The day when this nostalgic hot spring town will transform into a gourmet town is approaching!
I first learned about Shibu Onsen through the social media of an acquaintance who is knowledgeable about delicious food from around the world. I was absolutely captivated by the food at Shibu Onsen Shokudo Gonki. My desire to go grew into a question: Could it be that I'm being called?! So I hurriedly boarded the Hokuriku Shinkansen. Instead of being pulled by a cow to visit Zenkoji Temple, I was being pulled by Gonki to tour Shibu Onsen. I was thrilled by the dream combination of hot springs and French cuisine.
Gonki: Smoked rock trout with sauerkraut and white wine sauce. The cabbage used for the white sauerkraut is grown at Madame's family home. 
Assorted appetizers. Four types: wild boar rillettes, Shinshu French duck neck farci, Spanish mackerel frits, persimmon and eggplant sherry vinegar marinade, pig ear fromage and Maesaka daikon radish gripische, and bamboo shoot pickles. 
Pan-fried beef sirloin with potatoes and peppers flavored with venison chorizo.
The name of the restaurant, Gonki, comes from the name of the chef's father's family home. 
An Alsatian soup made with pig's blood sausage. It's sure to lift your spirits. 
Barley cooked in sculpin stock, maitake mushrooms, and salmon milt. This dish is also a homage to the rice cuisine of the chef's first training school. Served with prosciutto. 
Tarte Tatin with Kuromoji ice cream. Courses start from 8,800 yen per person. Minimum 2 people.
I was surprised when I entered the hot spring town. Is this a movie set? It's the epitome of a hot spring town, with wooden buildings lining both sides of narrow streets. The streets are so narrow that only one car can pass through. It's amazing how this mellow atmosphere has survived. It really stirs up my wanderlust.
As dusk falls, foreign visitors from all over the world who have come to see the snow monkeys join the hot spring cure visitors, clad in unfamiliar yukata robes and strolling along the cobblestone streets of the hot spring town, the sound of their geta sandals echoing around them. In their hands, they hold large keys to the outdoor baths. Nice. This is exactly the hot spring town I imagined.
There's actually a reason why this atmosphere has survived. The three- and four-story wooden buildings are lined up one on top of the other, making rebuilding and road expansion difficult, and the area was left behind in the development of the bubble era. In an effort to protect these irreplaceable buildings, the people of the hot spring town take turns patrolling the area every day (night watchmen), and it's thanks to their efforts that this has been preserved.
It's a good old hot spring town, but there's more to it than that. Across the Yokoyu River from Shibu Onsen is Tamamura Honten, which has been producing the sake "Enkan" for over 200 years. It's not just sake, but perhaps it's better known as the brewery that also brews "Shiga Kogen Beer." The eighth-generation president, Eigo Sato, a U-turner from his hometown, is from a foreign company and has experience working overseas. He is contributing to the development of the region through various reforms.
The bar counter on the first floor serves draft Shiga Kogen beer on tap. It changes daily and is only available for takeout, but it's a welcome addition. 
From left to right, Shiga Kogen Beer's "Shiga Kogen Pale Ale" 330ml for 389 yen, "Enkai Sake Home-Grown Rice Miyamanishiki Junmai Ginjo" 720ml for 1,650 yen, and the popular "Yamabushi Ichi Saison One" 750ml for 1,257 yen. 
All of Ichiro's Malt's beers, aged in wooden barrels, are extremely popular and sell out quickly. 
Hops are harvested by hand. 
The beer brewery in operation. President Sato himself carefully checks the brewery.
In Yudanaka, Takayuki Yumoto, the third-generation president of the Aburaya Tousen inn, created the Yudanaka Brewery Complex U in an effort to revitalize the hot spring town. In addition to stylish private day-trip hot spring rooms, the complex also includes a cafe where you can enjoy craft beer and hamburgers, a chocolate shop and more, making it a fun place to drop in on a whim.
Last year, Takayuki Yumoto, the third generation owner of Aburaya Tousen, a long-established inn in Yudanaka Onsen, opened an experiential complex called YUDANAKA BREWERY COMPLEX U. The first floor includes a craft beer brewery and beer cafe restaurant. 
The second floor also has guest rooms with day-use open-air hot spring baths. Their beer won several awards soon after its release. A medium-sized glass of their award-winning "Shiro no Mori" beer is 1,080 yen. Medium-sized YUAGARI ALE is priced from 770 yen. Their Shinshu beef burgers and curry are also popular.
Also in Shibu, Daisuke Ishizaka moved there, saying he had always wanted to run an inn. He bought the long-established inn, Kadoya, which was closing down, and transformed it into a budget inn by increasing the number of self-service aspects, such as check-in, check-out, and putting away futons. He has also opened a bar where people can drop in casually, which is popular with guests from overseas. Ishizaka has also bought another inn, Koishiya Ryokan, and as it does not have a hot spring source, he offers only showers and no meals at a low price. Apparently 90% of the guests here are foreigners.
In this way, young owners of long-established businesses, from the 9th and 17th generations to the "first generation," continue to make efforts to stay in line with the times.
Shibu Onsen BAR Kadoya is a standing bar on the first floor of Kadoya, a traditional inn that has been in business since the Taisho era, facing the hot spring town. 
Draft beer starts at 700 yen, and local apple sours start at 750 yen. They also serve oden.
U-turners and immigrants. A sense of prosperity.
Some of the people who have moved here include Gonki, who was captivated by the area and moved there, and Yosikihi, who chose the area after being inspired by his sister and her husband, who had moved here earlier and started a farm. "The vegetables and fruits are delicious. I want people to eat their fill of fresh vegetables and feel energized," says Yosikihi chef Noriyo Fujita.
This week's set meal. The main dish is fried potatoes, onions, and chikuwa fish cakes with chili and egg. The salad is made with onion and carrot dressing. The side dishes are kinpira radish and carrot, potato salad with sweet potato, cream cheese, and whole grain mustard, and Chinese cabbage, apple, and jumbo shimeji mushrooms dressed with yuzu pepper miso. It comes with dessert and costs 1,430 yen. 
The owners, Hiroshi and Kiyo Fujita, met in Nozawa Onsen. 
Handmade gyoza (3 pieces) 550 yen. Served with miso sauce. 
The oden set meal, limited to five servings, is priced at 1,320 yen (the photo shows only the oden). It includes egg, daikon radish, fresh wood ear mushroom, tomato, two kinds of homemade red salmon dumplings, and fried tofu. Served with four types of condiments.
"The key to our move was the ingredients. There's a wide selection of good meat and fish available nearby. And traditional vegetables like Maesaka daikon radish remain," says chef Yoichi Kishida of Gonki. He also shows new ways of looking at local ingredients, such as pickling the bamboo shoots that are harvested in abundance in season, and fermenting Moroccan green beans at room temperature.
In addition to the trials of the young owners, the rediscovery of the local climate and ingredients by the immigrants has resulted in a good mixture and metabolism. What they all have in common is that they love Shibu and Yudanaka, so they keep their feet on the ground and try new things without destroying the atmosphere. There are still many more interesting chemical reactions to come.
