Dogo Onsen is the oldest spa town in Japan.
And the stone monument of Prince Shotoku is regarded as the biggest mystery in this town.

Prince Shotoku is royal family in ancient Japan and he established a centralized state system centered on the Emperor.
Long ago, when Prince Shotoku stayed in Dogo Onsen, he was very moved by wonderfulness of the scenery and spring, and wrote it in poetry.
And it’s said that his poetry became a stone monument and was built in the place called “Yu no Oka”.

Although this anecdote is recorded in several books such as Iyo-koku-fudoki, the actual thing has not been found yet.
Where was the monument built and where did it go?
In one theory, it’s said that Kono cran who dominated this area in the Middle Ages carried away when building their main castle, Yuzuki-Joh, but the truth remains a mystery.

By the way, “Asuka-no-yu” which opened in September 2017 is the third public bath in Dogo Onsen, which was made with the concept of the Asuka period as its name.
The Asuka period is about 1400 years ago from now.
Prince Shotoku was living in that era.

Prince Shotoku said in his poetry,
“Around the hot springs given by God,
The camellia is growing with entwining the branches of each other,
Many fruits are produced enough to hide their flowers,
They are hanging down to reach the surface of the hot springs.”

With reference to this poetry, “Asuka-no-yu” has the courtyard which designed the fountain given from the god living with lots of camellias.

And there is also a replica of the Prince Shotoku monument.

Amazingly that the letters engraved on the monument are actually written by Prince Shotoku himself.

It was made by picking up the letters of Prince Shotoku remaining in various books one by one.
(Unfortunately, only a few letters did not exist.)

The shiny red color of the camellia flower.
The sounds of babbling hot water flowing from the fountain given by gods.
And the letters before 1400 years ago.

This courtyard is full of something that makes us forget our daily lives.