We returned to Bouyourou, this time to have a taste of the Echizen-gani crab (the season runs from November through March.) Often referred to the king of crabs, it is a variety of Zuwai-gani (Japanese Red Snow Crab), which can be caught in the Hokuriku region of Japan. Each region has its own name for the crab. In Hyogo as well as in Shimane and Tottori, it's known as Matsuba-gani, while in Ishikawa and Toyama, they've given it the generic Zuwai-gani name. Within each region, there are some sub-names; for instance, Red Snow Crab caught near Taiza port in Kyoto are called Taiza-gani. I won't go into all of the details, but needless to say, Snow Crab season is a big deal in Japan. In Fukui, it's referred to as Echizen-gani, with Echizen being the name of Fukui during feudal times. From talking with top chefs throughout the country, it was explained to me that Echizen-gani is the best of the best (and also the most expensive - the very top ones can exceed $20,000!) Will our palates be advanced enough to tell the difference? We visited Fukui in December to find out.


Live Echizen-gani crab

As a frame of reference, we've stayed at many of the top ryokans that serve Zuwai-gani during the season, including Kinosaki Onsen (Nishimuraya Honkan), Kaga Onsen area (Kayotei, Hanamurasaki and Beniya Mukayu), Komatsu (Matsusaki), Wakura Onsen (Kagaya Bettei Matsunomidori), Amanohashidate (Monjusou Shorotei.) Among the lot, we found that Nishimuraya was tops, followed closely by Matsusaki.


Bouyourou - reception hallway

A few more things about Echizen-gani: the best ones generally fetch the highest prices in Japan, and also has the highest brand recognition among all of the crab varieties. It's also the crab served exclusively to the Imperial family. Not only that, but the owner of Bouyourou himself (Toru "Tone" Terumasa) is the one that delivers the crabs to the royal palace himself. Also - he has a restaurant in Tokyo that serves Echizen-gani, so if you really want to try out the crab but do not want to go all the way to Fukui, you're still in luck.


Konbu Sea Kelp-cured Echizen Gani Red Snow Crab with Caviar

How was it? In a word: sublime. With apologies to the Hokkaido hairy crab, Shanghai crab, and crab of the Alaskan variety, Echizen-gani truly is king. It's sweet, succulent, plump and deliciously fatty in a way that the others aren't. And, Bouyourou does an amazing job in the preparation of each type of serving. Sashimi, Shabu Shabu, Grilled, Boiled, Deep fried (tempura), served cold (with caviar on top)... you name it, it was all magnificent. It's less creative and elaborate than some of the other ryokans, but when the crab is so good, why try to be fancy? The simplicity in the servings probably is intentionally done to bring out the utmost umami in each crab.


Echizen-gani sashimi

Often times, part way through the crab course we really get crabbed-out. Not here. We kept eating and eating, yet didn't get sick of it. Now, if we had it on a daily (or even monthly) basis, we're almost certainly going to grow tired of it. But it's generally a once (or twice) in a season experience, so given that, it's definitely worth it to gorge on the goodness that they provide.


Grilled Echizen-gani crab. The crab tomalley is incredible.

All other aspects of the ryokan are as I briefly described earlier in this thread, but to sum up: Bouyourou was known as a gastronomic mecca, but the ryokan hardware itself was dated. Not anymore - it was completely rebuilt from the ground-up to coincide with crab season in Nov. 2021 (November 7 to be exact), so it has all of the technologies and amenities that we expect from a property of this price range. It has wonderful views of the violent and intimidating Sea of Japan coast, is not far from the Tojinbo Cliff formations, and each room offers free-flowing, non-recirculating Onsen (natural hot springs) that comes straight from the source. There are only 7 rooms, and no different category of rooms - they're priced the same, although the layout (and to a much lesser extent, the size) is quite different; people looking to stay here should check out their website to select the room that best suites their aesthetic (yes, you can book specific rooms there.) Service is flawless - they did not let go of staff during the pandemic... when you think about it, that sort of makes sense. A small ryokan like Bouyourou allows for maximum social distancing, so they suffered far less demand drop-off compared to large-scale hotels. And especially during crab season, demand never diminished, even in 2020.


View from our room

I would be remiss not to point out a few potential drawbacks. First, Mikuni town really doesn't have a main strip that is laden with tourist shops and guests walking around in Yukatas and geta sandals. It's actually quite drab and dreary, partly because most of the Sea of Japan coastal areas are that way, but also because Mikuni Onsen town was only recently founded - the idea was hatched by the townspeople as a way to try and generate new sources of revenue for the city. 20 minutes away is Awara Onsen, which is much better known, has a station that is a stop along the JR Thunderbird Limited Express Train (that runs between Osaka and Wakura Onsen, with stops at Kyoto, Kanazawa and other stations.) To get to Bouyourou, we took the Thunderbird from Osaka (it takes about 2 hours) to Awara Onsen and then were driven by van to Bouyourou via the ryokan courtesy shuttle. Secondly - as a ryokan, it's very new, and very modern. If you're expecting a "traditional" ryokan experience with zen-style architecture, you're not going to find it here. There are also no property grounds to speak of. No garden, no nothing. Just the one structure that juts out along the coast. Finally - while the rooms are modern and comfortable, they're not exactly massive. I'd say they average around 70 square meters. Sufficient to relax, but if you have kids in tow things might get a bit tight. For us jaded luxury travelers, we generally like separate living/bedrooms and at least 100 square meters of space whenever possible.


Bouyourou - Room #201

Each group of guests are served their meals in private "koshitsu" dining rooms. There are 7 rooms, and 7 koshitsu dining rooms, so you'll have a very bespoke experience here.

We were there for the crab, and to have a nice soak in our in-room Onsen (there are no communal baths here) with views of the Ocean. On these two aspects, Bouyourou knocked it out of the park.


In-room Onsen bath. The hot springs water is straight from the source, constantly free-flowing and never recirculated.

One final note - room rates here are not for the faint of heart. If you have to ask, it's likely out of your budget. A large part of it has to do with the crab - during non-crab season, the rates are reduced in half. Even with that said, compared to other ryokans during crab season, it's still significantly more expensive than properties like Nishimuraya Honkan or Kayotei - we're talking 2x of those two renowed places.