I planned to write in my journal that night, but the moment my head hit the pillow, I was lulled to sleep by the sound of waves outside our window.

Onsen, Cake and Breakfast

I woke up super early the next day to check out the onsen one last time, knowing it would be the final onsen of this trip and possibly for another year or so. Also, starting my birthday with an onsen soak is what my dream is made of. This time, I tried the other two onsens, inside and outside, as the hotel switched it daily so both genders could experience all four different onsens.

All soaked up and relaxed, I went back for some last-minute packing and, more importantly, to have the birthday cake that Fafa got from a bakery, Fukusukedou Sweet, near Kii Katsuura station the day before – kudos to him for not smashing the cake inside the box while running away from the stray dogs.

After the cake and tons of selfies, we went down to eat our breakfast leisurely.

Wishing and Thankful in front of Hakurya Okami Shrine

The last thing I did before leaving the island was pay respects to the mini shrine inside the resort, Hakurya Okami. This shrine worships the Dragon Snake. It’s believed that the dragon’s spirit brings safety and the abundance of fish in the sea, and the shedding of the dragon snake skin symbolises growth and vitality in life. Initially, the shrine was in the deep forest of this island, but then it was moved to the resort to protect and guide the living beings here. The Dragon Snake God is also prayed to for good fortune and granting wishes.

I did a quick prayer, thanking the Universe and the Dragon Snake for the beautiful start of my birthday, for the chance to stay in Kii Katsuura, for Fafa, and for the Kumano Kodo Pilgrimage. Lastly, for the stray dogs not to be there when we reach the shore later today.

Time flies when you’re having fun – that’s exactly how I feel about my just past age and the past few hours because before I knew it, the ferry had arrived, waiting to take us back to the shore. As before, we were given a royal goodbye by the resort staff, who came out to wave to us until we were out of sight.

Next stop: Nachi Falls.

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