Nozawa Onsen Naraya Ryokan

Naraya Ryokan is a wooden folk-house-style inn founded in 1912 (the first year of the Taisho era), standing along Asagama-dori, the street that serves as the hub for touring Nozawa Onsen's public bathhouses, in Toyosato, Nozawa Onsen Village, Nagano Prefecture. Large beams, thick pillars and a grand staircase just inside the entrance are among the features that still carry the character of a wooden building that has passed through the Taisho, Showa and Heisei eras. It is a small inn of only 9 rooms, each with its own individual design.

The water is a simple sulfur spring, weakly alkaline and of low osmotic pressure at high temperature. The inn's private source emerges at 73.0 degrees Celsius, and the inn maintains its own source-fed, flow-through bath. Because the source runs hot, the inn notes that water may be added for management purposes depending on the season.

The bathing facilities include separate indoor baths for men and women plus an open-air bath, available from 15:00 to 23:30 and again from 5:30 to 10:00. Covered private parking for 9 cars is available (height limit 2.27m), free for guests with no reservation needed, and credit cards are accepted. Rates start from around 45,800 yen (tax included) per person for one night with two meals, based on double occupancy.