Gero Onsen

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Gero Onsen (????) is a hot spring town in Gifu prefecture, Japan.

	gero onsen Travel Guide : 1 Understand 2 Get in 2.1 By train 3 Get around 4 See 5 Do 6 Buy 7 Eat 8 Drink 9 Sleep 10 Contact 11 Get out 12 External links

Understand

One of Japan's Three Famous Springs (????? Nihon Sanmeisen), not to be confused with Japan's Three Great Springs and several other competing variants, Gero Onsen is classic case of how overdevelopment can ruin what must once have been a beautiful spot. The town's hot springs made their first appearance in print in the Engi Era (901-923), but the present incarnation is packed full of colossal identikit concrete hotels, dubious bars advertising nude shows and Filipina prostitutes soliciting passersby from parking lots. Visitor in search of a quieter experience would do well to select one of the many hot springs hamlets on either side of the town instead, or head to the Oku-Hida Onsen Villages instead.

And there's one more thing that has changed for the worse over the years: the characters used for Gero actually mean just "lower bath", but in modern Japanese gero is also a common slang word for "vomit". (But it could be worse: a change of a single vowel would make it geri, "diarrhea".)

Get in

By train

Gero is accessible on the JR Takayama line that connects Gifu to Hida-Takayama, and there are occasional direct trains from Nagoya (97 minutes by limited express). Trains run infrequently and you'll have to transfer at Mino-Ota unless you pony up for an express. On the plus side, the views of the valley and the Hida River below as you approach are spectacular.

Get around

Gero Onsen can be covered on foot, although if you have much luggage you'll want a taxi or arrange a pickup with your lodgings — the train station lies on the south side of the river, while most hotels are across the long bridge to the north.

See

There are nice mountain views on the way in to Gero, a few distinctly ordinary temples, and one attraction:

• Gassho Village (??? Gassh?-mura). A traditional-style village with thatched-roof gassh?-zukuri (hands in prayer) houses. At least one house is authentic, having been constructed in the mid-1800s, and later relocated here to escape being submerged behind a dam. You can paint pottery and make paper yourself, and they will mail your handiwork back to you for an additional fee. There are displays of traditional festivals, and a museum of guardian-dog statues (??) used at shrines. Admission is ¥800. To get there from the station, take a 5 minute/¥150 bus ride (buses run about once per hour), taxi for the base fare, about ¥650, or walk, about 20 minutes.

Do

As you'd expect in a hot spring town, the major attraction in Gero is to soak in hot springs. An easy way to sample a number of them is to buy the Yu-meguri Tegata (??????) pass, a wooden amulet sold all over Gero. This will get you into 3 hot springs of your choice from a choice of over 20 for the flat price of ¥1200, which can be used up at your own pace as you'll get a stamp each time you visit.

• Foot baths (?? ashiyu) are popular in Gero, as the waters are reputed to have curative properties. True to the name, you just take off your shoes and sit down with your feet in the water. A number of free foot baths can be found around town, including the decidedly tacky Venus Foot Bath in front of the Shirasagi Hotel — no prizes for guessing what the statue in the middle is doing.

• A giant hot water pool (???? notenburo) can be found to the west side of the bridge, with access via the south side. Note that there are no facilities to speak of and the bathing area is mixed and clearly visible to passersby on the bridge above, but admission is also free so you get what you pay for.

Buy

Eat

Drink

Sleep

• Izumi-s? (????). Yunoshima 212, tel. 0576-25-3160. A pleasant surprise, this new lodge looks unprepossessing from the outside but is traditionally decorated on the inside and has some small but nice rotenburo outdoor baths too. The downside is the location at the far western edge of town, a fair 15-minute hike on foot from the station. Room and full board from ¥8000 per night per person.

• Suimeikan (???). Tel. 0576-25-2800, 1 (http://www.suimeikan.co.jp/). This large upscale ryokan is a 3-minute walk from the station. With various restaurants, a large souvenir shop, and athletic facilities, it may not be necessary to leave the hotel to visit the town. There are three onsens including one rotenburo. This hotel has conference facilities.

Contact

• Gero's small tourist office, next to the station, can help you book if you arrive with no reservation.

Get out

External links

• Gero Onsen (http://www.gero-spa.or.jp/english/)

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