This last weekend I visited Naruko Onsen with a few of my friends, and felt compelled to write a bit about my thoughts about it.

Naruko Onsen (鳴子温泉) is a quaint little village in northern Miyagi known for its hot springs. It has an abundance of hot spring baths, some very nice and some very…sad.

I like it a lot though. As is very common in small Japanese towns, there are shut down and abandoned shops and buildings here and there. The majority of the population is an elder population. There is a strong smell of sulfur in the air. Even the grandiose hot spring hotels have this strong sense of pre-bubble Japan, with outdated signs and remnants of a bygone era.

When I visit Naruko Onsen, I often find myself in a weird state of melancholy that I somewhat have come to like and occasionally yearn. I always end up thinking, how will these places continue to survive in the future? Or really more, what will Japan look like in 30 years?

I particularly love hot-springs and the culture around it. When visiting the nicer hotels, you get a sense that they’ll be alright.

But when visiting the small “mom and pop shops”, you start to gain a different perspective.

To my surprise, I noticed a new cafe opened in the little town. Modern and stylish, I was delighted. But again, I wondered of the economical hardships they might have to endure. Maybe they thought about it before hand? Maybe they have a plan for it? I wanted to support them, so of course we had lunch there, and it was quite nice! (The cafe in question: Cafe Gutto)

So it was a lovely time. The hot springs, despite the state of some of them, are still great to get into.