Tōcen Goshoboh

Arima Onsen is one of Japan's oldest hot spring towns, and Tōcen Goshoboh sits inside it as a quietly contemporary ryokan where tatami rooms meet mid-century touches of Western residential design. The famous waters, milky with minerals, draw guests from across the country, and the kitchen earns its own advance bookings. Kobe station is twenty minutes by car, so the mountains feel earned without being punishing.

One honor, in evidence: