Shibahara onsen

"I'd love to stay here when it's snowing." February 19-20, 2026 We stayed Thursday through Friday. We were there to try the wild boar hotpot, which ends in February. "Dinner" / 4 stars The wild boar hotpot was more substantial than I expected. It was loin and thigh meat, and if you hadn't been told, you might not have been able to tell the difference from the firm pork. It was simmered in a miso-flavored sauce. The tempura included lily root, mugwort, shiso leaves, and yuzu citrus. It was delicious. The udo shiraae (seaweed salad) was also delicious. The tea ice cream for dessert had a bitter, adult-like flavor and was a real treat. "Breakfast" / 4 stars All the side dishes were delicious, but I especially loved the hot tofu. It was so good that we both ate the entire rice in the rice cooker. The salmon overlapped with what we had for dinner. It would have been even more satisfying if we'd had rainbow trout or grilled rock trout. The price for two people, one night and two days on a weekday, for a room without a bath was 40,400 yen. This included 1,600 yen for wine with dinner, 1,400 yen for canned beer from the refrigerator next to the lobby, and 1,000 yen for a guidebook from the Society for Preserving Secret Hot Springs. Considering the price, I think it was reasonable. The access is quite good among the Secret Hot Springs Association's lodgings. There's a shuttle bus from the nearest station, which takes about 10 minutes. The hot springs are switched between men's and women's at 10 p.m., but the men's baths are quite far from the open-air bath after 10 p.m., which can be a bit of a cold walk back and forth, which can be a bit of a challenge. Also, the building itself is quite old, so it's not very airtight. To get to the room we stayed in, we had to walk along a connecting corridor, which was extremely cold... Perhaps that's why it's considered a secret hot spring. I'd like to try it when it snows.

It opened in 1954 under the name "Shirayurisou". After renovation in 1994, it was renamed "Kayanoie". It is also a member of the "Society for Preserving Japan's Secluded Hot Springs", which is supported by hot spring enthusiasts. Open the door and you'll be greeted by the elegant scent of wood. The thick pillars supporting the entrance, the thick tread stairs, the wainscoting on the walls, and other pieces of wood used throughout the inn are in fact "zen" (a type of Japanese lantern). It is said to last for a thousand years and is well known as an auspicious tree. The name of this hot spring inn, which uses such lanterns abundantly, is "Kayanoie". It is one of the Seven Hot Springs of Chichibu and is a secret hot spring quietly located in Shibahara Onsen in Oku-Chichibu, which is said to have a history of about 400 years. The hot springs inside the inn also use kaya wood lavishly for the bathtubs and pipes. As a slow-growing tree, it has a tight grain and is so hard that it is used for things like go boards, and its surface is smooth. Even when they changed it to "Chikazo no Ma" In some cases, wood from around the country was not available, so bathtubs were made from Japanese cypress, but this did not compare to the durability or quality of Japanese cypress. The open-air bath allows you to feel the natural beauty of Yuri throughout the seasons, and its tranquility is enchanting. Meanwhile, the indoor bath, enveloped in the scent of tana, also offers a sense of comfort not found in the hot springs of Noh. The two baths in the indoor bath 5 and the open-air bath are each set at a comfortable temperature, and the thoughtfulness of changing the temperature by 1 degree each is a nice touch. There are a total of 10 guest rooms. This is a charming inn where you can enjoy the beauty of Chichi no Yama and seafood.

I stayed at Kaya no Ie during a hot spring trip in Chichibu. This quiet mountain inn in Shibahara Onsen not only offered excellent hot spring water, but the food was also fantastic. Dinner was served in a relaxing private room. The restaurant served mountain village cuisine, which can be described as "drinking the bounty of Chichibu's mountains and rivers as it is." The owner himself prepares the food, and every dish was warm and carefully prepared. The mountain vegetable tempura was particularly memorable. Served fresh, it brought out the flavor of the ingredients, with an exquisite balance of bitter and crispy texture. It was so delicious I couldn't stop eating it. Other dishes on the menu include boiled tofu, rice porridge, and sake lees soup made with plenty of root vegetables, all with gentle flavors that will warm your body. The sake lees soup in particular was a perfect dish for a cold winter day, with the sweetness of the root vegetables and the mellowness of the sake lees perfectly balanced. While the dishes as a whole were not flashy, the flavors of each ingredient were clearly apparent, and I got the strong impression that local ingredients were carefully prepared and presented. According to the inn's official information, "seasonal flavors made with the bounty of nature, such as mountain vegetables, wild plants, and river fish from Okuchichibu," and this was exactly the kind of dining experience you'd expect. I would highly recommend this inn to anyone looking for a quiet, relaxing stay and to savor local ingredients. I'll definitely be back.

This place encapsulates a phrase I’ve heard many Japanese people use: “simple is best”. Shibahara Ryokan has honed the basics and delivers in a simple and exacted way. The rooms are what they need to be, traditional and clean. The baths aren’t particularly interesting, but the onsen water is flowing hot and pure like its supposed to and the wooden interior coerces us into relaxation. But- but but but… the reason I’m writing this review in the first place… the food! I made a reservation for the dinner and breakfast plan and was expecting a standard meal... But as the dishes kept coming, I began to wonder who the hell was working magic in the kitchen like that?! Dishes layered in harmonious flavours and textures. Local food! Wild herbs! Simple meats with perplexing sauces! Homemade varieties of foods that I had only bought from the supermarket before but now I don’t know if I’ll ever buy again… It was a matsuri of food and when it was all over I called to the staff and nearly asked to speak with the chef to thank them personally, only I felt too embarrassed and at the last second just asked them to extend my gratitude for the magic he had created.

As an inn, I'd give it 5 stars! As a secret hot spring, this is the rating I'd give it. It's in a fairly rural corner of a village, so it feels less remote than other inns in the Secret Hot Springs Association. The inside of the building was beautiful. The atmosphere in the bath was great! The fact that it's made entirely of white wood is very pleasant and makes you want to stay in the bath forever. Is the water an alkaline simple spring? It feels light, like water. The facilities are made of wood, but I could tell it was well maintained. The food was typical of a regular inn. I found it a little lacking.