Funayama Onsen

Funayama Onsen is the only inn on the Funayama river in Nanbu, Yamanashi, and calls itself a small, quiet hot-spring ryokan. It has six baths in total. Two large communal baths, indoor and outdoor, swap between men's and women's use through the day, and two more baths, one indoors and one outside, are free, private, and open anytime without a reservation. One of the indoor tubs, the Nekorobi-no-yu (寝ころびの湯), is built for lying down in, and every bath looks out over the river. The water itself is a gentle sulfur spring. The inn keeps things deliberately calm: it doesn't take walk-in day bathers, groups of seven or more, or children of elementary-school age or younger. Meals are served in private dining rooms rather than a shared hall. Guests describe long, unhurried stays with little to hear beyond the river. Fireflies sometimes turn up in the parking lot after dark.