Ryokan in Yunishigawa Onsen

All four reviewed inns are at Yunishigawa Onsen in Nikko, Tochigi, on the Yunishigawa river in the remote mountain valley north of Kinugawa where, by local legend, survivors of the defeated Heike clan went into hiding; all four are reached by local bus from Yunishigawa-Onsen Station, all four serve dinner around an irori hearth, and all four need winter tyres in the colder months. Honke Bankyu traces itself to 1666 and to a family descended from Heike warriors — the name Ban (伴) is said to be a disguised form of Taira (平) — and is now a riverside inn of about two dozen rooms whose dinner is served in private irori rooms across a swaying vine bridge. Yamashiroya is one of the larger inns in the village, an old Shōwa-era building whose 32 rooms all face the river, with three private open-air baths on the riverbank. Irodori Yukashiki Hana to Hana, 20 minutes by local bus from the station, is another of the village's larger inns: 56 rooms in three buildings — a seven-storey Spring wing with a lift, a three-storey Autumn wing by the river and a small two-storey wooden Winter wing — joined by corridors to a lobby dressed with armour and hanging hina ornaments. Its ten baths are fed by its own spring, Kasho-no-yu, a colourless alkaline simple spring (pH 9.3, about 60°C, 160 litres a minute) that leaves skin slippery-smooth; one booking site lists the baths as free-flowing, but an onsen writer who visited in late 2021 was told the rock bath is chlorinated for hygiene. Kamiyashiki Taira no Takafusa lies furthest in, beyond the last houses of the village at 760 m, 25 minutes by local bus from the station plus a short pick-up by the inn (call before boarding; there are only four buses a day, one of them weekend-only): a newly built, all-timber 'mountain-fortress' residence that the inn says was raised by a descendant of the clan, with 19 rooms spread over a steep site of about 4 hectares, including a farmhouse more than 80 years old, moved here and split into two sauna suites. Its own well feeds a faintly sulphur-scented, weakly alkaline simple spring (57.2°C, pH 8.3–8.5) that the inn calls free-flowing in every bath, though an early-2024 blogger noted that the indoor main bath alone was diluted, recirculated and disinfected.

Honke Bankyu (classic) suits anyone who comes for the food and a bath of their own: venison skewers, salt-grilled iwana, carp and trout sashimi and local beef, rated 4.8 for dinner and breakfast across 943 reviews on one major booking site, and three rooms with their own spring-fed riverside open-air bath plus five with semi-open-air baths; two-meal rates start around ¥25,500 per person. The inn itself warns that you may hear corridors and neighbouring rooms, there is no lift and plenty of steps, facilities and cleanliness score below 3.9 on one site, and reviewers disagree about how much of the water is free-flowing. Yamashiroya (value) suits families and anyone after riverside bathing on a budget: three private open-air baths — an iron pot for two, a granite tub for three or four and twin hinoki tubs — free and unbooked, 40 minutes each from 15:00 to 22:00, and charcoal-irori 'Heike falconry' dinners of iwana, yuba, deer and miso-grilled ichishō-bera, rated 4.4 across 915 reviews on Jalan, with two-meal plans at about ¥10,000–23,000 per person in 2026. Expect a dated building (cleanliness 3.9 on Jalan, facilities 3.71 on Rakuten), some rooms with only a fan, a cold lobby and dining room in winter, huge and sometimes rushed dinners, and at busy times the private baths can be impossible to get into. Irodori Yukashiki Hana to Hana (classic) suits families and anyone after a big, easy-going inn with plenty included: since December 2025 drinks, soft-serve and snacks are free in an open lounge and drinks come with dinner, the 'Heike okariba-yaki' dinner is grilled over sunken irori hearths, there are riverside open-air baths, a hinoki bath and a sauna, staff are praised as friendly and flexible, and children are welcome (primary-school children pay 70%, preschoolers 50%); it scores 4.07 across 1,758 reviews on Rakuten Travel (baths 4.30, facilities 3.90) and 4.2 across 2,559 on Jalan, where baths score 4.5, and two-meal rates run from about ¥16,500 to over ¥30,000 per person. It is a large, group-friendly house with karaoke rooms and a convention hall rather than an intimate small ryokan, the two private baths cost extra (¥2,750 or ¥3,850 for 45 minutes) and most rooms have no bath of their own, lounge drinks are time-limited, and 2026 reviews mention old buildings with a musty smell, weak or noisy air conditioners, insects (more than 30 stink bugs removed from one seventh-floor room in October), patchy Wi-Fi, cold corridors and changing rooms in winter and, from repeat guests, a dinner with fewer dishes. Kamiyashiki Taira no Takafusa (classic) suits anyone who wants hearth dinners and free private bathing at the quiet end of the valley: dinner is grilled at semi-private irori tables in a big timber hall — char, 'isshō-bera' chicken with miso and sansho, boar hotpot — and rated 4.7 on Jalan, where the inn scores 4.6 across 1,109 reviews; two private open-air baths are free (40 minutes, one slot per party, booked at the front desk on arrival), the large rock-built open-air bath is roofless for stargazing, and Japanese-Western rooms renovated in January 2023 have their own semi-open-air bath filled from the spring; two-meal rates start around ¥14,500 per person on the official site and pass ¥30,000 for the farmhouse suites. Expect many stairs and outdoor walks to the baths (the inn asks guests not to bring large suitcases; the Bōkyō-tei farmhouse rooms are the most accessible), horseflies and bees at the open-air baths in summer, a dinner room that closes at 20:00, requests at dinner routed through a QR code in October 2026, and nothing nearby — the nearest convenience store is about 40 minutes by car.