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Hita-shi, Kizantei Hotel

A rectangular, low-rise building sits amidst a neighbourhood of short, 1- to 2-storey buildings with traditional Japanese tiled roofs. In the foreground, a river, its water completely still, reflecting the evening sky above. In the distance, mountains

Wednesday, 12 November 2025 - It was nearing the end of my solo trip to Kyushu. I had only four nights left. This night I stayed at a hotel in Hita city, in Oita prefecture. I had splurged a little on this hotel. It came with a traditional kaiseki dinner and breakfast, and a private onsen which you could book, which I did. The room itself was supposed to have been a cheaper one. That was the compromise I'd made: a cheap room in an expensive hotel. It was meant to have internal-facing windows, with a view only of an inner courtyard, or something. I guess they must have given me a free upgrade, because I arrived in my room and was greeted by this lovely view of the Mikuma River, and across it the Takase district of Hita, with its psychiatric hospital, the 大分友愛病院 Ōita Yūai Byōin.

I'd spent the day exploring the city, particularly the Mamedamachi district, with its elegant Edo period town houses and shopping streets. I'd shopped a little for the famous Onta-yaki stoneware, made in the village of Onta in the mountains to the north, which I'd wanted to visit, but couldn't for lack of sensible transport options. But the hotel itself was its own attraction, and after a brief walk along the Mikuma River I returned to enjoy the onsen, and then to watch the sun set over the river and the faraway mountains. I could not have asked for a more beautiful evening.