KKR Kawayu

KKR Kawayu is a hotel in the hot-spring town of Kawayu Onsen, eastern Hokkaido, with genuine kakenagashi water straight from the source. It's acidic and has a distinct sulfur smell, the kind of spring the town is known for, and past guests say it keeps you warm long after you dry off. The indoor bath faces the river running through town; outside there's a wooden tub on the men's side and a rock-lined one on the women's, plus family baths you can reserve for privacy. Bathing is open to day visitors as well as overnight guests. The hotel started as lodging for Japan's national civil servants' mutual aid association and is now open to the general public too. Reviewers describe an old-fashioned, unpretentious feel rather than a polished modern hotel, with calm rooms and its own restaurant, and it makes a handy base for visiting Lake Mashu and the Shiretoko peninsula.