Yagen Onsen Yagenso

Yagenso is a small ryokan in the hiba forest along the Yagen valley stream, with two indoor onsen baths, one for each gender. There's no shower: you wash the old way, working hot and cold water from the tap into a basin. Baths are used by one party at a time, so once you're in, it's effectively private. The building itself is an old, plain one that looks more like a farmhouse than a ryokan from the road, though it's kept spotlessly clean inside. The kitchen sticks to simple home cooking built around mountain vegetables, mushrooms and fresh seafood from the Shimokita peninsula, and the whole place has an easygoing, family feel, like visiting relatives in the countryside.