Kumoi Hotel

Hotel Kumoi is a small onsen inn in Sounkyo Onsen, at the foot of Kurodake and the rest of the Taisetsu range. There's one indoor bathing hall, split by gender, no rotenburo and no sauna, but two tubs at different temperatures: a hot, deep one, and a cooler, shallower one to linger in. The water is source-fed sulfur water, soft and mild on the skin, known locally as Bijin-no-yu (美人の湯), a 'beauty bath,' gentle enough for kids and sensitive skin. Farming families from the Tokachi plains once came here for a toji (湯治) stay during the off season, and the inn has been run in Sounkyo for a long time since. It recently went through a renovation that trimmed the room count from more than fifty down to thirty-three, all tatami-floored.