Fukuji Onsen Yumoto Choza

Yumoto Choza is a long-established ryokan in Fukuji Onsen, a quiet hot spring hamlet at roughly 1,000 meters elevation in the Okuhida Onsen villages of Takayama, Gifu Prefecture. Fukuji Onsen is nicknamed the Emperor's Spring, as Emperor Murakami is said to have bathed here in the Heian period, and it is counted among Japan's 100 famous hot springs. Opened in 1969, Choza occupies vast grounds where century-and-a-half-old farmhouses relocated from Toyama and elsewhere were reassembled into a stately wooden inn warmed by open irori hearths.

The waters are classified as simple hot spring and sodium bicarbonate spring. Drawing on a communal source and several private wells at the foot of the active volcanoes Yakedake and Norikuradake, the springs emerge at roughly 63 to 95 degrees Celsius. Every tub is fed free-flowing directly from the source without recirculation; the hottest water is cooled not by dilution but by cascading it through the air from wooden flumes. Locals call it atatamari-yu, a bath whose warmth lingers long after soaking.

Bathing options include gender-separated indoor and open-air baths, the free private open-air bath Sanyaso-no-yu, the five-tub Shizuku-no-yu, and the stone-lined bathhouse Kawara-no-yu. With 27 guest rooms, the inn serves overnight guests only, and dinners of Hida beef and mountain fare grilled around the hearth are a signature experience.