The moment you pass through the curtain, you already know the star of this inn. A large cypress bathtub sits in a bathhouse of black tile. Water flows from the spout as a man made hot spring bath. Beyond the glass, a maple courtyard basks in light from the skylight above. It feels like your own small bathhouse, entirely yours for the stay. Soak up to your shoulders, watching the greenery by day and the branches glowing in lantern light by night. Make memories of Kyoto's bathing culture your own, in a house rented entirely to you.

Only those soaking in the bath get to have this garden entirely to themselves, from the closest possible view. Against a backdrop of charred cedar fencing, a single maple tree stretches its branches toward the light from the skylight. At night, leaves lit by lantern light shimmer and ripple across the surface of the water. The layout is designed so that this greenery is visible even from the tatami living room, just beyond the veranda. Small as it is, it draws every eye in the house, the finest supporting presence throughout.

A large curtain gives it the look of an old neighborhood bathhouse tucked into an alley. Step through, and a tatami living room awaits with a single low table. Beyond it lies a cypress bath and the greenery of the courtyard garden. Fill the tub in the evening for a first soak, then lean back in a floor chair afterward to watch a movie. When sleep calls, head upstairs to the bed or futon. It's a whole house rental built around the bath, the kind of place where you find yourselves asking, "who gets the first soak tonight?"