Ebisuya Hotel

Ebisuya is a small, family-run ryokan in the Takase hot-spring corner of Sekikawa village, Niigata. There is one large indoor bath, separated for men and women, and no rotenburo, though guests say cracking the window lets in enough cool air on a warm night. The water runs straight from the source and comes out quite hot, so a tap of cold well water sits beside the tub for guests to mix in and cool it down themselves. The real signature is the bath's resident koi: large, ornately patterned fish that swim alongside bathers, and the thing most guests remember afterward. The village itself has kept an old-fashioned, unhurried feel, and the inn's covered entrance parking makes it a favorite stopover for motorcycle travelers passing through.