Kai Izumo
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In a small town just outside Matsue, called Tamatsukuri, we stayed at the lovely Kai Izumo. The Kai Izumo is a high-end ryokan that takes the traditional aspects and design of a ryokan and melds it with a more modern feel.
Tamatsukuri lies just one train stop west of Matsue on the southern shore of Lake Shinji. Like many small towns, it clutches along the banks of a small river. The main street follows the river on the east bank and a pedestrian walking path on the west. All along the river a series of tiny bridges cross over to the buildings on the sides.
The Kai Izumo lies near the north end of the town just a few minute ride from the nearby train station. As soon as we arrived we were greeted by a member of the staff who helped us bring our bags in. We were seated at a table that looked out over the garden and the bridge that connects the entrance to the area with the rooms. Here we were checked in and asked when we would want to eat breakfast and dinner. During our brief check in, we noticed some shadows through the paper partition near the ceiling that looked cute bunny silhouettes.
As we were taken to our room, we were shown all the amenities the Kai Izumo has to offer. From the front desk area we crossed over a small pond via a bridge leading to the guest rooms. The layout of the ryokan wraps around a central garden area with the front desk and restaurant on one end and the rooms and the public onsen on the other. The ryokan has two public onsen, one for men and one for women. Across from the onsen entrance is the yuagari lounge with a couch and two massage chairs that look out into the interior courtyard. They even have a freezer filled with ice cream bars of various flavors.
Each night, the Kai Izumo staff perform in an iwami kagura (mythological storytelling performance) that is from the local prefecture. This particular iwami kagura is about the eight-headed serpent called Yamata no Orochi and how it was slain by the god Susano-o. The show was entirely acted out with motions and used no words. It was quite interesting to watch, and we highly recommend it to everyone. We didn’t realize that it was the staff who performed it until the end when the actors removed their masks and we saw that Susano-o was the staff member who attended to us during dinner.
Our room had a very traditional layout for a ryokan. At the door is an entryway where we took off our shoes before stepping up onto the main level of the room that is covered in tatami mats. Slippers were included at the entryway for us to use around the ryokan. The main section of the room had a table and chairs for us to sit at. A full bathroom is attached to the main room. This ryokan offered something that the others didn’t, a side room with a built in kotatsu (a low table with a blanket and a built-in heat source used to keep you warm when it’s cold out). Since it was the end of spring and quite warm, the kotatsu wasn’t set up. Next to the kotatsu room were two steps down leading to the sliding glass door to the outside. Wood slippers are set for us to wear on the patio. The outside was a small fenced area that had a covered deck with our private onsen.
One of the most enticing parts of this private onsen is that it was always full of hot water, so we could hop in whenever we wanted. Any time we looked out at it we would see steam rising off the surface, even in the warm afternoon, constantly beckoning us to take a relaxing soak. The water is very hot, so we recommend using the small bucket to scoop and pour the water onto yourself before getting in to allow your body to adjust to the temperature. This particular onsen had a faucet that allowed us to add cold water if we thought it was too hot.
Since the Kai Izumo is a ryokan, they provide traditional Japanese-style breakfast and a kaiseki dinner. Each meal was different from the previous, and it was always a treat to see what we would be getting to eat that night when we arrived at the restaurant. Rather than go into detail about every meal, we’ll show a few pictures of each. Overall, everything was very good. There are a few pieces that used ingredients that we weren’t huge fans of (looking at you sea urchin). But that’s the fun of trying out these traditional meals, you get exposed to so many different types of foods and how to prepare them.
Our kaiseki dinners consisted of nine and ten different courses.
The Japanese breakfasts each morning are much simpler but are still very good.
Overall, the Kai Izumo is a very nice higher-end ryokan with an attentive, friendly, and helpful staff. They were always very prompt and gave us even more special attention since Taylor was still recovering from the sprained ankle he had sustained the previous day. The room we had was in immaculate condition and blended the traditional Japanese traveler’s inn with a more modern feel. Our only complaint about the room is a rather nitpicky one: it didn’t have a view from the onsen, but this was due to how private it was with the walls and patio covering. The onsen itself was such a treat, and we look forward to using one again when the weather is a bit chillier and we can appreciate it more. While the rooms were quite traditional, other than a few minor features, the ryokan itself was very modern. On a purely aesthetic level, we would have preferred it to have a more traditional appearance overall. The food we had, be it either a simple Japanese breakfast or an elaborate multi-course kaiseki dinner, were all exquisite and vastly different each time. We would definitely recommend this or any of the other Kai ryokans to anyone.
Google Maps Link: Kai Izumo
