Kawakumi Onsen Meirinso

Kawakumi Onsen Meirinso is a small ryokan-run bath tucked in the hills outside Hakodate, with a single indoor tub and nothing else: no tap, no shower, no soap or shampoo provided. The water is a soft alkaline spring, kept on the mild side, so people tend to linger rather than rinse and go. Some visitors note the water carries radon and can be drunk. The place runs on an honesty-counter arrangement rather than a staffed front desk, closer to a neighborhood bath under the local public-bath association than a resort. It sits in a quiet mountain pocket reached after coming over the Kawakumi pass, with green hillside around.