Onyado Hisui

Onyado Hisui is a small, family-run ryokan in Fukuji Onsen, one of the quiet hot-spring hamlets of Okuhida, with rooms that look out over the mountains. Bathing here runs on a take-your-turn system: besides the regular indoor and outdoor baths, a few smaller baths are used one party at a time, first come first served, with a sign on the door flipped over to show when one is free (turns run about 40 minutes). The water is soft and mild on the skin, the kind locals have long used for tired muscles and poor circulation. Fukuji's spring is said to date to the Heian period, when Emperor Murakami came here to bathe, so it is still called Tenno-sen (天皇泉), the emperor's spring. Meals are served in private rooms.