Hijiori Onsen Nishimotoya Ryokan

Nishimotoya has two communal baths that swap between men's and women's through the day. One is an indoor rock bath of local Hijiori stone, modeled on the Hijiori caldera; the other has a fish tank built into the wall of the bath room, so goldfish drift behind the glass while you soak. The water is colorless with a faint iron scent, crisper on the skin in the rock bath and a little smoother in the goldfish one. There is also a reservable private bath, open through the warmer months, where you can play your own music and bring small children in with you. The ryokan sits in Hijiori's old toji (湯治) hot spring valley, a wooden inn built for long, unhurried stays rather than a single night. It is still run by the same family that built the goldfish bath more than sixty years ago, perhaps to give long-staying bathers something to watch.