Shibu Hot Spring — Local services in Yamanouchi

Shibu Onsen has seen better days and now is a decadent hot spring town, with many businesses struggling to survive and many others closed for good. I stayed for 3 days in the area (during peak cherry blossom season), including a weekend and there were just a few tourists wandering the empty streets. If you stay overnight in the town, you are allowed to use the public baths; otherwise you can use just one of them (#9) for a ¥500 fee. It’s a shame because the streets and alleys have their charm, and it would be great to see it thriving, like other hot spring towns Kusatsu Onsen or Hakone...

Nagano is a ski resort in winter, and it is the best choice for skiing travelers to end their exhaustion with hot springs. Among the numerous hot spring villages, Yudanaka Shibu Onsen Village has a history of more than 1,300 years and is one of the representative hot springs in Shinshu. As long as you check into the local hotel, you will be assigned a key to open the locks of each outer soup. Very beautiful,...

Worth a 1- or 2-night stay for the monkey park alone, even if you're like me and you're not really into monkeys/animals. An actual authentic small town that's not altered and made extra fancy to appeal to tourists, which for me had it's own charm. Amazing surrounding scenery and a nice little river...