Shigakogen milky hot spring Keikoku

Two springs feed the baths at Keikoku no Yu: a clear, gentle spring in the large indoor bath, and a milky, sulfur-scented spring in the outdoor bath and in many of its twelve guest rooms, where the water's tone shifts from one day to the next. There's also a private bath. The ryokan sits at the foot of the Shiga Kogen ski slopes, with a gondola stopping close to its door, and the outdoor bath faces the forest with the Yokoyu River running close enough to hear; on clear nights it opens onto a wide sky of stars. Dinner is a kaiseki course built around Shinshu beef and mountain vegetables.