Shirahone Ebisuya

We came here for the famous Shirahone Onsen. The location is indescribable. We were driving back from Kamikochi and just managed to catch the shuttle at the last minute. If we had missed it, we'd probably have to wait until tomorrow. 😅 I'm complaining about Japan's village bus system; it only runs a few times a day. But this onsen is absolutely worth it. It's not about price/performance. One night, two nights. The room was very comfortable. Both meals were set meals, standard Japanese fare, with plenty of dishes to fill you up. The ingredients are mostly homemade. Once you're here, there's nothing to do except soak in the hot springs. I soaked four times in the morning and evening, and in the evening, I had nothing to do but quietly read for an hour. It really felt like a return to nature. Come here just for the milky white hot springs, it's worth it.

We stayed overnight on a family trip from the 1st to the 2nd of the new year. The road to the inn was just barely wide enough even with studless tires. I was impressed by the length of the icicles that had grown at the entrance to Ebisu-ya. The rooms were clean and the hot springs were very charming. The food was varied and the portions were just right. The inn exceeded my expectations and I was very satisfied.

The hot springs are clean and the water is changed daily. The staff is very good and friendly. Special car pick-up and luggage. The bus is arranged, so there is no need to worry about delays. The food is in a small private room and the quality is satisfactory. The Japanese-style room is large and has sanitary facilities.

Shirahone Onsen is said to keep you from catching a cold for three years if you soak in it for three days, and the bath at this inn makes me think it has exactly that kind of effect. Both the indoor bath and the open-air bath are fed directly from the source, resulting in the finest white, cloudy water. The area around the bathtub and the area where the hot water comes out has a large amount of milky white hot spring ingredients attached to it, giving it the name Shirahone. It looks like a large white coral. The water in the bath wasn't too hot, so I took a leisurely soak in the hot springs, which seemed to have some beneficial effects. This is my third bath at Shirahone Onsen, and I was most impressed with the hot spring ingredients. There was one thing that bothered me about the bathroom area. There is a sign at the entrance to the bathroom that says, ``Please put your slippers in a plastic bag if they are in the basket in your room,'' but almost all people do not bring plastic bags. I had read a number of people's comments about this, saying, ``No one notices the plastic bag, just leave it at the entrance,'' but I forgot about it. I had no choice but to put my slippers in a spare shower cap. When I looked back, the plastic bag in the basket in my room was a thick dark blue bag. The next morning, the slippers were still lying all over the place, on the edges of the walls and next to the baskets in the changing room. I thought it would be better to take some other measures, such as putting up a number plate or hanging a plastic bag there. Well, the room was a very spacious Japanese-style room with 12 tatami mats and 4 tatami mats with a wide veranda. There were two sinks, and the bath in the room was a hot spring bath with a view (unfortunately, I didn't use it). We were both very happy to be able to use such a nice room. Please note that Wi-Fi was only available in the lobby. We had our meals in a private room. Both dinner and breakfast used ingredients from Shinshu. The sashimi was Shinshu salmon and Oiwa fish sashimi, the small pot was a gentle soybean milk hotpot sourced from Shirahone Onsen, and the fried dish was croquettes (rice croquettes) made with hot spring porridge. It was a sophisticated dinner with a homemade feel, and it went well with the local sake Iwanami Shuzo Dry that came with this plan. The restaurant's veteran waitress was friendly and very kind. We also had breakfast in a private room. There was also a menu for breakfast, and we had delicious dishes such as hot spring porridge and candied rainbow trout. At both check-in and check-out, the front desk staff was courteous and attentive to customers.