Day 10 — ITS Kenpo Recreation Facilities Review
For readers who don’t know about ITS Kenpo, let me explain briefly about it. So, ITS Kenpo is an IT Software health insurance union for IT companies in Kanto region. In Japanese, it is known as 「関東ITソフトウェア健康保険組合」. For big enterprise companies, they usually have their own health insurance union, which means they’re out of ITS Kenpo scope. In this post, recreation facilities will refer to the directly managed ones, as listed on their official website below.
The biggest benefit of using these facilities is the price reduction. As of 2021, it will only cost 5500 yen (around 50$) per person or twice the price if you’re a family member or friend of the insured person. It includes a 1-day night stay and a complete set of dinner & breakfast. With the provided benefits, the original price can go as high as 20000 yen (4x more expensive) per person if the direct reservation is made outside of ITS Kenpo. In addition, some facilities are not open to the public, as they are a part of an exclusive membership system. These places are usually more famous than others, it is quite hard to get a reservation since the whole process requires a lottery.
During these past 2 years, my friends and I tried to visit all kinds of offered recreational facilities. We have stayed at around two-third of the available choices, which I’m planning to review in this post! Since today is Day 10 of the advent calendar, I’ll pick the Top 10 facilities based on my personal experience. This is by no means a complete review of all facilities, as I haven’t visited some of them yet. In addition, there are also various factors that I take into consideration, such as visiting season, proximity to Tokyo, rail pass availability, and so on.
#10 Hotel Harvest Ito
Hotel Harvest Ito is located in Ito, Shizuoka Prefecture. It is 120 km away from central Tokyo and it will take around 2 hours by car or 2.5 hours by local train from JR Shinjuku to JR Ito station (2310 yen 1-way). The hotel itself is a part of the Tokyu Harvest club, which means most of the rooms are available only to members, and the quality of service from Harvest club is pretty much guaranteed.
Ito is particularly famous for its hot spring (onsen) with panoramic oceanside views. Mount Omuro, a uniquely rice bowl-shaped mountain, is located in Izu Kogen and can be accessed by a 40-minute bus from Ito station. The combination of sea and hot spring makes Ito a very good choice all-season, one can enjoy sea activities during summer and soak in a nice hot spring during the colder season.
The hotel provides 2 kinds of rooms: Western-style rooms for 4 people and Japanese-western-style rooms for 5 people. We stayed at the Japanese-western style one, which is shown in the photo below. For dinner, we can choose one of the main dishes and the rest is provided with buffet-style. The breakfast is also similar, foods are self-served.
#9 Toslove Yuzawa
Toslove Yuzawa is located in Niigata Prefecture. It is 200 km away from central Tokyo and it will take around 3 hours by car or 80 minutes by Shinkansen from JR Tokyo to JR Echigo-Yuzawa station (6260 yen 1-way). While it sounds costly, all holders of non-Japanese passports can purchase JR Tokyo Wide Pass, which will cost around 10000 yen for 3 days unlimited usage of JR trains around Tokyo. Fortunately, the usage is extended up to Gala Yuzawa for the winter and spring seasons.
The promotional page mentions various activities during different seasons: mountain trekking during summer, autumn leaves viewing during fall, and winter activities (ski, snowboard) during winter.
I went there during the winter season with several HENNGE members and we purchased JR Tokyo Wide Pass above. Luckily, we could get 2 different room reservations and we had 7 people joining us. The room itself is pretty big, as there are 3 main sections: living room with TV, Japanese-style tatami room, and Western-style beds. The hotel itself is 20 minutes away from JR Echigo-Yuzawa station, therefore a shuttle bus reservation is required if you arrive with a train. In addition, the hotel also provides ski & snowboard equipment rental, which is pretty convenient for us!
For dinner, the hotel provides a full-course Japanese-style meal, which is pretty good. For breakfast, they also provide 2 different set choices: Japanese style and Western-style. In addition, the restaurant has a scenic view, which enhances the staying experience there.
#8 Ikaho Onsen Hotel Tenbo
Ikaho Onsen is located in Shibukawa, Gunma Prefecture. It is 150 km away from central Tokyo and it will take around 2.5 hours by car or an expressway bus from Shinjuku to Ikaho Onsen (2620–2850 yen, depending on the season). While the town name might sound unfamiliar, Ikaho Onsen is famous for the primary setting of Initial D, which you might have heard of.
One specialty of this place is its reddish-brown, iron-laden thermal waters. The central town has a staircase of 365 steps, which represents the wish for prosperity throughout the year. Ikaho Onsen is one of the four most famous onsens in Gunma Prefecture. If you want to experience a typical Japanese hot spring town, Ikaho Onsen will be one of the great choices out there.
The hotel itself is quite big as it is one of the public hotels, which means people can easily get a reservation without ITS Kenpo or any membership. As hot spring is one of its specialties, without doubt, the hotel has an enormous hot spring area. It offers both Japanese style and Japanese-Western style rooms with a maximum occupancy of 5 people. Both dinner and breakfast are served as a Japanese-style set meal.
#7 Nikko Senhime Monogatari
Nikko Senhime Monogatari is located in Nikko, Tochigi Prefecture. It is 160 km away from central Tokyo and it will take around 2 hours by car or similar time by train from Asakusa Station to Tobu-Nikko Station (2700–2900 yen 1-way with express train).
Nikko is pretty famous for its historical values, in addition to scenic landscapes, lakes, waterfalls, and many other activities. To start with, this hotel is pretty close to Toshogu, a gold-covered shrine that is used as the mausoleum of Tokugawa Ieyasu, one of the most powerful people during the Edo Period. By taking a 50-minute bus to the higher area, one can enjoy the beautiful Chuzenji Lake and Kegon Waterfall. If you go there by car, I recommend some farther areas such as Senjogahara Marsh or Yumoto Onsen. Frankly speaking, 2 days won’t be enough to explore Nikko as a whole, which means there is always a reason to go back here and explore new things around.
Nikko Senhime Monogatari is also a public hotel and after knowing its strategic location, ITS Kenpo price is a no-brainer. The hotel has both Japanese-style and Japanese-Western-style rooms with a capacity of up to 6 people. Shuttle bus is also available upon reservation from Nikko station but we decided to have a nice walk across the shopping district back then.
Dinner is served as a full-course Japanese-style meal which menu can be seen in the photo below. For breakfast, they also provide 2 sets of choices: Japanese style and Western-style.
#6 Toslove Tateyama Luana
Toslove Tateyama Luana is located in Tateyama City, Chiba Prefecture. It is 100 to 130 km away from central Tokyo, depending on which route is taken. By using the Tokyo Bay Aqua-Line, which connects the city of Kawasaki in Kanagawa Prefecture with the city of Kisarazu in Chiba Prefecture, car traveler can shorten their trip by a reasonable margin. However, the expressway fee is quite high (around 3000 yen) on weekdays but the price is discounted on the weekends (1000 yen). For train users, the entire trip will take 2.5 hours from JR Tokyo Station to JR Tateyama Station (2310 yen 1-way). Alternatively, a ferry is also an option as Yokosuka city in Kanagawa and Futtsu city in Chiba is connected by the Tokyo Bay Ferry.
The town itself doesn’t have many things going on, but the scenery really reminds me of Okinawa and the hotel has a pleasant seaside view from the room. If you go 30-minutes to the north of Tateyama city, Mount Nokogiri offers a temple complex containing one of Japan’s largest Buddhas.
There are various types of provided rooms: Western-style or Japanese-Western style room with a capacity of up to 4 people, Western-style room with a capacity of 6 people, and Japanese-Western style room with a capacity of 8 people. For people arriving at JR Tateyama Station, a shuttle bus is available upon reservation. They moved the hotel to this new building back in 2015, the entire building looks like an art museum!
Both dinner and breakfast are served as a Japanese-style set meal, but there are different courses that you can choose depending on the season and odd/even day.
#5 Toslove Hakone Viole
Toslove Hakone Viole is located in Hakone, Kanagawa Prefecture. It is 90 km away from central Tokyo, which makes it one of the most famous recreational destinations for Tokyo residents on the weekend. Hakone can be reached around 90 minutes by car or 80 minutes by Odakyu Limited Express train from Shinjuku to Hakone-Yumoto Station (2330 yen 1-way, cheaper but slower if the local train is used).
Hakone provides all-year-round recreational activities. From Lake Ashinoko, we can enjoy the nice view of Mt. Fuji when the weather is clear. By taking a ropeway, we can see an active volcanic valley, and moreover, there are numerous hot springs around the area. Hakone is also home to a wide range of museums: Hakone Open-Air Museum, Hakone Venetian Glass Museum, and many more. In addition, we can also experience sakura viewing, azalea garden, fall foliage, and some other season-limited activities.
Viole provides 2 to 3 people capacity of Western-style room and 4 to 5 people capacity of Japanese style room. Both dinner and breakfast are served as a Western-style set meal and it also adopts a similar style as other Toslove facilities where multiple options are provided. However, one of the unique points of Viole is in its food course selection. They provide a more luxurious Italian-style dinner with an additional price of 3300 yen. To adapt to the European culture, they also have a special course for Christmas from December 1 to 25!
#4 Toslove Hakone Wasorin
Toslove Hakone Wasorin is located at the same place as #5 above. To be honest, both of them should belong to the same ranking position since the comparison is mostly personal preferences. Viole provides a Western-style experience while Wasorin provides a Japanese-style experience. During the non-COVID era, people who stay at Viole can also use a hot spring which is available in Wasorin.
The nice aspect of both Viole and Wasorin is that you can make a reservation by 1 person. For other non-Toslove facilities, you can only book them if there are 2 or more guests. Wasorin has both Japanese-style and Western-style rooms too, with a maximum capacity ranging from 4 to 6 people.
The restaurant in Wasorin also adopts a similar style as Viole. Instead of western food courses, choices are provided with Japanese selections.
#3 Hotel Harvest Nasu
Hotel Harvest Nasu is located in Nasu District, Tochigi Prefecture. It is 200 km away from central Tokyo and it will take around 3 hours by car. The closest train station to this hotel is Nasu-Shiobara station, which is connected to the Tohoku Shinkansen. From JR Tokyo station, it takes around 70 minutes (5490 yen 1-way) and luckily, JR Tokyo Wide Pass can also be used until Nasu-Shiobara station. The hotel provides a shuttle bus and the trip will take around 40 minutes from the station.
Nasu is prominently known for its natural beauty, as Mount Nasu is categorized as one of Japan’s 100 Famous Japanese Mountain. We visited there during the autumn season and as one can expect, the place is very crowded. Initially, we wanted to visit the peak via Nasu ropeway, but the car queue at the entrance was so long that we decided to cancel our plan.
One of the places that I recommend here is Cheese Garden Nasu. You might be familiar with this brand since it has more than 10 managed stores in Tokyo. However, Nasu is the location of their main branch and they provide some limited & specific cheesecakes that you can only buy in the main store.
Hotel Harvest Nasu provides both Western-style and Japanese-Western style rooms with a capacity of 4 or 5 people. Both dinner and breakfast are served buffet-style. Even though it’s not a course dinner, I can assure you those foods tasted very good and the bright side is that we can eat as much as we want to!
I forgot to bring my camera, so sorry for the bad image quality :( I guess you can check more photos from the Japan Travel website.
#2 Tateshina Tokyu Hotel
Tateshina Tokyu Hotel is located in Chino, Nagano Prefecture. It is 200 km away from central Tokyo and it will take around 3 hours by car. The place is hard to reach with public transportation, which requires a combination of 2 hours train from JR Shinjuku station to Chino station (5650 yen 1-way with limited express train) and a free hotel shuttle bus for 46 minutes from the station. Tateshina Tokyu Hotel is only available during the summer and winter seasons, which makes it exclusive compared to other facilities.
The hotel itself is a part of Tokyu-managed resorts, where we can do various outdoor activities such as golf course, tennis court, forest adventure, and many more with additional cost. Chino station is pretty close to Lake Suwa, one of the largest lakes in Nagano prefecture. If you have watched “Kimi no na wa” (Your Name) anime, the lake in the movie is modeled based on Lake Suwa!
One of the strong points of this hotel is its spacious room, which consists of 2 separate floors and has a European-style vibe in it. All rooms are western style, with the capacity of either 4 or 5 people. Dinner is served as a Japanese-style course meal. For breakfast, we can either choose a Western-style or Japanese-style one.
#1 Hotel Harvest Kyu Karuizawa
Hotel Harvest Kyu Karuizawa is located in Karuizawa, Nagano Prefecture. It is 170 km away from central Tokyo and it will take around 2.5 hours by car. Fortunately, Karuizawa station is connected to the Hokuriku Shinkansen, which is 1 hour away from JR Tokyo station (5490 yen 1-way). Moreover, Karuizawa is covered under JR Tokyo Wide Pass area!
Karuizawa is a resort town that is surrounded by mountains in the higher elevation area. In winter, people from Tokyo often come here to enjoy winter sports such as skiing and snowboarding. Karuizawa is also known for its shopping street. Prince shopping plaza, for example, is the home of high-end designer-brand outlets, which has a similar vibe as Ginza. Historically, Karuizawa was promoted as a mountain resort by wealthy Western residents in the late 1800s, and nowadays, we can easily find a lot of Western traces (restaurants, cafes, etc) in this town. Karuizawa also offers various outdoor activities, such as hiking, golfing, and so on.
Hotel Harvest Kyu Karuizawa is probably one of the hardest facilities to get a reservation into. I don’t think it is possible to land a chance on the weekend, so it is recommended to apply for weekday slots. The chances are probably less than 1% for the weekend and less than 10% for the weekday, assuming all 10 applications are made to the same facility.
The hotel provides both Western-style rooms and Japanese-Western-style rooms with a capacity of 4 or 5 people. For people using trains, the hotel is within 15 minutes walking distance from Karuizawa station.
The dinner also reflects that Karuizawa is a very western-oriented city. With a price of 5500 yen for a night, you get to stay in Karuizawa with a full course French-style dinner. I didn’t take a photo for the breakfast, but from what I can recall, it is also served as a buffet-style breakfast.
As a closing note, I want to say that every single places listed above have their own charms. It is pretty hard to rank them around since they offer different kinds of personal experiences. Some people might like Japanese-style better than Western-style ones and vice versa. Anyway, thank you for reading so far, have a nice Christmas month!
This article is part of the 2021 HENNGE Advent Calendar. An Advent calendar is a special calendar used for counting down the days till Christmas. 2021 HENNGE Advent Calendar presents one article by one HENNGE member per day for 25 days until Christmas, 2021
