Hamasaka Onsen Irori no Yado Chofuso

Chofuso is a small seven-room inn in the town centre of Hamasaka, Shin-Onsen Town, Mikata District, in the far northwest of Hyogo Prefecture, facing the Sea of Japan. It stands only four to five minutes on foot from Hamasaka Station on the JR Sanin Main Line, unusually close to a train for a fishing-port town. Hamasaka Onsen itself is a recent discovery: in March 1978, a borehole drilled in search of water for melting winter snow struck hot water instead. Rather than reserve it for a few inns, the town laid 18 kilometres of pipe through the town and completed the Minnage Yu-no-Machi distribution system in June 1982, delivering the spring to roughly 800 buildings including inns, guesthouses, clinics and ordinary homes. The number of private households supplied is said to be the highest in Japan, and Chofuso is one of the inns drawing on this municipal supply.

According to the spring analysis published by Shin-Onsen Town, Hamasaka Onsen is a sodium-calcium chloride spring, hypotonic, neutral and high-temperature. The source measures 72.9 degrees Celsius with a pH of 6.99, yields about 398 litres per minute through mechanically pumped drilling, and carries a total mineral content of 4.157 grams per kilogram. Listed indications include cuts, poor peripheral circulation, sensitivity to cold, low mood and dry skin. Because the source exceeds 70 degrees, the bath at Chofuso is cooled with added water, and the bathing-law disclosure shown on Jalan lists dilution only. Whether the bath is heated, filtered and recirculated, chlorinated, or served free-flowing cannot be confirmed from the primary sources available.

The inn has a single hot spring bath, a small family bath fed by Hamasaka Onsen, which guests may lock from the inside and use privately whenever it is free. There is no large communal bath, no open-air bath and no sauna. Instead, each guest receives one free pass to a nearby public bathhouse, either Utopia Hamasaka four minutes away on foot or Shichikama Onsen Yu-raku-kan about eight minutes by car, with transport to the latter offered by the inn. The seven guest rooms are spread across the main building, an annexe and a newer wing, in Japanese and Japanese-Western styles, sleeping up to 28 people. Every room has its own toilet and washbasin, Wi-Fi covers the whole property, and parking for ten cars is free. The inn is best known for its food: the owner is a certified crab sommelier who serves matsuba snow crab and seasonal seafood from Hamasaka port grilled over charcoal at a sunken hearth.