Yuraku

Yuraku (湯楽) is a ryokan in Kinosaki Onsen that has been running for over 50 years. The main bathing draw is three private open-air baths (kashikiri rotenburo), each with its own character: a Shigaraki-ware pottery tub, a round natural-stone tub with a tatami floor, and a large hollowed natural-stone bath. All run on Kinosaki's shared onsen water. There are also communal indoor baths, with male and female sides rotating daily. One thing worth knowing: room baths in Kinosaki run on heated tap water, not onsen, because a city ordinance prohibits piping spring water to individual rooms. All guests get a complimentary pass for the sotoyu (外湯) circuit, the six public bathhouses spread around the canal town. The restaurant TAJIMA runs kaiseki courses built around local crab and Tajima beef, sourced through the inn's own fish market connections.