Okujyozankei Kashogyoen

Kasho Gyoen sits upstream of Jozankei inside Shikotsu-Toya National Park, on roughly 10,000 square metres of inherited garden around a large pond and a deck called the kaze terrace. It opened in 1989 as a conventional ryokan and was rebuilt in 2018 under the same name, in Hokkaido oak and ash and Sapporo soft stone. All 23 rooms are Japanese-style suites with separate living room and bedroom: 58 sq m in the Kurenai wing, 53 sq m in Ai.

Every room has its own hot spring bath facing the forest, piped from the Usubetsu source, distinct from the Jozankei spring next door: calcium-sodium bicarbonate, colourless and clear, faintly astringent, with a trace of hydrogen sulphide, and yours from check-in to check-out. The inn states plainly that it has no communal bath and no open-air bath, so bathing happens entirely in your room. Japanese listings record the water as recirculated and filtered, not free-flowing, while the inn’s own wording promises fresh water at any hour.

Dinner is not kaiseki but a set Italian course the kitchen calls Oku-Jozankei Italian: one menu per season, Hokkaido produce throughout. Breakfast is a Japanese tray with a small buffet. Both are served in the restaurant, which has private rooms for two to eight.

Check-in 14:00 (last 18:30), check-out 11:00. A free shuttle runs once daily from JR Sapporo Station, bookable until 17:00 the day before. Children of 12 and under, declined until September 2023, are now taken only on a dedicated plan with a private dining room.