The BEST hot spring ever!
They have long history. If you have time please have a look below;
Takamiya was founded in 1716 (the first year of the Kyoho era) in the mid-Edo period, the year Tokugawa Yoshimune became the eighth shogun.
The shogunate was in the midst of the Kyoho Reforms, which restructured its finances and reorganized its governing structure. These reforms also reached the provinces, and a document from 1717, the Takayu Village Memorandum, states, "At the time, there was a hot spring inn in Takayu Village. Under austerity measures, business struggled, and the inn suffered a second major fire following the one in the Shotoku era, leaving it in poverty. However, it somehow managed to recover."
Hotta Masaaki, lord of the Yamagata domain, took notice of Takayu Village, home to abundant sulfurous hot springs, and sought to revitalize the economy. He gave the area around Takayu, including the southern Yamagata region at the foot of the mountain, his surname, Hotta, and named it "Hotta Village." Takayu Village was subsequently renamed "Hotta Village Takayu," laying the foundation for its development into the major tourist destination it is today.
In the late Edo period, commerce flourished and pilgrimages to Ise Shrine became popular. This led to increased mobility among the populace, and the number of inns and lodgings increased throughout the region.
A portable woodblock-printed booklet called the "Azuma Ko Akindo Kagami" (A Guide to Merchants) was published, and inns displaying a wooden sign reading "Azuma Ko" were highly valued, as they offered attentive hospitality and comfort to ordinary travelers.
Takayu Onsen, in particular, is featured with a striking illustration of the scenery.
In addition to the name "Yahei," which identifies the current Takamiya Ryokan, the booklet lists the names of 14 other hot spring inns, confirming their trustworthiness.
With the appearance of booklets like this, travel became more widespread, and many travelers began to visit the deep mountain areas of Takayu Onsen.
At the time the Azuma Ko Akindo Kagami was published, the owner of Takamiya was Yahei Shigetomo, the ninth head of the Okazaki family. In 1836 (Tenpo 7), the villagers were hit by a nationwide famine that left approximately 100,000 people dead. Shigenobu considered the hardships faced by the villagers due to successive tragedies, as well as the ideal way to run the hot spring inn, and offered guidelines for his descendants to follow in the family business. He planted 9,999 cedar seedlings on his private property.
He deliberately omitted one cedar seedling from every 10,000, signaling the effort to plant just one more. In other words, he left behind a message of never being satisfied with the status quo, always thinking about the future, and never slacking off.
In 1859 (Ansei 6), he wrote a document consisting of eight sections entitled "Gardening Instructions." This document of admonitions left by Shigenobu has been passed down as a family heirloom for generations of the Okazaki family and has been put to great use in the management of the inn.
Many members of the imperial family, writers, and poets favored Takamiya and made it their regular lodging.
Prince Mikasa was the guest in 1941 (Showa 16), and Prince Takamatsu in 1950. The following year, when he was still Crown Prince, the former Emperor stayed at our inn for four days with three of his school friends.
We have also welcomed notable VIPs such as literary figures Kikuchi Kan and Fukada Kyuya, and triple Winter Olympic gold medalist Tony Sailer, and we will continue to cherish our spirit of hospitality.
Celebrating its 300th anniversary in 2016, Miyamaso Takamiya will continue to operate as a long-established inn, forever remembering the reliability and spirit of hospitality that we have built up alongside the development of tourism in Zao and Yamagata.
