Hayato Onsen Tsuru no Yu

Hayato Onsen Tsuru no Yu is a ryokan with an indoor bath and a small outdoor rotenburo above the Tadami River gorge, in a remote stretch of Aizu, Fukushima. The water is a plain, salty onsen that the ryokan calls a medicinal bath. There's a drinking fountain by the entrance where you can try it, plus a small cafe on site. Guest rooms don't have their own bath; bathing happens in the shared bathhouse. Some rooms are named for the river and nearby Numazawa Lake, but the rooms themselves don't actually look out over the water; that view belongs to the outdoor bath. The ryokan's name, Tsuru no Yu (つるの湯, crane's hot water), comes from a local legend: a crane was found soaking an injured leg in the spring under a boulder in the gorge, and when villagers tried the water themselves and felt their own aches ease, they opened it as a toji retreat for the area. The lodging side still keeps that self-catering, toji character: guests cook their own meals in a shared kitchen. Reviewers describe a quiet, family-run place, especially good in the outdoor bath after dark, with the river below and the moon overhead.