Shinden. Few know it by name, but it is one of the finest traditional ryokan inns in Japan, an ancient place for relaxation in the mountains overlooking the city of Kyoto. And yet, although on a clear day one could see all the way from the inn’s front door to Kyoto itself or to the shores of the nearby Lake Biwa, the resort seemed to occupy its own realm apart from the everyday. Built using traditional Japanese architecture, and yet boasting all the comforts of a modern five-star resort. A place where the line between civilization and wilderness blurred, with carefully tended gardens quickly fading into wild woods, rivers, and the other mysterious places of the world.
In short, leisure and adventure in equal parts exists here. And following at the heels of adventure must also come danger.
But Shinden’s dangers were often well-hidden, and perhaps because of this the management decided to try something they had not attempted in hundreds of years: Opening its gates to the public. Until now, it had been open only by invitation to a select few, but in an attempt to bring their inn into the modern era, those that operated Shinden made the decision to massively upgrade their facilities and then offer a completely free vacation to two dozen groups, chosen at random from around the world. For three weeks, these tourists would be among the first people from outside Japan to experience the luxury of Shinden Resort and discover just how different it was from anywhere else in the world...
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“Shinden Resort guests, this way please!”
A bright and clear voice rang out above the deafening din of Kansai International Airport, getting the attention of a large group of travelers nervously glancing around the crowded baggage claim area. A pair of young individuals hurried toward the group, the hems of their simple cotton yukata silently gliding across the polished floor as the two effortlessly navigated the crowd before coming to a quick stop in front of the diverse group of travelers.
“Our apologies for being late, ladies and gentlemen!” the first youth said, sharply bowing down at the waist to a perfect right angle, a gesture matched by the second youth. Both sported long, dark hair which hung loosely as their heads remained bowed, but as they slowly raised their faces the group saw that they were nearly identical twins, one male and one female but both with fine, beautiful faces and matching deep brown eyes.
“I am Kyojiro, Shinden’s lead concierge,” the young man said with a broad smile on his face, once again bowing to the guests.
“And I am Fumie, the resort’s manager,” the young woman continued, earning a few odd looks from the group of guests, many of whom muttered in disbelief that such a young person could be the manager of an entire resort. “Yes, yes, I’ve heard it all before. Trust me, once we arrive at Shinden resort, everything will be made clear. Now, if you would please follow me, your once-in-a-lifetime vacation can begin!”
Kyojiro and Fumie happily beckoned for the group to follow them to the airport’s rail station, and after a few suspicious glances the travelers picked up their bags and slowly followed after their guides.
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"Despite its remoteness, Shinden is among the safest and most peaceful of places in all western Japan, letting you set aside your worries and simply relax,” Kyojiro said happily to the assembled visitors. After boarding the train at the airport, they had taken the express train to Kyoto before transferring to a smaller train that promised to take them up into the mountains where the resort itself was located. Despite the train’s small size, it had no problems at all taking the steep grade of the terrain, and the ride was so smooth that the passengers barely even realized the must have ascended thousands of feet since leaving Kyoto.
“Indeed, our resort has everything you could possibly require to enjoy the surrounding nature to the fullest,” Fumie continued, indicating the brightly-colored images printed on the walls of the train car. “We have many four-star restaurants serving all types of food from around the world, from traditional Japanese home cooking to freshly prepared sushi to classical French dishes, shops that sell finely-crafted traditional crafts, a full-service onsen hot spring bathhouse, and numerous trails and hikes that will lead you all around the slopes of Mt. Henbou.”
“A mountain which, I might add, has some of the highest density of native kami shrines in all of Japan,” Kyojiro added. “These are places where the spirits of the land are enshrined and worshiped, and I believe that a resort as enchanting and magical as Shinden must owe its success to the intervention of the local kami.”
In the distance, the first sights of the resort could begin to be seen amongst the dense mountain forest, with flashes of bright wooden building and lacquered archways showing through the surrounding branches. The group of tourists began to murmur among themselves as they neared their destination, ready to finally see this place for themselves instead of just hearing another endless ad pitch from their young guides.
“Well, we’re almost here! How exciting!” Fumie exclaimed, sweeping one arm through the air as the doors to the train finally opened, letting the scent of clear mountain rivers and fresh pine fill the air. “Shinden, truly a place that is-”
“Booooooring!!”
Fumie and Kyojiro, along with nearly all of the guests, turned to the source of the outburst. A young teenage guest stood with his arms folded, clearly unimpressed by the luxuries being promised.
“So, you’re telling me that we’ve gotta spend the next three weeks in the middle of nowhere doing nothing but wandering around in the woods and eating? What kinda vacation is that!? Where’s the theme parks and video games? This is Japan, so where’s the fucking ninjas and shit, huh!?” the kid groaned, making the woman next to him (clearly his mortified mother) shake her head and curse under her breath at her son’s rudeness.
“Henry, that’s enough! You’re just mad we didn’t go to Disney World for the tenth time! Just give this place a chance,” the upset woman scolded, then she smiled and turned back to their two guides. “Sorry about him… You know how kids are at his age.”
“I’m not a ki-”
“Now, now… I understand completely the young sir’s concern,” Fumie interrupted calmly, not in the least bit perturbed by the interruption. “You’re looking for more excitement, right? I assure you that if you keep an open mind, you will be able to find plenty of things to interest you no matter your age.”
With a wave of the hand, Fumie and Kyojiro led their guests out onto the train station and into the resort proper, giving them the first good look of the place they would be enjoying themselves for the next few weeks. The resort was built into a wide pass between the mountains, with quaint streets weaving their way up and down the mountainsides. Along the streets, dozens of small homes and buildings were arrayed, with shops proudly boasting of the quality of their goods with brightly-colored signs written in Japanese and English, restaurants and cafes luring patrons in with the delightful scents of steamed rice and freshly-made tofu. Bridges and footpaths crisscrossed the mountainside resort, flanked on all sides by carefully carved lacquered wooden fences and gently glowing stone lanterns. Every surface of every building glittered with inlaid gold foil, black and red lacquer, and polished white stone, making the entire resort literally glow in the morning sunlight.
But, even with all this incredible majesty in front of them, the guests were far more fascinated by the people that were happily walking the streets of Shinden and calling out to them from the storefronts. For, rather than human beings, every single man, woman, and child that lived on this mountaintop appeared to be a cross between animal and human, with the muzzles, paws, tails, and fur of dozens of different sorts of animal and the upright postures of humans. Taking just a quick glance around them, the guests could already spot foxes with fur of red, brown, silver, and shimmering gold, cats and dogs, monkeys and birds, rabbits, otters, weasels, and many more species that were native to Japan that the guests were less familiar with. A few of the residents happily waved or offered cheerful greetings as they passed near the group of vacationers, showing they meant no harm, but the surprised guests could do little more than stare at the odd humanoid animal people.
“W-what the hell are those!?” one of the guests gasped as they got their first glimpse of the unique residents of this particular resort. “Some kinda… giant animals or something?”
“Hmm? What do you mean?” Kyojiro asked, sharing a surprised look with his sister at the guest’s outburst. “I thought Fumie had made it clear that-”
“Brother! You were supposed to be the one that told them before they arrived!” Fumie snapped, letting out a loud sigh and massaging her forehead. “And it was all supposed to be in the resort brochure, wasn’t it?”
“You said you'd handle translating that part!”
“But you were the one in charge of the brochure, so-”
The guests watched in utter confusion as their two guides descended into childish bickering, but were even more stunned when a shimmering light began to engulf the two of them, covering their entire bodies with a gentle golden sparkle. Even as they continued to argue, waves of reddish-brown fur began to poke its way out of their skin, each wave coming in thicker and fluffier than the last. With a quiet ‘pop’, their fingers grew more slender as dark black claws tipped their newly formed paws, while their legs shifted position into a digitigrade stance and they kicked off their sandals to reveal a pair of delicate canine paws. They only stopped their argument for a short moment as their faces each pushed out into slender muzzles, each tipped with a black nose and a smattering of long whiskers. Finally, from beneath each of their yukata robes a pair of long fox tails descended until they angrily whipped at the ground, looking like bright red and extremely annoyed paintbrushes.
Where once there had stood two humans, now there were a pair of two-tailed foxes, their needle-sharp teeth bared with irritation at each other.
“Umm… E-excuse me? We don’t really care whose fault it is, but maybe an explanation is in order?” a guest asked meekly with a look of shock on her face, and in an instant the two foxes dropped their argument and turned to face the group of guests once again, each with a blush so bright that it was nearly visible beneath their fur.
“A-ahem, pardon us. As my brother was supposed to mention…” Fumie began (earning a groan of annoyance from Kyojiro), “The Shinden Resort is run entirely by youkai, or what you might call supernatural creatures in English. In particular, the tribes of the forest tanuki, river otters, mountain monkeys, and of course, our tribe of the kitsune, have come together in order to create this place. For too long, we feel, the human world and the supernatural world have been unfairly kept apart, only briefly brushing against one another.”
“And so, the tribes of the good youkai came together under the leadership of the great Inari Ōkamisama to create a place to share our skills and hospitality with humanity,” Kyojiro continued happily, though some of the guests bristled a bit at the mention of ‘good’ youkai and wondered what kinds of ‘bad’ ones there might also be. “And, to make your stay here more exciting, we have another gift we would like to share with you…”
The young fox reached into his pocked and withdrew a small, red cloth amulet, embroidered in gold thread and hung with a piece of hemp string.
“As I mentioned earlier, these lands are home to numerous shrines, which are sites of great magical energy. At many of these shrines, you can find amulets and other trinkets that hold a portion of that shrine’s powers,” the fox said solemnly, holding the amulet up to the light and letting the golden lettering shine in the sunlight. “They are free for the taking, and each can grant you powers that we hope will make your stay here more memorable. Allow me to show you…”
Kyojiro walked toward Henry, the young teen that had interrupted the tour earlier, and before the stunned boy could say anything else Kyojiro put the amulet around Henry’s neck. He tapped his claw against the amulet, and in an instant a burst of shining lights erupted from within the amulet.
“W-what the fuck is this!?” Henry exclaimed, watching in amazement as a thin layer of silvery fur slowly pushed its way out from beneath his skin, growing in thicker and warmer with each passing second. His shouts of disbelief changed into a sound more like a yipping fox as his face pushed outward into a sharply-pointed muzzle, and after a few moments of slight discomfort his feet and hands had shifted into the paws of a fox. A loud ripping noise from behind made him twist his head around and watch in astonishment as a fox’s tail tore its way out of his pants, its happy wagging betraying the fact that he was far more excited about these changes that he had expected. “I-I’m… I’m a fox!!” he finally exclaimed, his long canine tongue lolling out happily as his mother and father both stared in utter disbelief.
“That’s right, young sir! A one-tailed silver kitsune, to be specific!” Fumie said proudly, her own twin tails waving happily at the successful demonstration. Turning back to the other guests, she continued her speech with a broad grin across her vulpine muzzle. “As Henry here has demonstrated, the specific magic of this resort is the power of transformation. The youkai legends of Japan are filled with tales of transformation, and what better way to enjoy a vacation in Japan that by letting those legends come true?”
“If any of you also wish to partake in a similar transformation, all you need to do is find the magical artifacts that have been scattered about this mountainside! Not only that, some of the residents of this resort might also be convinced to share a bit of their own transformative magic with you, if you ask nicely,” her brother added helpfully. “And of course, this will only last until your vacation here is over. It’s all in the name of fun and adventure, after all! All you need to do to reverse a transformation is remove the magical artifact and take a long bath at our local bathhouse to wash away any lingering magical energy. And if you aren’t interested in changing, I assure you that our resort can be enjoyed no matter if you’re a human, a kitsune, a tanuki, or even a kappa!”
“And so…” the two foxes said dramatically, sweeping their arms to the sides and beckoning their guests toward the inn’s massive guesthouse at the far end of the resort. “We would like to officially declare this season of the Shinden Resort… Open for business!!”
The group of guests could only stare in a mix of wonder, astonishment, and trepidation at the resort all around them. Sure, they had all signed up for a once-in-a-lifetime vacation in the mountains of Japan, but so much had changed in the few short minutes since they had stepped off the train and seen just how magical this place truly was. As if to seal the deal, the doors to the train they had arrived on let out a hiss before shutting themselves tightly. As the train rumbled out of the station and back down the mountainside, a few sharp-eyed guests spotted the conductor, revealed to be a happily smiling older tanuki, waving to them as he blew the train’s whistle and let it echo through the mountain pass. With their easiest way back to the mundane world cut off from them, some of the guests cautiously began walking up the path toward the inn and its facilities, unsure of what awaited them.