Onoe Onsen Ryokan Beniayu

Beniayu is a single-inn hot spring retreat on the northern shore of Lake Biwa in Kohoku-cho Onoe, Nagahama City, Shiga Prefecture. Onoe Onsen was discovered in 1958, when hot water surfaced during the drilling of a well at a local shrine. Every guest room faces the lake and looks directly out at Chikubushima, the sacred island floating offshore, and the sunset seen from the inn is listed among Japan's 100 Best Sunset Views.

The source is a sodium bicarbonate spring flowing at roughly 300 liters per minute. Because the source temperature is only 21.3 degrees Celsius, the water is heated before it reaches the baths and is posted in-house as a simple thermal spring. Slightly alkaline and notably soft on the skin, it is described by the inn as a golden, gentle water and is known locally as a beauty spring, said to help with neuralgia, rheumatism, women's ailments and poor circulation.

Separate men's and women's bathhouses combine a marble indoor bath with a granite open-air bath, both facing Chikubushima. A sauna is available from 14:00 to 20:00, and the inn also offers a stone-bed bathing room using locally quarried Chomei stone as well as a footbath beside the terrace. All 15 rooms have their own semi-open-air hot spring tub in cypress, Shigaraki ware or granite, usable around the clock. Rates start at around 24,000 yen per person with two meals. Day use is limited to guests who book a meal plan; bathing-only visits are not accepted.