Yagura Inn

Yagura is a small four-room minshuku in Norikura Kogen, on the Suzuran Onsen spring: colorless, odorless, and mild enough that the inn says it's fine even for babies and guests with sensitive skin. That's a different spring from the milky, sulfur-smelling water at other baths around Norikura Kogen. There are two baths, a larger indoor bath with an attached open-air section and a smaller indoor bath, and both are booked one party at a time from a reservation board by the bathroom door, so you never share the water with strangers. The inn is run by an owner who was once a guest here and later took the place over, and keeps a homey feel: meals are home cooking heavy on vegetables, and there's a common room downstairs for coffee, tea, and a shelf of records to play. It also keeps a drying room stocked with tools for bike and ski maintenance, handy if you're passing through on two wheels.