Motoyu Ryokan

Motoyu Ryokan has been welcoming guests since the late Edo period, when it served as a therapeutic bathing retreat. The spring flows clear and leaves skin unusually smooth, the kind of water that prompts people to compare it to a toner. Outdoors, there are two open-air baths beside the Koayu River: a riverside rotenburo framed by the Higashi-Tanzawa hills, and a separate utaseyu (打たせ湯) waterfall bath. Indoor baths rotate between men and women morning and evening, a private rental bath is available by reservation, and some rooms have their own open-air tubs. The main bathhouse is decorated with a collection of tanuki figurines, a nod to the legend that a raccoon dog discovered the spring.