Hotel Yamaguchiya

The hostess greeted us with a smile. The building has a retro Showa feel, but the rooms have been renovated and the building is clean and comfortable. The hot spring water is free-flowing and circulated, and the open-air bath next to the large bath on the first floor is not available. We went to the indoor bath and open-air bath on the second floor, which are switched between men and women from 9:00 p.m. We were soothed by the mountains in front of us and the sound of the Katashina River flowing below. At night, we looked at the full moon over the mountains, and in the morning, we wanted to stay in the lukewarm water and the refreshing breeze. For dinner, we had the local dish of Gimin-nabe (a hot pot with sukiyaki noodles), miso-marinated pork teppanyaki, sashimi of salmon, konnyaku sashimi, yuba, salt-grilled sweetfish, and more. It was delicious, so we ate a lot of rice. Breakfast was the same as the ryokan menu, but perhaps the rice was cooked well, so it was delicious. It's better to have the good qualities of this old Japanese inn than a large, luxurious inn. We were able to relax and spend a relaxing time.