Teisui

I pre-booked a hotel hi-ace from Oga station to the hotel. When I got off the station, I saw people holding placards of various hotels and inns. When I got in the car at the hotel, I was asked if I wanted to go along the shoreline (40 minutes) or the mountains (Namahage Highway, 30 minutes), so I asked them to go along the shoreline, as this was my first time. It was very good. Amenities such as brushes, shaves and ear-painting swabs are selected and taken with the check-in foron. Toothbrushes, hair fastenings, shaving cream and skin lotion were provided in the room. 　It said the hot springs were radium hot springs and brown because they contained iron. There were no railings in the private bath. Because the water was brown, it was easy to enter from the opposite side of the surface where the hot water enters, but I could not see it. I went to take a private bath at the facility, but the color of the water was clear. It was because of filtration and circulation. It was quiet in the room, and I couldn't hear my neighbor at all. 　There was a sofa in the room, but the sofa was short, and in order to watch TV, it was not a sofa, but only a seat, and there was no backrest, so he could lie down and not watch TV, and he could not relax. 　We were led to a guest room-like place on the opposite side of the guest room for dinner. It was like filling up after eating 16 appetizers set. Breakfast was also delicious. However, I texted him that I was the only one allergic to crustaceans and could not eat crabs, but my wife and children had the same diet. I would have liked you to listen to me a little bit more beforehand by email. The food was delicious, but since I came all the way to the Oga Peninsula, I wanted my wife and children to eat crab and other Sea of Japan dishes. The view outside was very beautiful, although I couldn't see the setting sun, but I could see Toga Bay getting dark. The starry sky was also very beautiful. 　He drove me out of the hotel to go to the GAO, and he followed me to the entrance of the aquarium (it took about three minutes). I booked a sightseeing taxi from the aquarium in Oga City, but the taxi was only available by appointment in Oga City (about 25,000 yen for three hours). 　When I asked the front desk about the Namahage dolls in the facility, they were made to order by the landlady (3500 yen per piece). 　The baths and meals were very good, so I think people will think differently, but I hope to continue to expect hospitality that is close to the feelings of the guests rather than superficial service.

Teisui is one of the most polarizing properties we've experienced in Japan. On the one hand, the fact that anything even remotely approaching luxury in the Oga Peninsula of Akita Prefecture should be applauded. The views from the rooms are breathtaking. The hazel-colored onsen bath is soothing. Finally, the story behind the perserverance of the Okami (proprietress) is reason enough to root for the ryokan's success. On the other hand, service is uneven, the food is merely "good" and some of the rooms are not ones we'd ever choose to stay in. Net-net: If we were simply staying here as purely a ryokan experience and did not have intimate interactions with the Okami-san, this likely would have been one of the more underwhelming properties that we will have experienced. First, some background about Teisui that we gleaned from our lengthy conversations with the Okami, Emiko Hirabayashi: Teisui was established in 1992, under a different name, as a midrange boutique hotel. As a result of Oga's remoteness and Japan's economic crash, the owners closed up shop shortly thereafter. It wasn't until 2014 that Emiko's husband, who is based in Tokyo and owns various businesses, decided to purchase and revitalize the property at the urging of a business partner. After attempts by three different GMs to turn the fledgling hotel into a profitable enterprise, he was about to give up when, in 2017 his wife Emiko decided to take on the challenge. She was all set to give up when she learned of the declining onsen quantity from a nearby source that she was reliant upon, and the double whammy of COVID all but made it such that Teisui's future as an ongoing business concern was in major doubt. Her husband's encouragement, however, prompted Emiko to make a bold last stand and double down on Teisui. First, she spent almost a million dollars to dig for an onsen source on site - she hit the jackpot; it was not only viable for bathing, the onsen was also of the rare, brown-ish variety. Second, between 2022 and 2024 she spent $5 million to refresh the building's exterior to a more modern appearance and refurbish the lobby, lounge and all guest rooms. While Teisui still is not operationally in the black, Emiko told us it's getting close, and through continued (good) work of mouth and a bit more guests, she has hopes that it can break even within the next few years. All along, Emiko's goal has been to establish Teisui as a beacon of hope for the locals that strive to increase Oga's stature as a tourist destination, and eventually hand it off to someone who shares the same vision. She does intend to return to Tokyo someday, but not until she finishes what she started. Emiko is also involved in various community projects and organizations, including the protection of the local flora and fauna, and hopes to start a cattle ranch on the peninsula as well. As far as Teisui goes, she hopes to further train the staff members into full-fledged "omotenashi" experts (she admits they're not there yet) and then - in about 5 hours - begin a marketing program aimed to attract foreign guests. Right now, she isn't prioritizing non-Japanese (a handful of Taiwanese people stay each month, mainly due to a twice-weekly flight between Taipei and Akita), and there are no English-speaking staff currently at the ryokan. Finally, she would then like to completely rebuild each of the guest rooms to make them larger, most comfortable, and have balconies with open-air onsen in every single room. If we had not learned about Teisui's story, we would have considered the ryokan as an uneven experience, especially on the hard product side. For a property with just 10 guest rooms, the building is HUGE - there is a ton of empty space, the lounge has way more chairs and tables than necessary, and there are floors and corridors that are completely unused. And while we felt our room was clean, contemporary and comfortable, we took a tour of some other rooms that had some severe shortcomings. For instance, our 77m² Nishinokaze suite, while a bit tight, had an incredible balcony with wondrous views of the ocean and bay, and the brown-ish onsen was wonderful - it's straight from the source and not filtered (it's worth noting that the public and private rental baths are clear onsen due to the onsen being treated and recirculated there.) On the other hand, Kitanokaze is the 92m² "special room" that is anything but special. It already looks tired, has no balcony, the windows are not floor-to-ceiling, and there is no bath in the room at all. I can't imagine anyone who would willingly choose Kitanokaze over Nishinokaze. If you're intending to book Nishinokaze, be careful - there are two room categories that share the same name, with the only difference being the inclusion of "special room" next to the larger suite (if it's not a "special room", it really becomes a small room.) But my god, the view.... the sweeping landscape and seascape that's visible from our room was glorious - from the capes to the nearby reefs, they were all visible in an unobstructed way. There was even a lighthouse on nearby Tomi Island that was reminicent of those on Prince Edward Island and Cape Cod. It all looked like something that would have come from a Monet painting. We can only imagine how incredible it would have been if not for hazy conditions that persisted during our stay. While we didn't have a ton of interaction with other staffers, we found them to be a bit timid - perhaps as a result of inexperience? Or maybe that's just Teisui's style - keep a relaxed distance until called upon? At dinner, the server could not explain many of the appetizers in great detail and quickly called on Emiko to step in and explain. Initially, Emiko seemed a bit cold, robotic and inflexible. We asked if she could have hurigana written where there is kanji on the menu - she started writing on the menu, but quickly stopped when the second course was brought out by a different server and never returned to finishing the menu. Also, when the Beni Zuwai-gani (Red Snow Crab) was brought out, Mrs. KI-NRT asked if someone could take the meat off the crab since she only had one functioning arm at the time. Emiko initially said "no", but eventually agreed to do so after our further pleading. It wasn't until midway through dinner that I learned that she was the Okami, and only after I asked her name and what her role was at the ryokan. Throughout the rest of dinner as well as the following morning, we spent quality time chatting with her, learning a great deal about Oga as well as her future plans and dreams. She was very engaging in our heart-to-heart exchanges, and even gave us a tour of the entire property, including other guest rooms. She is clearly proud of what she's achieved Back to dinner: While everything was of high quality, we didn't come away from the meal basking in the glow of the experience. Many of the ingredients were of high quality - the local Beni Zuwai-gani (Red Snow Crab) from Oga was excellent, as was the Abalone that was served on a hot plate. But they were served in a traditional manner - steamed and sauteed, respectively. The Zensai (appetizers) featured a stunning 16 different small bites; that's a bit too much at one time, in my opinion. It's hard to savor each little appetizer when you've forgotten what everything was that was just explained. Finally, the Horsehead fish that was deep-fried with its scales intact resulted in a crispy, tempura-like texture that was a nice compliment to the Unagi (eel) and Akita Komachi-branded steamed rice. The finale, however, was a bit of a downer: green tea ice cream. It was good, but it's still... matcha ice cream. I would forgive them if we were being served in Kyoto or Shizuoka or somewhere that's known for tea production, but Akita is not one of those places. When applying luxury ryokan standards to Teisui, it falls short - the service isn't anticipatory and doesn't make you feel like royalty, and the interiors are simple with nary a flower arrangement or art installation on site. The bathroom has no amenities; you take what you need from the front desk, and none of items are of super high quality. And while I appreciate Emiko's passion, I do feel she has a level of stubbornness that might hinder the success of Teisui. She has her own idea of a great guest experience, but I think some of it is naive - she says Teisui's food is the absolute best, and the lack of amenities in the rooms help reduce waste... if guest reviews on Japanese sites are any indication, she's well on her way in turning Teisui into an award-winning luxury ryokan. But the Omotenashi aspect needs some work for Teisui to realize its potential.

The views from the room and the dining area were amazing, and we especially enjoyed the most spectacular views at dinner time, as the sun was setting. The food was also excellent. It was a shame that our room was a Japanese-style room and there was no bed, but the table by the window was sunken so we could put our feet up like a kotatsu, and there was a chair in the room, so that was helpful.