Ushidaya, Joetsu-Oshima

For travellers who want to immerse themselves in local culture, Ushidaya offers just that in the farming hamlet of Tamugi. The owners moved here in 2016 to grow organic rice and have turned part of their farmhouse – a lovely old building with dark wooden beams and high ceilings – into an inn, with two tatami-mat guestrooms where guests sleep on futon bedding and common areas where you can enjoy home cooking and chat around an open hearth.

The setting is as bucolic as it gets, surrounded by rice paddies that after planting in April will be a fresh green in early summer and then a ripe-for-harvest yellow by October. And there are minimal mod cons here to disturb the peace – there’s not even a TV in the entire farmhouse, although there is a piano, guitar and ukulele for the musically minded.

Hotel Futaba, Yuzawa

The 78-room Futaba in the ski resort area of Yuzawa isn’t as small and intimate as some traditional inns, but it is still a wonderful example of how a ryokan should be, with guestrooms that combine all the classic elements: tatami mat flooring, low-central table where staff serve a welcoming cup of green tea, sliding paper-screen panels, tokonoma alcove complete with hanging scroll, and yukata cotton gowns for guests to wear during their stay.

About a third of the rooms have attached private onsen (hot-spring baths), while the ryokan also has a collection of gender-separated communal outdoor baths with views into the Tanigawa mountain range. Like all good ryokan, the food is another key part of the experience – the kaiseki dinner features a succession of intricately presented dishes using local, seasonal produce.