Kokoro wo Totonoeru Yado Fukeikan

Fukeikan sits partway up the mountainside above Matsukawa gorge, at Yamada Onsen. The shared bath, Ruriko-sen (瑠璃洸泉), is separate for men and women, and there are two reservation-only outdoor hinoki tubs, Tenku no Kotori-yu (天空の小鳥風呂), fed with undiluted onsen water straight from the source. The water carries a faint sulfur smell, with flecks of yunohana (湯の花) floating in it, and runs on the hot side. The ryokan itself dates back to 1795 and it shows: guests describe worn wood and old fittings kept clean rather than modernized, with the kind of quiet that suits a longer soak over a lively evening. Rooms and the lobby look out over green mountainside, and meals lean on local mountain, river and sea ingredients served course by course.