Nishimuraya Honkan

Two and a half hours by train from Kyoto and Osaka, near where the Maruyama River empties into the Sea of Japan, is the town of Kinosaki, and the thermal baths of Kinosaki Onsen. And a short distance up the river from the town center is a ryokan called Nishimuraya Honkan, which is one of the purest examples we’ve seen of an absolutely traditional Japanese country inn — tatami rooms, kaiseki dinners, onsen baths, and all.

Not that the Japanese countryside is facing any great shortage of perfectly traditional ryokan. This is an art form where innovation ranks fairly low, if at all, on the list of evaluative criteria. What matters here is a perfectly crafted room, a flawless onsen experience, faultless service, exquisite traditional cuisine, and an atmosphere of pure restorative tranquility.

By all those measures, Nishimuraya Honkan would have to be judged a success. Whereas some ryokan feature Western-style rooms along with the traditional futons, this one is tatami-only — so you’ll be sleeping at floor level. It’s got its own baths, naturally, and some rooms come with private open-air baths — but you’ll also be issued a pass that affords entry into the town of Kinosaki’s public baths. It’s the archetypal ryokan experience, and that in itself is something special indeed.