Hotel Tsuganoki

The bath

The onsen is in the shared baths only, and the hotel says so in plain words: neither the room tubs nor the Yururi private bath hold spring water. The source is listed as Kinugawa Onsen, recirculated and filtered, an alkaline simple spring with sprains, neuralgia, muscle pain, digestive complaints, joint pain, poor circulation and tiredness on its list. The main hall has a wooden tub with an open-air bath, lit, the hotel says, by sun through the tsuga tree that is its symbol; the second hall is indoor only and quieter. The two swap between men and women morning and evening. Hours are 15:00 to 0:00 and 5:00 to 9:00. Women have a private-style powder room; dryers, irons and humidifiers are on loan.

The private open-air bath Yururi is heated tap water, ¥3,300, with a sofa rest room and its own open-air tub looking at the Kinugawa hills. A two-bed bedrock sauna room is also rented. Fifteen rooms have their own open-air tub, each different: the Keyaki special room is the hotel's one Western room, with a wide tub, Simmons beds and a Nespresso machine, for two; the Japanese-Western rooms Tochi, Kiri, Ai, Aoi, Yuzu and Kaede, and the newer Kusu, Kuchinashi, Daidai and Yuzuriha; and the Japanese rooms Sakura, Ren, Sumire and Araragi, Sakura with a wooden tub and a tea kettle. The room tubs are open 24 hours. Most of these rooms take no child under junior-high age; Sumire does.