Ryokan Ohashi

A 1932 Inn Strung Along the Mitoku River

Ryokan Ohashi (旅館大橋, Ryokan Ōhashi) is a hot-spring inn in Misasa, Misasa-cho, Tohaku District, Tottori Prefecture, whose five structures built in 1932 (the Main Building, Annex, Banquet Hall Building, West Annex and Taiko Bridge) were registered as Registered Tangible Cultural Properties of Japan in 1997. The inn is still in business, so every one of the five is in daily use as guest rooms, a banquet hall or the route to the baths.

Ryokan Ohashi says the buildings were completed in 1932 with a single aim: to make the finest Japanese architecture its builders could manage. Choice timber was gathered from across the surrounding region, and the guest rooms take their names from the wood used for their posts and ceilings, so there is a Nanten (heavenly bamboo) room and a Sakura (cherry) room. The step up into the entrance hall is a single wide plank of cherry, and many windows still hold hand-made, slightly rippled glass.

In the national register the buildings are classed under the tertiary industry heading, meaning commercial and service buildings. What sets Ryokan Ohashi apart is that the whole registered ensemble still does the job it was built for.

How the Five Structures of Ryokan Ohashi Line Up

The buildings of Ryokan Ohashi run east to west along the Mitoku River, and the inn gives the overall length as about 120 meters. Following the descriptions published by the Agency for Cultural Affairs, here they are from the downstream end:

• West Annex: a small, freestanding building to the right of the Main Building, on the downstream side of the river
• Taiko Bridge: a roofed corridor bridge joining the Main Building and the West Annex, spanning a passage that leads from the public road down to the riverbank
• Main Building: the three-storey heart of the inn, with its entrance at the left of the ground-floor front
• Banquet Hall Building: a two-storey block between the Main Building and the Annex, with the banquet hall upstairs
• Annex: a three-storey guest-room wing attached on the left of the Main Building

Three storeys, then two, then a single storey with a partial upper floor: the roofline steps up and down along the water. The agency's description calls the riverside sweep of Ryokan Ohashi an emblem of Misasa Onsen. Each structure has its own page covering construction details and what to look for.

Two Rounds of Registration for Ryokan Ohashi

The five parts of Ryokan Ohashi were not registered on the same day. The Main Building (registration no. 31-0018) and the Annex (31-0019) were registered on September 3, 1997; the Banquet Hall Building (31-0020), the West Annex (31-0021) and the Taiko Bridge (31-0022) followed on November 5 of the same year. The registration numbers run in an unbroken sequence. All five were registered under the criterion of contributing to the historic landscape of the country, and all are dated to 1932.

Taken together, the inn notes, the five registrations cover almost the entire building. Ryokan Ohashi is also listed as a component of the Japan Heritage story centered on Mount Mitoku and Misasa Onsen, known in Japanese as "Rokkon Shojo to Rokkan Chiyu no Chi."

Visiting Ryokan Ohashi

Ryokan Ohashi is a working inn rather than a museum, and only two kinds of visitor get inside: overnight guests and day bathers. Day bathing runs from 4:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. (last admission 8:00 p.m.), with a one-hour limit, for visitors of junior-high-school age and older, at 1,500 yen per person, cash only. Men use the Seseragi baths (an open-air bath plus an indoor bath); women use the Gankutsu bath. The inn may turn day bathers away when it is busy or closed, so a phone call before setting out is wise.

Cameras and phones may not be used at all in the large baths or the changing rooms. Photography is allowed elsewhere in the building, but the inn asks that other guests and staff stay out of the frame. Ryokan Ohashi is built of wood and has no elevator or ramps; even the baths are reached by stairs.

The nearest rail hub is Kurayoshi Station on the JR San'in Line. According to the Misasa Onsen Tourism Association, a local bus takes about 20 minutes from Kurayoshi Station to Misasa Onsen. Overnight guests can book a free shuttle from the station by the day before arrival. Drivers can reach Misasa in about 55 minutes from the Innosho interchange on the Chugoku Expressway via Route 179; Ryokan Ohashi has free parking for up to 20 cars. Snow falls from December to March, and the inn recommends winter tires or chains.