Mitakeso

A small, well-worn ryokan in the Suzuran area of Norikura Kogen, and a member of the Association for the Preservation of Secret Hot Springs (Nihon Hitou o Mamoru Kai, 日本秘湯を守る会). The water is piped down from Mt. Norikura and arrives milky white with a faint whiff of sulfur, the kind of place where the indoor bath overflows onto the floor and the smell reaches you before you even step in. Bathing is split between a men's and women's indoor bath (no swap) and two free private outdoor baths set among birch trees, one called Momiji-no-yu, reservation-only when the inn gets busy. It opened in 1964 alongside the new Norikura Kogen ski area, with the spring itself piped in over a decade later in 1976, and the building has kept its old-inn feel ever since: guests call it rough around the edges rather than polished, but come back for the water.