Tobira Onsen Myojinkan

This little jewel of a hotel is tucked away in the foothills of the Yatsugatake National Park, in picturesque Nagano Prefecture, and first opened its elegant doors to guests in 1931. The waters that bubble through the hotel’s onsen are renowned for their therapeutic qualities and little could be more relaxing than lying back in a private bath with the forest spread out before you and rising to the green of the surrounding hills.

The hotel has 27 Japanese-style rooms of "tatami"-mat floors and sliding wood-and-paper doors, as well as 17 Western-style guest rooms. Open the picture windows to drink in the clear air and hear the sounds of the forest. The hotel can set up a wide range of activities to occupy guests during their visit, from fishing, biking and hiking in the summer months to skiing in winter. The local area also has a number of wineries and guests can visit a wasabi farm, apple orchards and Matsumoto Castle. Chef Katsumi Suzuki is skilled in preparing "kaiseki" cuisine with the choicest local ingredients, while Chef Masahiro Tanabe has a well-deserved reputation for French meals that utilize Japanese ingredients.