Ito Kowakien

Ito Kowakien is a seaside hotel-ryokan in Ito Onsen, run by the Fujita Kanko group, built around a large communal bath fed by the inn's own kakenagashi hot spring. The water is mildly alkaline and said locally to be gentle on the skin; you can move between an indoor bath and a rotenburo, and between a hotter pool and a cooler one. A rarer touch is a drinking-spring station where guests can sip the water, something few inns in Ito have. The communal bath stays open from midafternoon through the next morning, with the men's and women's sides swapping overnight; day-use bathing is available in the afternoon too. Rooms are traditional Japanese style and unpretentious, and some of the newer Premium Twin rooms come with their own semi-open-air onsen bath.