Kanbayashi Hotel Senjukaku

Kanbayashi Hotel Senjukaku is a ryokan in Kanbayashi Onsen (上林温泉), about a 30-minute walk from Jigokudani Snow Monkey Park (地獄谷野猿公苑). Its own hot spring flows at one of the highest volumes in Nagano and is kept running fresh, kakenagashi, through every bath on the property: the indoor bath, the outdoor bath, two private baths and several of the guest rooms. The indoor bath has no tap at all, the water pours straight down the walls like a waterfall, and the washing area runs like a small stream from the overflow. The outdoor bath is built around boulders in a stand of trees, fed by a small waterfall used as a shower. Two private baths, each pairing an indoor tub with its own outdoor bath, can be booked by the hour. One suite has its own rotenburo looking toward Mt. Myoko, Mt. Kurohime and Mt. Togakushi plus a granite indoor tub, and one more room category has its own granite bath tucked into a wood-paneled alcove. The ryokan opened in 1929, combining traditional sukiya-zukuri carpentry and a hip roof with Art Nouveau and Art Deco details, said to be the first hotel of its kind in northern Nagano. The current building dates to 1989, and the lobby and corridors still carry that early-Showa, Taisho-era feel. The grounds hold two gardens, one of old red pines around a koi pond, the other fed by a mountain stream where fireflies appear in summer.