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TAKEO |
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Roughly one hour from Futsukaichi by train on the JR Sasebo line,
TAKEO is another onsen resort which makes a relaxed stopover on the way
to Nagasaki. Squeezed in a narrow valley between low hills, the town is
more developed than Futsukaichi, though its public baths draw fewer day-trippers.
According to legend, it's also a lot older, dating back to the third
century AD when Empress Jingu rested here on her way home from invading
Korea. Out walking one day, the tip of her staff slipped between two
stones, causing a spring of crystal-clear water to gush forth. Later, in
the sixteenth century, Toyotomi Hideyoshi used Takeo as a watering hole
for his troops on their way to another Korean invasion .
The town centre lies ten minutes' walk northwest of the station, where
the onsen buildings are clustered behind a dumpy, Chinese-style gate.
First on the left through the gate is Moto-yu (daily 6.30am-11pm; ¥300),
the most traditional of the public baths , where locals lying out on the
hot stones swap gossip. If you prefer outdoor bathing, the nearby Ryokan
Kagetsu has a beautiful rotemburo (¥700), while the recently refurbished
Sagi-no-yu boasts a smaller rotemburo and sauna (daily 9am-4.30pm;
¥600). The waters are renowned, amongst other things, for their power to
heal burns and cure physical exhaustion.
You'll find Takeo information centre (Mon-Fri 9am-5.30pm, Sat & Sun
9am-5pm; tel 0954/22-2542, fax 23-9727) upstairs in the JR train
station, directly opposite the ticket barriers. Among several ryokan
gathered round the onsen, the Kagetsu (tel 0954/22-3108, fax 22-2120;
¥10,000-15,000) offers elegant, tatami rooms with or without meals,
while Sagi-no-yu (tel 0954/23-2111, fax 23-9205; ¥7000-10,000) charges
lower rates for a simple tatami room including breakfast. Takeo Onsen
Youth Hostel (tel & fax 0954/22-2490; closed late May/early June; under
¥3000) provides the cheapest option with its bunk beds, though it's a
seven-minute bus ride south of town on a pine-covered hilltop. Buses for
the hostel - direction Hoyo Centre, also known as Kanpo - stop on the
road outside the station (¥220), but note that the last bus up leaves
just after 5pm. If you arrive later, the English-speaking hostel manager
will collect you, but after 7pm the choice is a taxi (¥800) or a steep,
forty-minute hike.
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