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Nozawa Onsen: 5 inns for the 13 free public baths
Approximate, at the rate on 2026-10-02. You pay in yen.
- Five Nozawa Onsen ryokan, chosen by distance to the 13 free bath houses
- Wakagiri is on Oyu-dori, with about six bath houses within five minutes
- Sumiyoshiya, Kiriya, Terayu and Sakaya each draw their own spring
The five
| Best for | Where to book | Score | Weeknight (per person) | Saturday |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best food, and water cooled by nothing but air — if you can’t decide | Mura no Hotel Sumiyoshiya Check price |
88/100 | — | ¥34,000–46,000 |
| Best for doing it the village way, for the least money | Wakagiri Check price |
84/100 | ¥10,000 | ¥10,000 |
| Best for a quiet wooden inn and untouched water | Kiriya Ryokan Check price |
79/100 | — | — |
| Next door to the bath the village started from | Oyado Terayu Check price |
73/100 | — | ¥12,000–14,000 |
| Best bath house of its own, and closest to the lifts | Ryokan Sakaya Check price |
73/100 | ¥26,000 | ¥30,000–33,000 |
Prices are the cheapest per person found on Rakuten Travel for Wednesdays and Saturdays between 2026-11-07 – 2026-12-30, for 2 adults in one room (checked 2026-10-31). They move daily — the link shows live prices.
The booking links go to Agoda, which shows today’s price and lets you pay in your own currency. Its price can differ from the Rakuten Travel figures above.
Best food, and water cooled by nothing but air
Reviews: Rakuten Travel 4.89/5 (128) · Ikyu 4.68/5 (14) · Google Maps 4.70/5 (161) · Tripadvisor 4.70/5 (106) · Agoda 9.1/10 (4) · 413 in total
- Founded in 1869
- Stands beside the Ogama, the boiling spring the village cooks vegetables in and a protected natural monument
- Hearth lounge between the entrance and the baths, with draught beer
Why it made the five
- Water rising at 90°C from two points on the property, cooled by air alone and run straight through the baths
- Eleven rooms — seven in the three-storey wooden main house, four in the annexe
- Dinner and breakfast in the dining room, built on Shinshu produce; dinner scores 5.00
- Four minutes to Oyu, the nearest public bath house; ski drying room and a post-bath lounge
Getting there: Beside the Ogama boiling spring. Four minutes on foot to the Oyu bath house.
Language and payment: Rakuten lists a few staff with some English, and the inn’s own website has an English version. Read the restrictions below before booking — they are unusual and they are firm.
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Right for: You want the food to be the centre of the trip, and a small inn that looks after you.
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Not for: Stairs are a problem for you, you have wide-ranging food allergies, or your dates are fixed.
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Worth knowing: There is no lift and all rooms are above the ground floor. The kitchen closes for Tuesday dinner, all day Wednesday and Thursday breakfast (subject to change in peak season). The inn will not take bookings with meals from guests who cannot eat wheat, gluten, kombu, bonito, soy, egg or gelatine.
Score breakdown — 88/100
| Criterion | Stars | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Quality | ★★★★★ | The categories Rakuten does show average 5.00 |
| Value for money | ★☆☆☆☆ | 163% of the median of everything we compared |
| Easy to stay | ★★★★★ | Checkout 11:00, four minutes from Oyu, beside the Ogama, hearth lounge, ski drying room, some English |
| Trust | ★★★★★ | 4.76 across 409 reviews on four sites |
| Only here | ★★★★★ | 90°C water from the inn’s own ground, cooled only by air, with nothing added or reheated |
Best for doing it the village way, for the least money
Reviews: Rakuten Travel 4.68/5 (215) · Google Maps 4.30/5 (313) · Agoda 10.0/10 (1) · 529 in total
- No hot spring inside: the public bath houses (soto-yu) are the point
- All summer you use the public baths
Why it made the five
- On Oyu-dori in the middle of the village, with about six free bath houses within five minutes
- The indoor bath is heated water, winter only, 17:00–22:00 — otherwise you use the public baths
- Eight rooms; breakfast rated 4.91 and dinner 5.00
- Two minutes to the ski shuttle stop; coin laundry on site
Getting there: About 20 minutes by bus from Iiyama station, then three minutes on foot. Two minutes to the ski area shuttle stop.
Language and payment: Simple and self-service: you lay out your own futon and the yukata costs extra. Tell them in advance if you will arrive after 20:00.
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Right for: You want to walk between the thirteen bath houses several times a day, and eat well without paying much.
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Not for: You want a hot spring inside your own inn, or to be waited on.
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Worth knowing: The inn’s own bath is heated water and open only 17:00–22:00 in winter. Futons are self-service and yukata are charged. Call ahead if checking in after 20:00.
Score breakdown — 84/100
| Criterion | Stars | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Quality | ★★★★☆ | Room, bath and food average 4.74 on Rakuten Travel |
| Value for money | ★★★★★ | 49% of the median of everything we compared — the cheapest of the five |
| Easy to stay | ★★★★★ | In the middle of the village with six bath houses within five minutes, two minutes from the ski shuttle, coin laundry |
| Trust | ★★★☆☆ | 4.45 across 528 reviews on two sites |
| Only here | ★★★★☆ | No hot spring of its own — it treats the six nearby public baths as its bath house, the oldest way to stay in Nozawa |
Best for a quiet wooden inn and untouched water
Reviews: Rakuten Travel 4.89/5 (115) · Jalan 4.90/5 (194) · Google Maps 4.50/5 (187) · Tripadvisor 4.70/5 (115) · 611 in total
- Guests rate it 4.89, with cleanliness at 4.93 and service at 4.90
- Laundry earns its keep in winter, when everything is wet
Why it made the five
- Water rising on the property, used with nothing added, nothing heated and nothing disinfected — a simple sulphur spring
- A quiet wooden sukiya-style building looking onto a Japanese garden, near the Ogama
- Fourteen rooms, some in a separate wooden wing
- Free self-service laundry, a ski tuning space, and free parking for twenty cars
Getting there: 25 minutes from Iiyama station on the Nozawa Onsen Liner. Free parking for ten cars under cover and ten outside.
Language and payment: The inn’s own website has English pages. Note the 22:00 curfew — the door is locked after that, which matters if you plan a long evening.
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Right for: You want an old wooden building and a garden, and you care how the water is handled.
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Not for: You want a big bath house or an open-air bath, or to stay out late.
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Worth knowing: Curfew is 22:00. Rakuten lists no large communal bath or open-air bath — the big baths here are the public ones outside.
Score breakdown — 79/100
| Criterion | Stars | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Quality | ★★★☆☆ | Room, bath and food average 4.54 on Rakuten Travel |
| Value for money | ★★★☆☆ | No rooms came up in our search window, so this is our baseline rating |
| Easy to stay | ★★★★★ | Near the Ogama and the bath houses, 25 minutes from Iiyama, free laundry, tuning space, free parking, English website |
| Trust | ★★★★☆ | 4.74 across 611 reviews on four sites |
| Only here | ★★★★★ | Spring water used exactly as it rises, in a wooden sukiya building facing a Japanese garden |
Next door to the bath the village started from
Reviews: Rakuten Travel 4.59/5 (268) · Jalan 4.20/5 (125) · Google Maps 4.20/5 (129) · Tripadvisor 3.90/5 (7) · 529 in total
- Next to Kuma-no-tearai-yu, held to be where Nozawa Onsen began
- Bathe in the same water indoors when the public bath is busy
- Dinner includes mountain plants and mushrooms in season
Why it made the five
- The only inn in the village piped from the source of Kuma-no-tearai-yu, said to be where Nozawa Onsen began
- Seven rooms; no smoking anywhere in the building
- Home-style local cooking with river fish, home-grown vegetables and seasonal mountain food
- Ski drying room; shared fridge with a freezer compartment
Getting there: 25 minutes by bus from Iiyama station. The Kuma-no-tearai-yu bath house is next door. If driving, telephone the inn first for directions.
Language and payment: Rakuten lists a few staff with some English. Curfew is 23:00. Hairdryers are in the washrooms on each floor rather than in the rooms.
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Right for: You want the history of the bath houses as well as the bathing, and home cooking rather than a banquet.
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Not for: You want a large bath house or an open-air bath, or you are driving in winter.
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Worth knowing: Curfew 23:00, no smoking indoors. If you drive, do not follow the satnav: the lanes are narrow enough that ordinary cars get stuck, and the inn asks you to call for directions first.
Score breakdown — 73/100
| Criterion | Stars | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Quality | ★★☆☆☆ | Room, bath and food average 4.46 on Rakuten Travel |
| Value for money | ★★★★★ | 57% of the median of everything we compared |
| Easy to stay | ★★★★★ | Next door to a bath house, 25 minutes from Iiyama, ski drying room, shared fridge, some English |
| Trust | ★★☆☆☆ | 4.39 across 529 reviews on four sites |
| Only here | ★★★★★ | Beside Kuma-no-tearai-yu, the village’s original bath, and the only inn drawing that source |
Best bath house of its own, and closest to the lifts
Reviews: Rakuten Travel 4.53/5 (383) · Agoda 9.1/10 (54) · 437 in total
- 29 rooms
- Guests score the bath 4.79, the standout figure
- Open-air baths for men and women
Why it made the five
- A spring rising in the inn’s own garden, used at full strength with no water added
- A temple-carpenter bath house divided into hot, cool and lying-down pools, with open-air baths and a sauna
- A private bath by reservation, five parties a day
- Five minutes to the Yu Road walkway up to the Hikage slopes; ski drying room, tuning space and free parking for 30 cars
Getting there: 25 minutes from Iiyama station on the direct Nozawa Onsen Liner, then three minutes on foot from the last stop. Free parking for 30 cars, no reservation needed.
Language and payment: The largest of the five and the most straightforward if you want everything on site. Its communal baths are Japanese ones; the reservable private bath is the way round the tattoo question, but book it on arrival.
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Right for: You want a serious bath inside the inn as well as the ones outside, and somewhere to leave your skis.
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Not for: You came for the quiet of a tiny inn, or want to spend as little as possible.
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Worth knowing: The private bath takes only five bookings a day. Besides the bathing tax, stays from 1 June 2026 carry the village accommodation tax.
Score breakdown — 73/100
| Criterion | Stars | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Quality | ★★★☆☆ | Room, bath and food average 4.56 on Rakuten Travel |
| Value for money | ★★☆☆☆ | 126% of the median of everything we compared |
| Easy to stay | ★★★★★ | Three minutes from the bus terminus, five from the Yu Road to the slopes, ski drying and tuning rooms, private bath, free parking |
| Trust | ★★★☆☆ | 4.53 across 383 Rakuten reviews |
| Only here | ★★★★★ | Its own garden spring, undiluted, in a temple-carpenter bath house split into hot, cool and lying-down pools |
Know before you book
- All thirteen bath houses — Oyu, Ogama-no-yu, Kuma-no-tearai-yu and the rest — are free. There is an offering box at the entrance and a small coin is the custom.
- The Yu Road moving walkway takes you to the Hikage slopes in about ten minutes, free; a free shuttle runs to the Nagasaka gondola.
- Stay on Oyu-dori, the main lane, and six or so bath houses are within five minutes. One inn here is next door to a bath house.
- A direct bus, the Nozawa Onsen Liner, runs from Iiyama station in 25 minutes, and most inns are two to five minutes from the last stop, so the village is walkable from arrival.
- The springs rise by themselves at between 42 and 90°C. When a bath is too hot, you stir it with the wooden boards provided — and you say something to the others before you add cold water.
- A few inns heat their own bath only between 17:00 and 22:00 in winter. From 1 June 2026 the village charges an accommodation tax.
How we chose: theme, conditions, scoring
How we chose
- Candidates: every property in Nozawa Onsen listed on Rakuten Travel — 193
- Passed the review filter (counts and averages on Rakuten Travel, the one site that lists every property in the area): 42
- Met every condition below: 32
- Kept: five, each the best at something different
Where the facts come from
- Facts: Rakuten Travel property information (in some articles, each hotel’s own site too)
- Prices: Rakuten Travel live availability, Wednesdays and Saturdays over eight weeks
- Reviews: counts and averages from Rakuten Travel, Jalan, Ikyu, Google Maps, Tripadvisor and Booking.com, added up in each hotel’s Trust row. Agoda’s reviews are shown under each hotel name for reference only and do not count towards the score
Conditions (all of them, not most of them)
- Address in Nozawaonsen village, inside the hot-spring quarter and within walking distance of the thirteen bath houses
- Reaches the ski area by the Yu Road moving walkway or the village’s free shuttle bus
- A rate for two including dinner is bookable on Rakuten Travel
- Reviews hold up: at least 30 reviews averaging 4.2 or better on Rakuten Travel, the one site that lists every property in the area. Shortlisted inns were then checked against Jalan, Ikyu, Google Maps, TripAdvisor and Booking.com as well — the Trust row for each place shows the breakdown.
Scoring
Five criteria, one to five stars each, weighted to one hundred points. Every star says where the number came from.
- Quality30 pts
- The average of the room, bath and food scores guests leave on Rakuten Travel. 4.80 and above is five stars, 4.65 four, 4.50 three.
- Value for money15 pts
- The price against the median of everything we compared. 80% or less is five stars, 95% four, 110% three, 130% two.
- Easy to stay20 pts
- Starts at one star. A point each for checkout at 11am or later, nearness to the bath houses and the lifts, a drying room for ski gear, laundry, and anything else that makes this particular trip easier.
- Trust15 pts
- Review counts and averages added up across booking sites, weighted by how many reviews each site has. 4.75 and 100+ reviews is five stars, 4.60 and 50+ four, 4.40 and 30+ three.
- Only here20 pts
- What you can only get here. Our judgement, with the reason stated.
What we dropped
| Property | Verdict | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Kawaichiya Ryokan, Nozawa Onsen | Runner-up (72/100) | 72 points, below the lowest of the five (73) |
| Nozawa Grand Hotel, Nozawa Onsen | Runner-up (72/100) | 72 points, below the lowest of the five (73) |
| Tokiwaya Ryokan, Nozawa Onsen | Runner-up (70/100) | 70 points, below the lowest of the five (73) |
| Address Nozawa | Outside the theme | All twelve units have kitchens, with a free private hot-spring bath, free laundry and ski storage, and it is rated 5.00 — the best choice for a long stay. But Rakuten records no meals, so it fails our dinner condition. |
| Lodge Denbee | Outside the theme | A milky-white bath, open-air bath and ski hire, rated 4.66. But in winter the road is closed and luggage is carried in by snowcat from a car park in the village, which rules out walking to the bath houses in a yukata. |
| Nakajimaya Ryokan | Runner-up | Rakuten records that most staff here speak some English, which is generous for this village, and the food scores well. Its location and facilities scores, 4.12 and 4.20, fell short of the five we chose. |
| Oyado Akebiya | Runner-up | A five-room guesthouse that bills itself as ideal for the thirteen bath houses, rated 4.65 with dinner at 4.79. Its arrangement — family bath only, public baths outside — duplicates Wakagiri, which has more reviews and better food scores. |
Questions visitors ask
How do the thirteen public baths work?
They are owned and cleaned by the neighbourhood associations, not by a company. Entry is free; there is an offering box inside the door and a coin is the custom. You bring your own towel and soap, wash thoroughly at the taps before getting in, and you do not put the towel in the water. Nobody will hand you a ticket or explain — the inns will, so ask.
The water is too hot to get into. What do I do?
That is normal here: the springs come out of the ground between 42 and 90°C. There are wooden boards for stirring the bath, which cools it without diluting it — try that first. If you are going to run cold water in, say something to the others in the bath, because you are changing the temperature for everyone.
I have tattoos. Can I use the public baths?
The soto-yu are village facilities rather than commercial ones, and they do not post the kind of refusal signs hotels do, but the custom is local and other bathers are your neighbours for the evening. Ask your inn how it is handled before you go. If you would rather not, Sakaya has a private bath you can reserve, five parties a day.
How do I get to the slopes?
The Yu Road moving walkway climbs to the Hikage slopes in about ten minutes and is free; Sakaya is five minutes from it. A free village shuttle runs to the Nagasaka gondola, and Wakagiri is two minutes from a stop. From Iiyama station on the Hokuriku Shinkansen, the Nozawa Onsen Liner bus takes 25 minutes.
Are there curfews?
Yes, at some. Kiriya locks up at 22:00 and Terayu at 23:00, and Wakagiri wants a phone call if you will arrive after 20:00. This is a village of small family-run inns, not a resort, so plan the evening accordingly.
When were these prices checked?
We searched Rakuten Travel availability for Wednesdays and Saturdays across an eight-week window, taking the cheapest room with dinner. Winter dates in a ski village sell out early and cost far more than the figures here — the link on each inn shows what it costs today.
Changes
- 2026-10-31 First published. Scored from 193 candidates.