Wasurenosato Gajoen

A hamlet of thatched farmhouses where chickens roam and every room has a rock-hewn onsen — 'as if time stopped fifty years ago', and priced accordingly high

Gajoen was founded in 1970 by a former banker born in a Myoken Onsen bath-house inn, who moved old rural buildings to this riverside site and created what the inn calls Japan's first guest room with its own open-air bath. Today it's a cluster of about eight rooms — thatched houses with 'bath-living rooms', a two-storey cottage, and riverside suites — and since a 2023 renovation every room has its own onsen tub carved from rock. Japanese guests rate it 4.62 across 34 reviews on one leading site, with service at 4.76: they love the unhurried, 'neither clingy nor distant' hospitality, shochu by the irori after dinner, free-roaming chickens that greet you, and rice balls pressed into your hands as you leave. Food comes from the inn's own poultry farm and gardens — chicken sashimi 'with no gamey smell at all', a chicken hotpot simmered for hours, charcoal grilling — rustic rather than Kyoto-style. Critics point to value: at over ¥100,000 for two, some found the rooms dated, amenities basic, Wi-Fi weak, portions heavy, insects a summer problem, and the steep stairs and handrail-free stone baths hard on older guests. One 2024 guest called the price 'out of line with the stay'.