Yumoto Choza

Relocated farmhouses, irori dinners and up to eight free private baths in Okuhida — wonderful when the water and the hearth deliver, but the old buildings show their age

Yumoto Choza is one of Fukuchi Onsen's oldest inns, opened in 1969 and built from farmhouses moved here from elsewhere — the Gifu tourism site describes thirteen old houses on 6,000 tsubo, including a wealthy farmer's house about 150 years old, joined by long covered corridors. It has 27 rooms. The draw for Japanese guests is the bathing: separate men's and women's baths with tubs at different temperatures, plus up to eight private baths that cost nothing and need no booking — three indoor ones in the main building, and since 2021 five open-air 'Shizuku-no-yu' baths across the lane, the largest (No. 5) facing the river. Meals are eaten in private irori rooms: iwana and gohei-mochi roasted over the hearth, Hida beef yaki-shabu, hoba miso at breakfast. Scores are good but not spectacular (4.3 on two major sites), and reviews explain why: in summer the wooden rooms can feel damp and smell old (2021, 2025), one 2024 guest found things broken, another found cobwebs, the layout is a maze with steps, and some 2024–25 diners found dishes cold or the cooking less careful than before. No room has its own open-air bath, and the rock section of the main outdoor bath has been out of use since January 2026 because of trouble with the shared source. Most guests pay roughly ¥30,000 per person with two meals.