Nibukawa Onsen Kairakuso

Kairakuso is a small ryokan at the top of Nibukawa gorge, a quiet hot spring valley in the hills behind Imabari. There are large indoor baths on the first and second floors overlooking the wooded hillside and river, along with saunas, an outdoor terrace for cooling off and a cold bath; there is no open-air bath. The water itself is known locally as bijin-no-yu (美人の湯), "beauty water", prized for how smooth and slick it leaves the skin. Some of the guest rooms have their own onsen-fed bath, and every room looks out over the gorge. Day-use bathing is available on a schedule separate from overnight guests. The spring has been used since the Heian period and served as the Imabari domain's cure-bathing site in the Edo era; together with Dogo Onsen and Hontani Onsen it is counted as one of Iyo's three historic hot springs. The kitchen draws on both mountain food, wild boar and wild vegetables, and fresh Seto Inland Sea seafood, with the coast just a half-hour drive away.