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. It holds two MICHELIN Keys (2025 and 2026), up from one in 2024. Japanese guests rate it 4.64 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'.