Hakusan Onsen Nagai Ryokan

Nagai Ryokan is the sole inn at Ichinose (elevation approx. 830 m), the Ishikawa-side trailhead for Mt. Hakusan, and the closest hot spring lodging to the Hakusan Zenjodo pilgrimage route and the main climbing trails. Opened in July 1935 by Nagai Sen'ichiro to serve Hakusan climbers, it was part of the rebuilding of an area devastated by the 1934 Tedori River flood. The wooden two-story main building survives from that era, and the inn belongs to the Association to Protect Japan's Secluded Hot Springs.

The spring is a sodium chloride-bicarbonate type, roughly 48°C at the source with a pH near 6.5, classed as a neutral hypotonic high-temperature spring. Locally called the 'beauty bath' for its silky texture, it is said to help with cuts, poor circulation, joint pain and skin complaints. The water is piped from an intake some 500 meters upstream and cools on the way down. Two cypress tubs sit side by side behind a partition, one receiving that spring water unheated (30-38°C depending on the season) and the other warmed to a comfortable temperature, and guests are encouraged to alternate between them after a day on the mountain.

The bathhouse is indoor-only with no open-air bath, plain and functional as befits a mountain inn. Day bathing is 800 yen for adults and 400 yen for children in two sessions, 11:00-14:30 and 18:30-20:00. Nine guest rooms are available from 14,300 yen per person with two meals. The inn opens seasonally from May through October and closes Wednesdays and Thursdays, Wednesdays only from mid-July to mid-August.