What kind of onsen ryokan is Yamazatonoiori Soene?
I was on a business trip from Tokyo to Nagoya in mid-May during the beautiful fresh green season, so I decided to spend the weekend relaxing at the onsen ryokan in Fukuji Onsen. I am going straight to the point, I stayed alone this time and found the ryokan very cozy. It is also good for groups and families. There was no special service or hospitality, but considering the price range, the food, room, and hot springs exceeded my expectations.
On Saturday morning, I boarded the Hida Express train bound for Takayama from Nagoya Station around 9:00 a.m. and arrived at Takayama Station around 12:00 p.m. It was just time for lunch and I was hungry, so I decided to eat at Gyu-Suke, a new Hida beef restaurant in front of Takayama Station.
After lunch, I went to a convenience store in front of the station to buy some plum wine and local sake, and then went to Takayama Nohi Bus Center to board the Nohi bus at 13:40 to Fukuji Onsen bus stop. The onsen ryokan where I would be staying tonight was a 10-minute walk from the bus stop. Since this is a country road deep in the mountains, there are few street lights and it is pitch black at night, so it would be best to get there while it is still light. Please note that the sun sets around 5:00 p.m., especially during the winter season.
Then, passing through a gate made of wood with the name “Rokusone” written on it, I saw a wooden main house. From the outside, the ryokan looked like a farmhouse in the countryside. At the entrance, a barrel used for making miso was reused as an umbrella stand. Once inside, there were tatami-matted Japanese-style rooms on either side of the passageway, each with a sunken hearth called irori in the center. Staff showed me around and I sat on a cushion made of antelope fur, which was laid out to surround the sunken hearth. She prepared Zunda made from soybeans with rice cakes made that morning, and green tea. Zunda is a sweet and healthy snack. It’s a paste made from young green soybeans. As I enjoyed my zunda rice cakes, I looked at the surrounding interior, decorations, and furnishings with great interest. Looking up at the ceiling, I saw a magnificent beam and stained glass windows made in the old days, inset above paper sliding doors called shoji. The soft sunlight coming through the colorful stained glass windows created a nostalgic ambience. It was early summer when I visited here, so the day was a bit chilly and the warmth of the sunken hearth felt comfortable. Compared to Nagoya and Tokyo, it was chilly.
The ryokan was an old private house built in Hida Takayama over 100 years ago that was relocated, with a total of 15 rooms in the spacious grounds. Solo travelers can stay here on weekdays, but not usually on weekends. I was able to stay here for the weekend during the coronavirus pandemic because there happened to be an empty room.
After a while, the staff showed me to my room, which was on the second floor at the far end of the building. Upon entering the room, I found a Japanese-style bedroom and a living room. In the bedroom, a futon was already laid out. The rustic room with its powerful and massive construction and the warmth of the wood was comfortable. The walls of the room were made of diatomaceous earth and coated with persimmon tannin, a natural material. On a Japanese-style table in the living room was an elegant three-tiered stacked box, and when I opened it, I found that it contained candied sweet potatoes, sweet potato chips, and sweet poteto jelly called Yokan.
I was already a little tired from the long trip, so I sat down on a chair and enjoyed a beautiful fresh greenery from the windows of my room while drinking some local sake that I had just bought at the convenience store. The autumn foliage and winter scenery are great in this area, but the fresh green leaves in May and June are also wonderful.
It was already past 4:00 p.m. as I sipped the local sake and snacked on the sweet potato chips prepared on the table. I changed into my yukata and decided to visit famous communal outdoor hot spring baths before dark. On the grounds were communal indoor hot spring baths, two communal outdoor hot spring baths, and three private family hot spring baths. Each of the private family baths had its own indoor and outdoor baths. To visit the private family baths, guests need to borrow keys from the reception desk before heading there. You can use them for free whenever they are available.
On the way from my room to the communal outdoor bath, I repeatedly stopped to admire the beautiful greenery of the trees that I could see from the corridor windows. The leaves on the trees were so vibrant, glowing green, yellowish green, and yellow, depending on the light from the sun. Then I followed the corridor in front of a dining room until it reached the end of the corridor and went outside. Listening to the sound of the river, I followed a path through a forest, pretty white flowers of Nanakamado were just in full bloom. Beyond that was the communal outdoor bath made of huge rocks facing the riverside. As I soaked in the dynamic bath, listening to the sound of the flowing river, I felt a magical sense of being at one with nature. However, the atmosphere was too open, so I felt somewhat uncomfortable.
After that, I headed to the communal indoor hot spring baths. Near the entrance to the communal baths, there was hot spring and well water that could be drunk for free at any time. The well water, which came out of a stone wash basin in the traditional way, was cold and tasty. Nearby was a refrigerator with beer, milk, coffee milk, and icecream wrapped in wafers. Those products in the refrigerator are charged, so if you use them, please let the staff know when you check out.
Upon entering the communal bathhouse, there was an indoor bath, a washing area, and a hot spring sauna. A door next to the washing area opened to a semi outdoor bath with a view of beautiful fresh greenery in vivid colors. It was like a large painting. It is recommended to soak in this bath during the daylight hours. I loved the ambience, which was more relaxing than the outdoor bath made of huge rocks by the river in which I had just soaked.
Then, after relaxing in the communal baths, I was thirsty and decided to take a can beer out of the refrigerator and drink it in my room. It was already past 5:00 p.m. by this time, and it was gradually getting dark. At the same time, if I listened carefully, I could hear the chirping of bellbirds and deer coming from nowhere.
I was starting to get hungry, so around 6:00, I went down to the dining room. At the entrance to the dining room was a traditional hearth for cooking rice. The dining room does not seem to have private rooms, but each sunken hearth table is made to look like a private room, so I was able to dine calmly by myself. When I took my seat, staff had already started grilling salted sweetfish and gohei-mochi rice cakes on the sunken hearth. The savory aroma of miso and sesame seeds coated on the gohei-mochi rice cakes wafted through the air. Starting with appetizers, I was served boiled potatoes, soaked wild vegetables, char dish, hot spring steamed vegetables, Hida beef sirloin steak, boiled eggplant, Oku-Hida salmon isobe roll, rice cooked on the stove, miso soup, and finally fruit with cherries. As the ryokan was located deep in the mountains, I did not expect much from the meal, but it was a simple but carefully prepared dish utilizing the delicacies of the mountains. The Hida beef sirloin steak was so small, so I ordered an additional one for JPY4,000. It was thick and filling.
After dinner, I headed to one of the three private family baths. It was located past the lobby with the reception desk, once outside, and across the street. All three private family baths were similar in design, but the one I used at the far end was the largest. It was so nice that I couldn’t believe it was a private family bath. The indoor baths have a 44°C bath and a 35°C bath, and it was very nice to alternate between the two. Repeating this process made me end up taking a long bath.
After the private family bath, I returned to my room and quenched my thirst with plum wine. By this time it was already past 9:00 p.m., and perhaps because I had bathed in the hot springs so many times, I began to feel a general malaise, so I got into my futon and fell asleep.
The next morning, I woke up before 7:00 a.m. and it was gradually getting light outside. The onsen ryokan is supposed to be a wooden structure, but it is so completely cut off from the outside noise that you would think it was a reinforced concrete building, and not a single sound of the river could be heard from the room or the hallway.
Then I decided to go to the communal outdoor baths before breakfast. Yesterday I took the rock bath, so today I went to the kettle bath. It was a cloudless sunny morning. I passed through the path in the forest with beautiful fresh greenery, listening to the chirping of birds and the sound of the river flowing by. When I entered the kettle bath, hot spring water was pouring into the circular pot, and trees were reflected on the surface of the hot spring water bathed in the morning sun.
After the kettle bath, I planned to go to the nearby morning market, but it was time for breakfast, so I will look forward to the next time. Breakfast was served at 8:00 a.m. in the same dining room as dinner. Breakfast was a standard menu using local ingredients such as dried sweetfish, Hida’s specialty Houba miso, yu-tofu, freshly pounded rice cake, etc., but all were healthy. Then after the meal, they prepared some rice balls called onigiri. Before check-out, I went to the communal indoor baths again and enjoyed the beautiful fresh greenery. Then I checked out before 10:00 a.m. and and returned to Tokyo in the evening. I wanted to stay one more night, but I have to work in Tokyo tomorrow, so I had no choice. I left the ryokan, hoping to stay here in the fall season next time.
The only drawback is that there are no rooms with private hot spring baths. However, the three private family hot spring baths may be sufficient, as they are always free to use if available.
Also, during the winter season or on rainy days, the paths to the communal outdoor baths along the river and the private family hot spring baths are slippery, icy, or covered with snow, making it difficult to walk, so the elderly and those with limited mobility may not be able to use them.
Then, since it is not a luxury ryokan, the price range is reasonable compared to other ryokans in Hida Takayama, but the ambience and service would be not sophisticated. It may not be suitable for people who want to stay at a luxurious ryokan because they come all the way from afar.
Check Availability and Pricing for the property on Agoda
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Is the location easy to access?
At Takayama Nohi Bus Center in front of Takayama Station, board the Nohi Bus bound for ShinHotaka Ropeway via Fukuji. Then, get off at Fukuji Yurimizaka bus stop *HO41 The next stop after Fukuji Onsen bus stop is Fukuji Yurimizaka bus stop. It takes around 75min from Takayama Nohi Bus Center. The ryokan is a 3-minute walk from the bus stop. Refer to the timetable.
Then if this is your first visit the Hida Takayama area, you may be worried about where you should get off so you may want to show the below Japanese sentence to a bus driver when you get on a bus.
Kindly let me know when you reach Fukuji Yurimizaka bus stop.
If you have any questions about how to get there, please message me anytime below.
Rooms I would recommend?
If you are going to stay here, I would recommend a room with a view of the river.
Then probably there are no rooms with private hot spring baths, but instead there are three wonderful private family hot spring baths that can be used for free whenever they are not in use. Also, as noted above, there are amazing communal indoor and outdoor hot spring baths. Once you try them, you may become a hot spring freak. All of them are open from 15:00-10:00 the following morning. *If you have tattoos, use the private family baths instead.
The lighting in the building, rooms, and hallways is dark, which may be a little inconvenient for elderly people.
How about toiletries & in-room amenities?
All of the amenities are taken care of including enough toiletries, yukatas, samue outfits, Japanese sweets, and a green tea set, etc. There are POLA skincare products and bath amenities in the communal baths areas. There was no cofffee machine in my room.
Also, free wifi reception was available around the lobby only. I couldn’t connect to the internet in our room. The room I stayed in was at the far end of the building, so I may not have been able to connect to the wifi signal. You can get a password for wifi reception at the front desk.
Then room service is not available but you can buy drinks anytime in the property. There is no convenience store nearby. You may want to buy your necessities before coming here.
How about In-house Facilities?
The property is not a universal design. Wheelchairs are not available for borrowing. There are many steps. If you bring people with weak legs, you may want to request a room near the entrance.
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How about meals?
The local irori cuisine for dinner and breakfast was wonderful. All local ingredients were so fresh, tasty, and exquisite. The staff serves rice cooked in a special pot called an okama. This is a traditional Japanese way of cooking rice, but it is very labor intensive. However, the rice tastes great. That is why “Okama Rice” is so special.
Dinner starts from 18:00 or 18:30. You need to check-in by 17:00 if you have dinner on the property.
If you have any food allergies, please write them in a comment box when you book a room with meals. They probably wouldn’t be able to prepare alternative food if you request on that day.
Then there is no nice restaurant around here. You may want to book a room including meals.
Have a nice trip. Welcome to receive any questions about Yamazatonoiori Soene from the below space. Check Availability and Pricing for the property on Agoda
Info about Yamazatonoiori Soene
| Style | Mountain hut-style ryokan |
|---|---|
| Check-in and out times |
15:00/11:00 |
| Estimated Price | 40,000 JPY for 2 adults per room |
| Contact | |
| Internet Connection | Free Wifi around the lobby only |
| Facility Information | Wheelchairs are not available Pets are not allowed The free parking lot is available |
| Location | Yamazatonoiori Soene’s MAP |
| Access | Refer to the above |
| Address and TEL | Tel +81 |
| Official Homepage | Yamazatonoiori Soene’s HP *Japanese Only |
*All information above is as of the date that I posted on my blog.
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