塩原温泉 旅館 上会津屋 onsen ryokan kamiaizuya

Kamiaizuya sits on the Hoki River (箒川) in Shiobara Onsen, drawing its own source and running it kakenagashi (源泉かけ流し) with no added water or heat. The shared bathhouse has one indoor bath and one outdoor bath each for men and women (no mixed bathing, and no private rental bath); the indoor side is called Jaku-no-yu (寂の湯), a small tea-room-style space, and the outdoor side, Wabi-no-yu (侘の湯), opens onto a small garden courtyard. The water carries a natural saltiness that keeps you warm well after you towel off, and locally it's known as beauty-skin water for how it leaves the skin. Day bathing runs in the afternoon, and unusually for Shiobara, this is one of the few inns here where you can also drink the spring water. Two of the five room types, Riku and Sora, have their own open-air tub filled straight from the source, and Sora is the only room in the inn with a private sauna. The ryokan itself is a purely Japanese wooden building with a well-worn, historical feel, set right along the river, with wide windows and shoji that let the sound of the current, the wind, and birdsong into the rooms. A suspension bridge nearby makes for a short walk before or after a soak.