Chikumakan, Togura Kamiyamada Onsen –A Stained-Glass Bath and Two Spring Sources by the Chikuma River

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Plenty of hot spring inns are about the water alone. Chikumakan, in the riverside hot spring town of Togura Kamiyamada in Nagano Prefecture, is one of the few where the bathroom itself is a reason to book.

Its “Taisho Roman Bath” combines stained glass and hand-laid round tiles with sulfur water from two different sources, and it is unlike anything else I’ve bathed in.

Chikumakan, Togura Kamiyamada Onsen

Address	1-33-4 Kamiyamada Onsen, Chikuma-shi, Nagano 389-0821, Japan
Phone	+81-26-275-1111
Official Website	clubwyndhamchikumakan.com
Day-use Bathing	Not available (overnight guests only)
Check-in / Check-out	15:00–18:00 / By 10:00
Credit Cards	Accepted (VISA / JCB / Diners Club / Mastercard)

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Getting There from Tokyo — Access Guide

Togura Kamiyamada Onsen sits in the Chikuma River valley south of Nagano City. Public transport is straightforward: a Shinkansen to Ueda, then a local train.

Route	Tokyo → Ueda (Shinkansen) → Togura (Shinano Railway) → Chikumakan
Nearest Station	Togura Station (Shinano Railway), approx. 2 km
JR Pass	✅ Shinkansen to Ueda covered. The Shinano Railway is a separate private line and is not covered, so budget for a small extra fare.

A Riverside Onsen Town

The inn stands near the Chikuma River, the upper stretch of the Shinano River — Japan’s longest — in a small town lined with several hot spring hotels.

A bridge crosses a corner of the interior, and the courtyard pond gives the whole building a classic, traditional ryokan feel.

The Rooms

Toilet / Bath	En suite toilet and unit bath
Refrigerator	Available
Air Conditioning	Available
Wi-Fi	Available
Television	Available (small)
Towels & Yukata	Provided

Left: A simple tatami room with the futon already laid out. Right: The window looks down onto the courtyard pond.

My room was a simple Japanese-style room with sliding paper shoji screens around the window. The en suite toilet and unit bath are similar to a business hotel’s, and everything was well cleaned. An air purifier and a mini fridge round things out.

Left: A chestnut yokan (sweet bean jelly) welcome sweet. Right: The inn’s original yukata, patterned with the Chikumakan name.

The Hot Springs — Six Baths, Two Sources

Chikumakan has six baths in two groups, and the groups swap between men and women by time slot. The inn draws on two sources, Chikuma and Kamiyamada. The Taisho Roman Bath and the Hisen bath each hold both sources in a single room; the others use blended water.

Taisho Roman Bath — The Highlight ★

Even the changing room’s tiled washbasin is lovely. Then you open the stained-glass door, and the bathroom is simply gorgeous. Three stained-glass windows are reflected in the water, and the walls and tub are finished with painstakingly placed round tiles. I stood there for a while just looking. It’s rare to find a bathroom this beautiful, and for me it was the best thing about the inn.

The tub is split down the middle: Chikuma water on the left, Kamiyamada water on the right. Viewed from above, one side looks whitish and the other bluish. Both carry a sulfur scent, and both were comfortably lukewarm — the left side was about 39–40°C, a perfect temperature for a long soak, and cooler than the other baths in the inn. Together with the round tiled mirrors and the tiled wash stations, it’s a bath where time disappears.

Zozan Bath and the Koi-Pond Open-Air Bath

The Zozan Bath is a large, tidy indoor tub with its own washing stations. It’s paired with an open-air bath that seems to float in the courtyard pond.

Left: The open-air bath merges visually with the pond. Right: Koi carp swim just in front of the railing.

The water bubbles up from the middle of the tub, and you can hear a small waterfall feeding the pond. Koi glide beneath you, and a railing keeps you from stepping into the pond. At night it is lit up, and the atmosphere changes completely. It’s a place worth visiting at two different times of day.

Hisen Bath — Hot and Steamy in the Morning

Left: Clearer water in the morning. Right: Spring water spilling steadily from the spout.

I visited this bath the next morning, after the groups swapped. The Hisen Bath also has two tubs on two sources, but it runs hotter than the Taisho Roman Bath. On a winter morning the steam was so thick I could barely see — but a hot morning soak is wonderfully refreshing, and the water was visibly clearer than the day before, perhaps because it hadn’t been mixed with air overnight.

I didn’t have time to try the Sumako Bath or the Teiju open-air bath, though they look similar.

Dining — Generous and Well Made

Meals are classic hot spring fare, but the quantity and quality are high. Both dinner and breakfast were served in a private room.

Dinner

Left: A sweet Shinshu apricot liqueur to start. Right: Sashimi of yellowtail, tuna and salmon.

The seafood appetizers were refined, and the chawanmushi (savory steamed egg custard) was reliably good. The Shinshu beef sukiyaki — tender, juicy beef simmered in a sweet broth — went well with rice.

This was my favorite dish: rice infused with the sweetness of scallop and the richness of chicken. I was full and still kept eating. A clear soup and a chilled homemade cheesecake with strawberry cream and apple closed the meal.

Breakfast

Left: A generous breakfast. Right: Apple juice — a Nagano classic.

Breakfast was full of variety: mirin-marinated fish, lightly seasoned simmered vegetables, a hot spring egg in dashi, and a warm stir-fry of ham and vegetables. The miso soup came in a pot and stayed hot. A thoughtful touch.

Final Thoughts

Few baths are as beautiful as the Taisho Roman Bath, and it comes with two spring sources and a pleasant temperature for long soaks. Add a koi-pond open-air bath and a generous dinner, and Chikumakan offers a good-value, easy-to-reach stay in the Nagano countryside. Visit for the eyes as much as the skin.

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