The Inn and the Night at the Kinosaki Onsen Workation

"Kinosaki Onsen Workation Retreat," which I wrote about in the first installment, is a name I came up with myself. Officially, it is probably called "Kinosaki Onsen Winter Retreat." That name was written in the retreat guide, so it should be accurate as a source. Still, I deliberately want to call it the "Kinosaki Onsen Workation Retreat."

For what a workation is, there is a definition in, for example, a PDF published by the Japan Tourism Agency. If I classify this retreat based on that definition, it seems like a style somewhere between the "satellite office type" and the "retreat type."

Personally, when considering whether something feels like a workation, I think travel distance plays a major role. For example, the vacation feeling that someone from Chiba gets from "Atami" seems very different from the vacation feeling that someone from Shizuoka gets from "Atami." In my own case, "Atami" is where I have relatives, and it is also the kind of place I would visit on a neighborhood association trip, so it does not feel all that much like a vacation.

However, to someone from Chiba, Kinosaki Onsen is far away and is a major vacation destination packed tightly with hot springs.

This series is planned to have four installments.

• I Joined the Kinosaki Onsen Workation Retreat
• The Inn and the Night at the Kinosaki Onsen Workation (this article)
• Morning Bath and Breakfast at the Kinosaki Onsen Workation
• Trying to Build an App for VisionOS (Kinosaki Onsen Workation Results Slides)

For the second installment, "The Inn and the Night at the Kinosaki Onsen Workation," I mainly want to talk about the accommodation.

As the name Kinosaki Onsen suggests, there are ryokan inns all over town. However, this time, and last time as well, we did not stay at a ryokan. In Kinosaki Onsen, there is a whole-house rental called "Kinoie." Because it is a whole-house rental, its appeal is that you can run the retreat much more freely than you could at a ryokan.

"Kinoie" is a two-story house. The first floor has a living room, a kitchen, and a proper cooking area. The living room has a large TV, a built-in screen, and a projector, making it more than sufficient for presenting the results of the retreat. Wi-Fi is also available, and this year the connection speed was apparently improved, so it can handle a reasonable amount of online meetings as well.

The second floor has about two rooms, each with beds and futons. Eight of us stayed there this time, and it was more than spacious enough. There are toilets on both the first and second floors, which is reassuring even when timing overlaps.

The kitchen is stocked with various dishes, cooking tools, seasonings, pots, and portable gas stoves. Last year, because of the season, we could not eat crab, but this time it was the season for "Matsuba crab," so we decided to make hot pot together at night.

You can buy "Matsuba crab" all over town, but if you are buying it while staying at "Kinoie," I recommend "Okesho Sengyo," which is less than a minute away on foot.

I would like to say that various kinds of seafood, starting with "Matsuba crab," were lined up at the storefront, but unfortunately, or rather conversely, there was almost nothing on display other than "Matsuba crab." Even so, we were able to buy several kinds of seafood for the hot pot. Seafood such as "Matsuba crab" can also be prepared for hot pot at the storefront for an extra fee. Since we surely would not know what to do with still-living "Matsuba crab," we had them prepare it for us.

Even so, whether the price was reasonable or not, I really do not know, but "Matsuba crab" is extremely expensive. Maybe that is just how it is, or maybe it is tourist-area pricing. The price differs between a complete crab and one missing some legs, and the latter is called "ashi-ochi," or missing legs. In the end, we bought two "ashi-ochi" Matsuba crabs.

Actually, another good thing about the location of "Kinoie" is not only that it is close to the fish shop, but also that there is a tofu shop next door where you can buy tofu, which is essential for hot pot. At "Hasegawa Tofu Shop," you can buy tofu floating in a nostalgic old-style water tank. In addition, sweets such as tofu doughnuts are also lined up at the storefront. The downside is that it opens in the morning and closes by noon. If you want to go, you should properly check the opening hours beforehand.

When there are eight participants, there is usually at least one person who is good at cooking. This time as well, there was someone who was good at cutting vegetables, which was a great help. Those of us who were not good at cooking worked hard on cleanup and other tasks while enjoying an exceptionally delicious hot pot.

At first I thought we had only bought two "Matsuba crab," but the hot pot ended up being much larger than expected, to the point that one crab leg was still left at the end.