Kishu Shirahama Onsen Musashi

A 148-room beach inn a minute from Shirarahama, loved for its open-kitchen buffet and two hot springs — book the high-floor Nagitei rooms for the sea view and rooftop bath, and expect crowds, long walks to the annex and no free toothbrush

Musashi traces its roots to Kinjōkan, an inn the naturalist Minakata Kumagusu used to frequent; it moved to Shirahama and took the name Musashi in 1950. Today it's a big, family-friendly house of 148 Japanese-style rooms in the middle of town, one minute's walk from the white sand of Shirarahama, renovated in 2018 with a rooftop bath, Tenkū, reserved for guests of the top-floor Nagitei rooms. It's the only inn in Shirahama with two springs: its own Saimei-yu in the large and medium baths, and the saltier Suzushi-yu, piped from a nearby spring, flowing through the open-air and private baths. Japanese guests rate it 4.3 across 2,866 reviews on one major site (dinner and breakfast both 4.5) and 4.33 across 2,402 on another. Most praise is for the buffet: steak and tempura cooked to order, sushi, sashimi, kue hotpot and lots of choice for children. Beachgoers in summer 2026 liked the outdoor showers, changing room and float pumps for swimmers. Travellers from 2023 to 2026 also enjoyed a kue-and-Kumano-beef kaiseki, having the rooftop bath to themselves and birthday surprises from staff. The complaints are about scale: a crowded buffet, slow check-in in summer, uneven staff, the annex reached by stairs and a single small lift, a dated feel, chlorine noticed in the indoor bath, and — several times in September 2026 — no toothbrush or comb in the room, sold at the shop instead. Buffet stays run about ¥15,700–33,400 per person for two sharing, and ¥54,340 for the VIP suite.