Three kinds of private bath
When an inn speaks of private baths it means one of three things, and it helps to know which you are booking.
- Rotenburo in your room: an open-air bath on your terrace or in your garden, the most sought after
- An indoor bath in your room: a tub of cypress, stone or wood, often with a window that opens
- Kashikiri: a bath at the inn that you reserve for your own party, usually for 40 to 60 minutes
Is it a hot spring?
A bath in your room is not necessarily filled from a spring. Under Japan's Hot Springs Act, water counts as onsen only if it comes out of the ground warm or carries certain minerals, and many inns, above all in cities, have none. Hiiragiya's pine baths are of natural groundwater; Sumiya's koyamaki wooden tubs are filled for you before you arrive, but not from a spring. In Kinosaki the town's rule keeps hot-spring water out of the rooms altogether, so Nishimuraya Honkan's room baths are not onsen, while its shared baths are.
These are lovely baths. They are simply not what most people mean by a private onsen, which is why the list below separates the two.
Free-flowing, or recirculated
The phrase to look for is gensen kakenagashi: water that flows straight from the source through the bath and away, with nothing added. At Takefue all 30 baths are fed directly from the inn's own spring; Zaborin's villas draw on its own source, nothing added; Kinnotake Tonosawa's golden water comes from its own spring and flows through. Yamagata The Takinami keeps its room baths at about 43°C without adding water.
Elsewhere the water is heated, cooled with tap water or recirculated and filtered, which is often necessary and not a fault, but it is not the same bath. Lake Shikotsu Tsuruga Bessou Ao no Za says openly that its suite baths are recirculated and chlorinated.
Every room, or only some
At many inns only some rooms have their own hot-spring bath, so the bath depends on the room you book. At Araya Totoan 11 of the 17 rooms have one; at Ryotei Hanzuiryo only two; at The Hiramatsu Kashikojima only the four annex rooms; at Satoyama Jujo all but four named rooms. Ask for the room by name, and we will check it is the one with the bath.
At the inns below, every room has its own bath, from a spring or not, as each says.
On our list
A hot-spring bath in every room39
Akan Tsuruga Bessou HinanozaAkanko Onsen, Lake AkanEvery room has an open-air hot-spring bath. Hinoki or stone, depending on the suite
Asaba RyokanShuzenji, IzuEvery room has its own hot-spring bath. Hagoromo's is half open-air, facing the Noh stage
The other 34
Bettei SenjuanTanigawa Onsen, MinakamiEvery room has an open-air spring bath. With a view of Mount Tanigawa
Enowa YufuinKawakami, YufuinEvery room has its own hot-spring bath. Villas add an open-air bath and private pool
Fufu AtamiMinaguchi-cho, AtamiEvery room has an open-air hot-spring bath. Free-flowing from the source
Fufu HakoneGora, HakoneEvery room has a stone hot-spring bath. Clear Gora water, by a window to the forest
Fufu KawaguchikoKawaguchi, KawaguchikoEvery room has an open-air hot-spring bath. Laid with Fuji lava stone
Fufu KyotoNanzenji, KyotoEvery room has a hinoki hot-spring bath. Almost open-air with the windows open
Fufu NaraTakabatake, NaraEvery room has an open-air hot-spring bath. Scented with Japanese and Chinese herbs
Fufu NikkoHoncho, NikkoEvery room has a stone hot-spring bath. The two top suites add a large open-air bath
Fufu Tokyo GinzaGinza 1-chome, TokyoEvery room has an Atami hot-spring bath. Hinoki-rimmed, open to the terrace air
Hakone GinyuMiyanoshita, HakoneEvery room has an open-air hot-spring bath. On a terrace facing the Hayakawa gorge
Iki Retreat Kairi Murakami by Onko ChishinYunomoto Onsen, IkiEvery room has a sea-view open-air hot-spring bath. Fill it to the temperature you like
Kamenoi BessouLake Kinrin, YufuinEvery room has its own hot-spring bath. Most cottages have an open-air bath
Kinnotake TonosawaTonosawa, HakoneEvery room has an open-air hot-spring bath. On the terrace, in granite, hiba or hinoki
Lake Shikotsu Tsuruga Bessou Ao no ZaShikotsuko Onsen, Lake ShikotsuEvery suite has an open-air hot-spring bath. Facing Lake Shikotsu, big enough for three or four
OchiairoAmagi Yugashima Onsen, IzuEvery room has its own hot-spring bath. Open-air baths in four of the rooms
Onyado ChikurinteiMifuneyama Rakuen, TakeoEvery room has an open-air hot-spring bath. Most look out to Mount Mifune or the garden
Sanso MurataKawakami, YufuinEvery house has its own indoor hot-spring bath. Free-flowing Yufuin spring water
Sanyo-soIzu-Nagaoka Onsen, IzunokuniEvery room has an indoor hot-spring bath. Free-flowing; no open-air room baths
Shikotsuko Tsuruga Besso KohakunoshoShikotsuko Onsen, Lake ShikotsuEvery room has its own hot-spring bath
ShoraisoYudanaka OnsenEvery room has an open-air hot-spring bath. Free-flowing, opening onto a small garden
Suimeiso at Wataya BessoUreshino OnsenEvery room has its own hot-spring cypress bath. Four rooms add an open-air bath
TakefueManganji, Kurokawa OnsenEvery villa has its own open-air hot-spring bath. Plus an indoor bath, usually cypress or rock
The Hiramatsu Karuizawa MiyotaShiono, MiyotaEvery room has a hot-spring bath. Half open-air when the windows are opened
The Hiramatsu SengokuharaSengokuhara, HakoneEvery room has a granite hot-spring bath. Semi-open-air in the main building
Wasure no Sato GajoenMyoken Onsen, KirishimaEvery room has its own hot-spring bath. Open-air in Kaze; enclosed bath-lounges elsewhere
Yagyu-no-ShoShuzenji, IzuEvery room has its own hot-spring bath. Open-air or semi-open-air in 12 of 15 rooms
Yamagata The TakinamiAkayu Onsen, NanyoEvery room has its own open-air hot-spring bath. Kept at about 43°C with no water added
Yufuin TamanoyuYufuin OnsenEvery room has its own hot-spring cypress bath. Each looks onto its own garden
ZaborinHanazono, NisekoEvery villa has indoor and open-air spring baths. From the inn's own source, nothing added
A bath of its own in every room, not from a spring4
HiiragiyaNakahakusancho, KyotoEvery room has a pine bath of groundwater. Natural groundwater, not a hot spring
Hitotsu NotojimaSusomachi, NanaoEvery room has its own bath, not hot-spring water. KUKI and MAGARI have a tub over the bay
A bath of its own in every room14
The inn does not say in every case whether the water is from a spring; we ask.
Gora Kadan FujiSubashiri, Mount FujiEvery room has a private bath. Some are filled with hot-spring water
Kanamean NishitomiyaTominokoji-Rokkaku, KyotoEvery room has a hinoki cypress bath. Add nothing to the tub: it stains
The other 9
Nara Kasugaokuyama TsukihiteiKasugano, NaraEvery room has its own bath. Umbrella-pine baths in Sakura, Wakaba and Take
Onyado Fukuchiyo (Nabeshima Auberge)Hizen Hamashuku, KashimaEvery house has its own bath. Garden Villa adds a sauna and cold plunge
Ryokan KurashikiBikan Historical Quarter, KurashikiEvery room has its own bath. Some tubs are of Japanese umbrella pine
SekiteiMiyahama Onsen, HatsukaichiEvery room has its own bath. Open-air, semi-open-air or a dark 'karasu' bath
Sumiya RyokanFuyacho Sanjo, KyotoEvery room has a koyamaki wooden tub. Filled for you before you arrive
TawarayaFuyacho Aneyakoji, KyotoEvery room has its own bathroom with a tub. Several look onto a small courtyard garden
The Hiramatsu GinozaMatsuda, OkinawaEvery room has a heated jet bath on the terrace. Swimsuits on; there is an indoor bath too
THE HIRAMATSU KYOTONakagyo, KyotoEvery room has a jet bath. Some rooms have a small courtyard garden
In some rooms only10
Here the bath depends on the room you book.
Araya TotoanYunogawa, Kaga11 of 17 rooms have their own spring-water bath. Free-flowing, mostly in cypress tubs
Myoken IshiharasoMyoken Onsen, KirishimaTen rooms have their own hot-spring bath. Sukiya-style rooms have no bath
Niseko Konbu Onsen Tsuruga Besso Moku no ShoKonbu Onsen, NisekoHot-spring baths in the suites and some rooms. Open-air on the deck of all ten suites
Nishimuraya HonkanKinosaki Onsen, ToyookaSome rooms have an open-air bath, not hot spring. Kinosaki's rule: no hot-spring water in rooms
Ryotei HanzuiryoUnzen OnsenOnly two rooms have a hot-spring bath. Open-air rock baths in Tsubakien and Juen
The other 5
Satoyama JujoOsawayama Onsen, MinamiuonumaMost rooms have an open-air hot-spring bath. Rooms 206, 207, 304 and 305 have none
The Hiramatsu KashikojimaUgata, Ise-ShimaOnly the four annex rooms have a hot-spring bath. Main-building rooms have ordinary baths
The KayoteiYamanaka Onsen, KagaSome suites have their own hot-spring bath. The Japanese suites have a shower only
Tobira Onsen MyojinkanTobira Onsen, MatsumotoMost rooms have a hot-spring bath. Yamashina has a shower only
YoruyaHigashimachi, KurashikiMost rooms have a semi-open-air garden bath. Standard rooms have a shower only
Kashikiri: the bath you reserve
Where rooms have no hot spring of their own, or as well as it, many inns keep a private bath that guests take in turns. Takefue has three, free to book for 45 minutes each; The Hiramatsu Sengokuhara gives each room one 40-minute slot, set at check-in; at Ryokan Kurashiki a semi-open-air granite tub is yours for 50 minutes; at Fujiya Inn in Ginzan, five private baths are open day and night, to be used alone or as a couple whenever one is free.
A kashikiri bath is also the answer for a family who want to bathe together, and for anyone with a tattoo.
