Fukiage Hot Spring Health Center — Hotel in Kamifurano

Recommended by both our hotel concierge and a local magazine about “day trips to onsen”, we decided to pay a visit to Hakuginso on one evening after skiing. It was not an obvious choice or an easy decision for us — this hotel was pretty far away from where we skied and when we stayed, and we were talking about more than an hour drive in heavy snow in the dark, on very narrow two-way traffic uphill mountain roads. In the end, we were glad we had come. It was an old and true traditional Japanese style hotel on the top of one of the mountains in the area. It wasn’t exactly scenic in the dark, but we were absolutely impressed by its onsen. There were three onsen areas: men’s, women’s, and mixed bath areas. Swimsuits are a must in the last one. The quality of the natural hot spring water, which in our opinion is always the most important box to or not to tick when it comes to onsen, was absolutely fantastic. We had no doubt whatsoever that it was 100% natural as advertised by the hotel. The outdoor onsen areas were more spacious than most of those we had been to in Japan. We were sure the views of the forest and the mountains would have been great during the daytime. The overall onsen experience was just great and authentic. According to the photos of magazine and the hotel brochure, the rooms of the hotel appear to be very very modest, but that’d be totally irrelevant to a day trip. All in all, it was a very pleasant visit and we were glad we’d made the trip. A tip for you if you want to go there in the winter months: do not drive if you are not an experienced driver on/in the snow. Even if you are, drive very carefully on those narrow two-way traffic mountain roads. An alternative way of getting to this nice onsen would be booking a taxi or a 7-seat people carrier in advance for 4 hours or half a day and you would...

In April this is a wonderful place to stay and you probably don't need advance reservations. It is located a few hundred yards from the Fukiage wild hot springs and has its own hot springs. Many people come to the Hakuginsou hot spring without staying the night. When I came, I saw two red foxes by the road waiting for handouts from those driving by. Drive from Biei via Hwy 966 or from Furano via Hwy 291.||||I booked for 5500 yen for two nights and stayed in a dorm room. There is also camping. Capacity at the inn is 68 people in six rooms and during the peaks of the mountain trekking season capacity is sometimes reached. It was not crowded when I stayed and I stayed without a reservation. There is a fully functional communal kitchen with refrigerators. There are no stores or restaurants within five kilometers of the inn, so you need to bring your own food. The inn was recently restored by the area residents and employs about eight area residents. It had been an old mountain lodge. Visited April 2, 2017 and again later...

A brilliant gem of an onsen! Did a day visit to the onsen which was 800 yen. The facilities are in excellent condition and relatively new as Japanese onsen goes. Both male and female sides have several onsen baths to choose from both inside and outside as well as sauna rooms. Between the gender areas there is a large mixed outdoor pool which is relatively quiet as the locals seem to prefer unisex onsen. In the mixed one bathing suits are to be used.

Location is more than 1000 meters up in the mountain so getting there in the winter is tricky and you need snow chains. Still in early April the roads had a lot of snow on them at higher altitudes.

The hotel seems to be in an excellent location for ski touring as well of the back country areas. This to be fully explored on...