Back to the biggest rotenburo in Japan, and this time during koyo - when the leafs turn red in late autumn, making the site absolutely gorgeous. This time, we went there with Jean-Pascal, during his annual trip to Japan.

View of the rotenburo, under the trees...

The surroundings are very nice, too, and there is a beautiful river in the vicinity (another smaller one is flowing between the rotenburo).

When planning a day-trip by car from Kawagoe, we quickly realised that the most important thing was to use as much as possible highways. Indeed, with an average speed of 30 km/h on national roads, a "short trip" can take the whole day. Taragawa conveniently lies a couple of kilometers from the same highway that runs through Kawagoe, making it a nice destination from our home. Also, it is often considered to have the best outdoor rotenburo in all of Japan.

There are four rotenburo to choose from; three are mixed baths while the other is for women only. Those rotemburo are the largest in Japan, with sizes of 50, 100 and 200 tatami for the mixed ones. The biggest one is also reputated to improve one's fertility. Bears used to bath here, but now they are confined in very small cages...

The surroundings are really beautiful, especially in automn.

Entrance of the bath was rather surprising, with a long wooden building filled with tools and locally produced stuff. Cedric mentionned that it really looked like a mayen in Valais!

Of course, the main attraction was the bath, and probably the fact that 3 foreigners were bathing there together... with Japanese girls!

Some pictures after the bathing...