Recently due to the chilling winter season, I’ve been on a hot spring tour across Japan during my free weekends. Last month I visited the Tengu Onsen of Tochigi for a unique experience like no other, and this month I decided to visit House of Light (Hikari no Yakata in Japanese) for another one of a kind experience. House of Light, invented by American artist James Turrell, is a “meditation house” designed with traditional tatami rooms and fiber optic lighting to transmit light from natural sources. Both the rooms and the private onsen, which is shared between guests at different time intervals, incorporate light and darkness
This house has only two tatami rooms to stay overnight in making it a very intimate and private experience. Reservations are generally needed four months in advance due to the limited space, so be sure to plan ahead if you want to stay here. It is worth mentioning that this onsen is very bare-bones and only has the basic essentials so you can focus more on the art. Though this may be disappointing to those seeking a luxury experience, there’s nowhere else in Japan where you can experience this neon sensation, so I still highly recommend it to other onsen enthusiasts like myself.
If you are new to onsen, please consider checking out Kusatsu and Gunma first as they are more natural and accessible. After visiting many onsen, you will come to appreciate the features of House of Light even more!
Getting to House of Light
Unlike other onsen in Niigata, you can easily reach House of Light by taking a combination of trains and taxis, and the journey is quite scenic. From Tokyo Station, take the Jōetsu Shinkansen to Echigo Yuzawa Station. Then take the Hokuhoku Line to Tokamachi Station. The Hokuhoku Line is very unique because it consists of a single train car with a bunny mascot on it, and you can see the snowy mountains of Niigata outside of your window. Such a contrast from Tokyo! Once reaching Tokamachi Station, take a taxi (which will be waiting outside of the station) directly to House of Light. The journey will take a little less than three hours but is very exciting because there is a lot to see. The cost will be around 12000 yen including the taxi, which isn’t bad for a trip of this caliber.
There are a lot of things to do at Echigo Yuzawa Station too! This is the home of the famed festival Fuji Rock too.
Experiencing the Neon Light Display
In the next part of this article, I will cover the pros and cons of staying at House of Light.
Pros
This onsen only cost 25,000 yen per night, which is a really good price when split between a group of friends. Please note that you must pay for other amenities like towels and garbage disposal, but overall it is still an amazing deal. Compared to other onsen it is much smaller in size, but its minimalistic design is ideal for those who wish to mediate with nature and art. I enjoyed the quiet and intimate experience compared to other places I stayed. It was definitely a welcomed change!
Once we arrived, the staff was extremely welcoming and spoke both Japanese and English. They gave us a lot of information to read and were helpful with explaining how to use the bath and available amenities. The neon light display lasted for quite some time, and it was nice to meditate after doing some photography with my tripod. I definitely felt my body getting lighter as I focused on the beautiful light and nature around me. The art room combines concepts of both Japanese and Western art giving it a nostalgic feel. James Turrell based his design with concepts of the book “In Praise of Shadows” in mind it proudly shows in this display. Even if you don’t understand art, the theme is crystal clear.
The final point is the bath looks absolutely gorgeous at night. I loved the neon fiber optic colors because I’ve never seen them used anywhere else that I’ve stayed. Since the bath is private, you are free to take pictures of it too. This image is forever burned in my mind and I will never forget it:
Cons
The major con of House of Light is there are no meals available to order—you are expected to do all of the cooking yourself. We bought ingredients from the local supermarket to make nabe and also packed bento, but this took time away from enjoying the bath. Fortunately cooking utensils are provided, but other things such as seasonings you must supply yourself. When I stay overnight at onsen, I usually order the breakfast and dinner meal sets so I can experience the local ingredients of the prefecture that I’m visiting. Cooking was fun for the comradery, but you also must consider sharing the kitchen space with the other group that is staying with you.
That brings us to another point; since the utilities of House of Light are shared, the staff leaves it up to you to communicate with the other group of what time you want to use them. Fortunately the other group we shared the onsen with was nice and communicated well via text, but this would be an issue if they didn’t communicate frequently or if there was a language barrier. Though I didn’t realize this before, I think House of Light is best reserved with people you know. If I visit again, I will definitely reserve it with another group of people that I know.
The final con is that due to snow, we were unable to open the square roof and see the sky in the art room. This was a little disappointing but unpreventable, however the light show definitely still impressed me even without the natural lighting from above.
It’s up to you to weigh the pros and cons of staying here, but overall I give it a thumbs up!
Dining at Echigo Yuzawa Station
Before heading back to Tokyo, we decided to bathe in the sake onsen and eat some delicious hegi soba that is unique to Niigata Prefecture. Yes you heard that right, there is a sake onsen that you can bathe in at Echigo Yuzawa Station! It’s very small but only costs 800 yen to enter. I enjoyed the uniqueness of the bathe and felt extremely refreshed after bathing in two different baths this weekend. I hope to review more hot springs in English so I can recommend them to my friends.
The soba restaurant we visited was called Kojimaya and was located near the sake bath in Echigo Yuzawa Station. Hegi soba, one of Niigata’s specialty dishes, is smoother in texture comapred to regular soba and goes well with many different toppings. Whether you eat it hot or cold, you are guaranteed to enjoy its savory taste! Kojimaya also has a great selection of sake you can try. The menu is in both English and Japanese.
Final Thoughts
Though I wished the amenities were a bit better, I overall had an amazing time at the House of Light. My only regret is that I didn’t bring better photography equipment with me or take better photos for this article, but the whole point of coming here was to relax and take a break from the city which I accomplished.
Next month I plan to visit another onsen, but I have no idea where yet! If you have any suggestions, please feel free to drop them in the comments
