Gero Onsen Suimeikan Traditional

Gero Onsen Suimeikan is a flagship traditional ryokan of Gero Onsen — one of Japan's 'three great onsen' — where bicarbonate spring waters scientifically certified as among Japan's finest for skin therapy have attracted the Japanese literary world for over 150 years: Tōson Shimazaki, Akiko Yosano, and Matsuo Bashō all visited Gero, and the onsen inspired some of the finest Japanese poetry produced in the Meiji and Taisho eras. Suimeikan's multi-story riverside structure with outdoor baths suspended above the Hida River gorge provides thermal bathing with one of Japan's most dramatic natural backdrops — the river rushing below through limestone gorge walls — in a ryokan whose seasonal kaiseki cuisine draws on Hida mountain vegetables, Gero-raised Hida cattle beef, and the extraordinary mushroom varieties of the Japanese Alps forest. The ryokan's position in the heart of Gifu's Hida highland culture — gateway to Takayama, Shirakawa-go, and the Kamikochi alpine valley — makes Suimeikan one of Japan's most complete expressions of traditional mountain onsen ryokan culture.