Hirase Onsen Tosuke-no-Yu Fujiya

Fujiya, also known as Tosuke-no-Yu, is an 11-room Japanese inn in Shirakawago Hirase Onsen, a quiet hot spring hamlet about 10 km south of the UNESCO World Heritage gassho-style village of Shirakawa-go along National Route 156, often called the hidden retreat of Shirakawa-go. Hirase Onsen rises at the eastern foot of sacred Mount Hakusan; the original spring along the Oshirakawa River was submerged when the Oshirakawa Dam was built in 1961, but drilling upstream in 1966 struck hot water and revived the resort, which was designated a National Health Resort Hot Spring in 1980. A legend that a childless couple bathed here and was blessed with a baby earned it the name 'Kodakara-no-Yu' (hot spring of fertility). Fujiya itself was founded shortly after World War II, and in 2002 the inn was rebuilt by relocating a 150-year-old farmhouse from Miyagawa in Hida City. It is a member of the Japan Association of Secluded Hot Spring Inns.

The water is a sulfur-bearing sodium chloride spring (mildly alkaline, hypotonic, high-temperature) with a pH of 8.5. The roughly 96-degree-Celsius source at Oshirakawa on the flank of Mount Hakusan is piped about 15 km to the inn, arriving at around 65 degrees, so the baths are fed by a completely free-flowing supply with no added water, no reheating and no recirculation. The water is said to help rheumatism, diabetes, chilblains and cuts, and is prized for leaving the skin silky smooth.

Bathing facilities include cypress-built indoor baths (one each for men and women), rustic open-air rock baths framed by massive boulders (one each for men and women), and two private open-air baths that guests may use free of charge when vacant. Day-trip bathing costs 1,000 yen for adults; hours and closures vary with the season and occupancy, so calling ahead is essential. Dinner is served around a sunken irori hearth and features Hida beef, river fish and, in winter, the house specialty bear soup.