Soak in the Shiga Kogen Sky from a Top-Floor Open-Air Bath [Hotel Whorus Shiga Kogen]

In Ichinose, at 1,600 meters above sea level, there’s an open-air bath you climb all the way to the top floor to enjoy. Hotel Whorus Shiga Kogen. From a bamboo-accented panoramic bath, it’s a place where you can have the highland’s greenery and sky all to yourself. Why an open-air bath in Ichinose, a place that draws in no hot spring? From the secret of its waters to the buffet table and the allergy accommodations unique to this inn, here’s how to spend your time at Whorus.

Another Sky, Above the Highland

Evenings in Ichinose are astonishingly quiet. The paths that buzzed with trekkers during the day thin out as the sun sinks, until all that lingers is the sound of the stream and of leaves stirring in the breeze. On this highland, where the average temperature stays below 25°C even at the height of summer, the outer side of your arm cools in an instant once evening falls. It’s at such an hour that there’s an open-air bath you climb to the very top floor of the inn to enjoy: the panoramic bath at Hotel Whorus Shiga Kogen.

This 40-room inn stands right in front of the Ichinose Family Ski Area. Its greatest pride is the open-air bath set at the very top of the building. Under the open sky, soaking in the water, you look out over the green-tinged highland slopes and the ranges of Shiga Kogen carrying on beyond them. By day it mirrors the light, at dusk the crimson glow, and at night stars almost spilling over. Rest an arm on the edge of the tub and gaze up at the sky, and your body remembers, right to the core, that you’re at 1,600 meters.

Why an Open-Air Bath Exists in Ichinose, Where There’s No Hot Spring

By the way, when you stay in Ichinose, one thing may strike you as curious. Even though Shiga Kogen is flanked by celebrated hot spring towns like Yudanaka and Shibu, you’ll hardly spot the noren curtain of so-called “free-flowing spring water” at the inns of Ichinose.

The reason is to protect this land’s water. Through Ichinose runs a clear mountain stream where char live. To keep that water from clouding, the area has deliberately refrained from drawing in natural hot spring water. That’s precisely why the baths of Ichinose take another form, chosen in exchange for the clear murmuring of the stream.

What fills Whorus’s panoramic open-air bath is a quasi-natural Cosmeishi hot spring. It’s an activated-stone bath that uses ore to make the water gentle. Said to be good for easing fatigue and neuralgia, its mellow softness is a match for natural hot spring water. Protect the clear stream, and still let guests relax in the open air. This single bath dissolves within it, just as it is, both the choice made by the land of Ichinose and the inn’s own devotion.

Surrounded by Bamboo, Unwinding Your Weariness

The top-floor panoramic bath has a calm, Japanese-style design with bamboo accents in its interior. Beside the open-air bath sit a jacuzzi and jet bath, where bubbles and streams of water gently loosen legs and shoulders tired from walking. There’s a sauna, too, so you can enjoy that highland way of “getting in the zone”: warming up, then stepping out into the open air.

The more you’ve walked all day trekking, the more grateful you’ll feel for this open-air bath. The highland night air against your flushed body, pushing back against the heat of the water: that particular pleasure. As you watch the world outside the window slowly darken to indigo, the day’s fatigue comes undone in the bath.

The Table and Its Hospitality: The Luxury of “Eating with Peace of Mind”

Once you’re out of the bath, the pleasure of dinner awaits. Dinner at Whorus is buffet-style. Whatever you like, as much as you like. For a body that’s been walking, the ease of piling on warm dishes just as you please is just right for a night on a trip.

And this inn has one more quietly shining strength: its accommodation of food allergies. “Even with an allergy, we want people to enjoy their meals with peace of mind while traveling.” From the owner’s wish came an original system called Soulagement C. You scan a QR code right there, enter your own allergy information, and can then consult about your meal based on that information. A buffet is free and open, but for those who tend to stay on guard checking ingredients, this small extra step brings great reassurance. The care behind the open-air bath and this dining system share the same root. A consistent stance, wanting guests to relax from the heart, breathes through every corner of the inn.

Zero Minutes’ Walk to the Slopes: Arrive Light and Easy

Hotel Whorus Shiga Kogen stands right in front of the Ichinose Family Ski Area. In winter it’s a prime location, zero minutes’ walk to the slopes, but in the snowless seasons too, that lightness stays an ally on your trip. All around lie trekking courses and marshlands, making it an ideal base for setting off into the highland first thing in the morning.

In the Ichinose area, every inn is a short walk from a bus stop. Since you can get here with a single bus from Nagano Station, you can come with just yourself, no car needed. Set down your bags and, first, a soak in the bath. Being able to begin your trip that way is one of the good things about this highland.

Out of the Bath, and Back to the Highland

Soak in the sky from the top-floor open-air bath, hand your weariness over to the bamboo-scented steam, and gather around the table without a care. A night at Hotel Whorus Shiga Kogen quietly comes undone, just like that.

The next morning, when you rise into the bath again, a different light should be shining on the highland than yesterday’s. Another form of the bath, chosen by this land that protects its clear waters. Being able to savor it at the highest point of the top floor is a luxury unique to this inn. This summer, why not set off to soak in the sky at 1,600 meters?