Nishidani Onsen Chuseikan

I found the inn through a travel site I’m registered with. Its reviews looked good, so I decided to give it a try. It isn’t a hot spring, but a mineral spring, and I stayed warm for a long time after bathing. The food was homemade and absolutely delicious. The dishes, seasoning, and portions all suited us older guests perfectly.

Nishiya Onsen Nakamorikan in Nagaoka, Niigata Prefecture. (202508E) We left National Route 404 and drove into the mountains. After a short stretch of farm road between rice paddies, we reached a village and then Nakamorikan. There’s another inn next door, but otherwise it’s houses and fields. The nearest convenience store and other shops are about a 10-minute drive away. It was a weekday, so we got the largest room, a 12-tatami room. It’s recently renovated, and the only room with a washlet. The other rooms use shared toilets. Wi-Fi is available throughout the building. The mineral spring is mildly alkaline and comes out cold, around 20°C, before being reheated. The bath was about 39-40°C, just right during this year’s heatwave. The soft water felt nice for a long soak. I expected dinner in the dining room, but they led us to another room with a table in the middle. The Japanese-style kaiseki meal had both seafood and mountain delicacies. Everything was carefully prepared, and hot dishes arrived hot. There was plenty to eat, but the rice and soup came at the very end, when we had no side dishes left. In the morning, there was a spread of small dishes. Nothing especially unusual, but you could tell it had all been prepared with care. I’m a big eater and was full after both dinner and breakfast. There wasn’t much around, and at night I could hear only insects. Apparently there’s a pond nearby where you can see fireflies. If life gets hectic, it might be nice to unwind in a secluded spot like this once in a while.

It’s roughly an 8-minute walk from Tsukayama Station, an unmanned station. They said there was a lot of snow in 2025, but the road from the station had been completely cleared. Another hot spring inn is next door, and there aren’t any shops nearby. The exterior has a Showa-era feel, and the inside is similar. All the staff were cheerful and kind. The bath and toilet are shared. My room was Japanese-style, with the futon already laid out. A floor cushion would have made it even nicer. The hot spring water is heated, and it’s clear and colorless with a faint smell. They say it works well for injuries, especially hemorrhoids. Both meals were excellent in taste and portion size, and went perfectly with sake. The rice was the highlight. I usually don’t eat much white rice when I drink, but I had two bowls after sake, then two more in the morning. It seems to be home-grown and was freshly cooked, so of course it was delicious. Getting there may not be the easiest, but it’s a relaxing place. Apparently you can see fireflies in summer, so it sounds lovely to visit then.

Dinner was tasty and there was plenty of it, just as the reviews said. I got too full to manage the rice or miso soup, unfortunately. The waitresses were very friendly, and all the nature around made for a relaxing stay. The heated mineral spring bath was lukewarm, but still warm enough to keep me cozy. An open-air bath would have made it even better. It’d be nice if the toilets had bidets, at the very least.