Kuriya Suizan

Kuriya Suizan is a 17-room inn in Jozankei hot spring village, 26 km south of Sapporo, in the Daiichi Hotel group (第一寶亭留). 厨 (kuriya) means the kitchen, and the inn is built around one. Eight rooms are plain 36 sq m tatami; the other nine, 62 to 122 sq m, each have their own hot spring bath — semi-open-air, picture-window or Japanese cypress (檜) — and the largest adds a private sauna.

The spring is sodium chloride (ナトリウム‐塩化物泉), from three springs rising unaided in the Toyohira riverbed, averaging about 69°C, which the inn calls free-flowing. The communal bath 川乃湯 (Kawa-no-yu, river bath) pairs indoor and open-air tubs above the river, cypress on one side and stone on the other; the sides swap between men and women during the 02:00–05:00 cleaning break. Bathing is 15:00–02:00 and 05:00–10:30. They cannot be hired privately; a basement sauna added in 2024 is booked on the day, 90 minutes for up to four, with cold plunge and self-service löyly.

Dinner is one course, the same for everyone, different daily, cooked in an open kitchen 2.5 m from the seats. It starts at 18:00 for everyone at once. There is no private dining room; guests needing allergy accommodation are sent to sister inns. Breakfast is 8:00–9:00; the second-floor lounge sets out free snacks and drinks, with a late dish at 22:00.

Check-in 15:00, check-out 11:00. Guests must be 13 or older; the building is non-smoking. A free shuttle from Odori in central Sapporo needs booking ahead.