A Goemon-Style Bath in Every Room | Forest Herb Bath | Mori no Auberge Mitsu, Atsuma, Hokkaido

In the forest of Atsuma, in Hokkaido, there is an inn that takes three groups a night.
Every one of its rooms has an indoor bath: a goemon-style soaking tub in Shigaraki ceramic ware.
Look out at the trees, and let yourself down into the water.
Float the herbs of the season on it — the forest herb bath — and let the day come apart.

A goemon-style soaking tub in Shigaraki ceramic ware — The Shigaraki goemon-style tub that every room has

All Rooms

A Shigaraki tub in every room

All three rooms at Mori no Auberge Mitsu have a ceramic goemon-style soaking tub as their indoor bath. The pieces are Shigaraki ceramic ware, fired in Shigaraki, a town known for its pottery. The warmth of the clay comes through, and you can sit in the water and look out into the forest of Atsuma for as long as you like.

There is no shared large bath; the tub is inside your room. That means there is never a crowded hour. Watch the trees through the window and take the bath at your own pace. If you are looking for a goemon-style bath somewhere in Hokkaido, or for somewhere with a private bath in every room, this is the one we would offer you.

One thing to be clear about: the water is heated, and it is not a natural hot spring. There is no spring source here. What we can promise is a quiet bath of the kind only Shigaraki ware gives — the warmth of clay, and a window onto the forest. That alone takes a good deal of the journey out of you.

Forest Herbs

Herbs from the forest, floated on the water

There is a second pleasure to the bath here. Kumazasa bamboo grass, chamomile, mint: seasonal herbs from the forest of Atsuma, which you float on the water yourself. We call it the forest herb bath.

Choose what you like from the herbs prepared that day and blend them. Rub them lightly between your palms and the scent lifts. Sink into the water with the smell of the forest rising in the steam. The herbs change with the season, so the bath belongs to that day only.

In spring the scent is young and just budded; in summer it is the coolness of mint; in autumn it settles into grass. The same tub shows a different face depending on when you come. However often you visit, there is another forest bath waiting — which is what we meant by the name.

A window seat looking onto the forest, with a Bluetooth speaker — A window onto the forest, and the sound you choose

Private Time

Quiet, and time that feels like your own

There is no television in the rooms. What reaches you is wind and birds, and that quiet makes the time in the bath deeper. Connect to the Bluetooth speaker in the room if you would rather have the sound of the forest, or music of your own.

More than anything, the bath is in your room. There is no shared large bath, so nobody else arrives; undressing and bathing both happen behind your own door. Nobody sees you, and it is like having the bath to yourself. For anyone who wants a goemon-style bath in Hokkaido without sharing it, this is about right.

A goemon-style bath prepared with herbs from the forest — The day's bath, made up with forest herbs

Resting in the room with the forest in view — After the bath, the forest from your room

A bath taken after waking, in the morning — Once more, in the morning light

Morning Bath

Again, in the morning light

The goemon-style bath is at its best in the morning. Wake, and go straight to a tub with light coming into it. Warm water in cool forest air is a soft way to start a day. The forest you looked at last night is a different colour now, and it is the private bath in the room that lets you watch it change.

Afterwards, take a moment by the window, then go through to a breakfast that follows the season in Hokkaido. Bath, food and view all run into one another here. Spend a day in the forest of Atsuma with the bath in it. The rooms are described on the rooms page, and the rest of the house on the facilities page. The building itself — a 120-year-old farmhouse — has a page of its own.

FAQ

Questions about the goemon-style bath

Q. Is there an inn with a goemon-style bath in Hokkaido?

Yes. Mori no Auberge Mitsu, in Atsuma, Hokkaido, has a goemon-style soaking tub in Shigaraki ceramic ware as the indoor bath of all three rooms. You can bathe looking out at the forest of Atsuma. It is about 30 minutes by car from New Chitose Airport.

Q. Can we have the goemon-style bath to ourselves?

Every room has its own indoor goemon-style bath. There is no shared large bath, so the tub belongs to your room and nobody else will come in; it is like having it to yourself. Use it whenever you like, for as long as you like.

Q. Is the goemon-style bath a hot spring?

No. It is not a natural hot spring. It is an indoor bath: a goemon-style tub in Shigaraki ceramic ware filled with heated water. There is no spring source. What it does have is kumazasa, chamomile and other seasonal herbs floated on the water — the forest herb bath — so it carries the scent of the forest.

A goemon-style bath, looking onto the forest

A Shigaraki tub in every room

Herbs from the forest, floated on the water

Quiet, and time that feels like your own

Again, in the morning light

Try the forest herb bath

Questions about the goemon-style bath

An inn with a bath that looks onto the forest