Oomiya Ryokan

Oomiya stands on the high side of the onsen village, a timber inn dressed in Taisho-era style with tatami laid through the whole building. The 32 Japanese rooms are all non-smoking, and each has a toilet. Rooms sit on the second and third floors with stairs only. Children must be of primary-school age or older.

Milky Zao water rises through the stone wall of the source bath, and the wooden Tamago-buro is shaped like an egg. Everything flows straight from the source, open around the clock outside cleaning, and men and women swap sides at about 19:00. The outdoor bath closes for snow from about mid-November to mid-April, and in that season you can use the outdoor baths at the sister hotels, Zao Kokusai Hotel and Zao Shiki no Hotel.

The Uenodai slope is seven minutes away on foot. The inn also runs a free shuttle to the Yokokura slope on reservation, leaving at 8:30, 9:30, 11:00, 12:30 and 14:00 and coming back from 11:10 to 16:40. A free bus from Yamagata Station needs booking three days ahead, and staff fetch guests from the bus terminal when they call.