Gozu Imaita Onsen Yumotokan

Gozu Imaita Onsen Yumotokan is a small ryokan of fourteen tatami rooms in the hills of Agano, part of Niigata's Gozu hot spring area. Every bath in the building runs on a mild radium spring: colorless, odorless, and kept just on the cool side of body heat. Step out and the warmth stays with you a long while, and the skin comes out noticeably smooth, which is why locals have long called it a bath for fertility and safe childbirth. The indoor bath and the open-air rotenburo on the second floor stay open through the night, and a private bath called Momo-no-yu (百湯), added to mark the inn's 100th anniversary, gives a couple or a family a roomy tub and a tatami-floored washing area to themselves. Meals are served in private dining rooms rather than a shared hall, built around the house specialty of carp, prepared a few different ways (they will swap it out if carp isn't for you). The garden below has a small waterfall and a koi pond, framed by moss and ferns, visible from the rooms and the lobby lounge. Day-use bathing is available too, on its own hours apart from overnight guests.