Supponpon-buro Gyokusenkan

370. Supponpon-buro Gyokusenkan, Ebino, Miyazaki (Kyomachi Onsen) Stayed overnight — an old-school simple ryokan with a special cave onsen. From the website's history as I understood it — they've been in business since 1915 and moved to this location in 1953. They renovated the ryokan in 1968 after an earthquake. The price per night without meals was about 7000 yen. I took the larger room. The listing on a booking site said smoking was allowed, but the room didn't smell (possibly a glitch on the site). Higaeri seems to be available too — there was a sign at the onsen stop saying 10:00 to 21:00. The owner greeted me in a very funny way — she was wearing a mask and grabbed her face when she saw me. At first I thought it was a reaction to me not wearing a mask. But it turned out simpler — she was flustered that she wouldn't be able to communicate with a foreigner and explain the system of how access to their onsen works, since we don't share a common language. She walked me through all the rooms and baths, explained using examples and a diagram how everything works and when you can enter and when you can't, and how to open and lock the room with a key. They have a rotating access system for the baths — some are women-only at certain times, men-only at other times, and private at certain times on a first-come-first-served basis. 1. Outdoor bath with a cave onsen, water temperature around 40-41. Translucency/color was hard to identify in the evening, but Google photos during daytime show it as cloudy bluish. Very unusual and cool onsen. There's a tanuki figure and a frog statue by the bath. It's a real small cave you can enter crouching or crawling. Inside it's atmospheric, unusual, and really amazing. 2. Indoor bath with clear water, temperature around 40-41. Breathing is good. 3. Private indoor bath with clear water, temperature around 41-42. 4. In the outdoor zone there are also two small cauldrons, water temperature around 40-41. A very atmospheric and cool place on its own, plus it has an amazing special cave onsen. If staying somewhere in Kyomachi Onsen area, I'd repeat the experience and stay here again — highly recommended, I'm impressed.