Yufuin is a charming onsen resort town in Oita Prefecture, inland from Beppu. It is full of ryokan with hot springs, and is situated under a towering mountain called Yufu-dake. The spring flowers were still out – it was a nice town to walk around before heading back to the ryokan for a big meal and a soak in the rotenburo.
My ryokan was called Hotaro no Yado Sendou, which hints at the possiblility of fireflies along the river outside. It was perhaps a bit early in the season, but it looked likely that there might be some in summer. The Oita River flows out of a small lake at the top of the valley.
The courtyard of the ryokan was a garden full of maple trees. It looked nice at night.
Here’s Yufu-dake towering over the town. Every time I looked at it, I was plotting a course for which ridge to use to hike up there…
This is looking downstream, in the opposite direction to Yuku-dake.
