Hotel Higashidate

Hotel Higashidate sits at 1,600 meters in Shiga Kogen, on a spring called Hoppo Onsen (発哺温泉) that local lore holds is the oldest in the area, a rare steam spring where natural water runs over rising volcanic steam. The open-air bath faces the Northern Alps, and the water carries a faint whiff of sulfur, with a low-temperature infrared sauna alongside for a milder sweat than a traditional one. A few of the special guest rooms have their own private onsen bath with the same water; the standard rooms don't. The name Hoppo is said to come either from the sound of the rising steam or from hikers arriving out of breath, hoppo hoppo, after the climb up the mountain.