Shigurean

Shigurean's one bath is a deep tub scented with hiba (a fragrant local cypress), kept flowing fresh from the source: sit down and the water rises to your chin rather than lapping at your waist. It runs cloudy green and faintly gassy, with a strong iron (kanake) smell but no sulfur, mild enough for a long soak. The inn itself takes one lodging group a night, a small minshuku past Dake Onsen at the foot of Mt. Iwaki, run by a friendly proprietress with a cat or two around the place. Day bathers share the same tub, so it is worth calling ahead.