Awakan is a huge hotel-style ryokan facing the sea on Awaji Island. Step into the lobby and, as you would expect, a vast panorama of sea opens up in front of you, with a swimming pool laid out directly below it. One look at the setting is enough to tell you that in summer this is a place for a full-blown resort holiday.
Its biggest draw, though, is something else: guests can fish from the sea wall that runs along the front of the property.
Fishing from the sea wall
We headed straight out to the water to try it. Bait and rods can be rented, so you can turn up empty-handed and still join in, which is a real pleasure. At the same time, there were anglers who had clearly come in earnest, carrying their own rods and hoping for something big.
If you get peckish between bites, the house speciality is a sawara (Spanish mackerel) cutlet burger. Freshly fried fish in a crisp coating could hardly fail, and it didn’t. It is a slightly heavy snack, but it makes a fine reward in the middle of an activity.
Dropping a line while looking out over the pool and the sea, with a burger in hand, was an awful lot of fun.
This is evidently a place that draws serious anglers from all over the country. There are shelves of books, from fish identification guides to history. Among the guests we happened to talk to were people who had come all the way from Izu, Kawasaki and Saitama to try their luck at what they called a famous fishing spot.
The gift shop, which still has a pleasantly retro feel, stocks an interesting line-up, including Awaji Island ice cream and seaweed crackers.
A family room in the new annex
Inside the room, all sorts of materials are combined underfoot: spoon-cut wooden flooring, boards in gentle, varied colors. The expressive flooring is great fun. Ours was a special room designed with families in mind, and its child-friendly colors and almost nursery-like warmth put us at ease.
The room is filled with bright natural light and is built so that you can step straight out from it toward the sea, which set our hearts racing.
Perhaps because the annex had only recently reopened after a renovation, the room was exceptionally clean. It was decorated throughout in warm colors that clearly have families in mind, and it was a genuinely comfortable place to be. We were overwhelmed by the sheer amount of space and the number of rooms, all with up-to-date facilities.
The television can show streaming services and online TV, something that younger guests and families with children alike will appreciate.
The kettle in the room is by Balmuda. Small, well-designed touches like this are the kind of thing many guests will be quietly delighted by.
The balcony
Step out of the room onto the balcony and the sea is right in front of you. You can see the fishing spot we had just come from: a superb location.
With a hammock and a fire table on the balcony, we slipped straight into resort mode. How about an Awaji Island craft beer while gazing out to sea? Surely there are few better ways to spend the time.
The drinks in the room are included in the rate. This all-inclusive approach feels like good value, and it means every craving is within easy reach.
Amenities
The towels and amenities are presented as neatly as in a hotel. The original labels show a strong sense of branding, and of real investment in it. The ryokan also appears to run a sustainability program, and the softly colored amenities use wood and recycled materials. Thoughtfully, there is a movable make-up mirror, a small touch that shows attention to convenience.
A semi-open-air bath in the room
The room has its own semi-open-air bath, of a quality you would hardly expect from an in-room tub. It is beautifully designed, with Awaji Island imagery worked in throughout. It is large enough for the whole family to soak together and is filled with plenty of water, so you can bathe without holding back.
Open the windows fully and it feels like a proper open-air bath. But the anglers are hard at work just outside, so do bear that in mind.
By this point it almost goes without saying: the room is equipped with ReFa beauty products.
The communal baths
The large communal baths, with a sauna and an open-air bath, are generously sized. The tiled bathroom has a retro feel, but it is kept clean in every corner, so there is nothing off-putting about its age.
The cleaning of the changing room and around the doors was especially thorough. There was not a speck of dust to be seen, which says a great deal about how well the place is run.
Outside, there is also a ganbanyoku (a heated bedrock bath) that guests can use freely, another reminder of how much freedom this ryokan gives you.
In front of the baths is a rest area where you can help yourself to Awaji Island milk and coffee milk. Local Awaji specialities are scattered all over this ryokan, and they shine.
Made for children
Everything has been thought through so that children never get bored. Even the toilet design is playful, and there is a dedicated space on the wall for drawing.
For families, small ideas like these reduce children’s stress and make family time more rewarding. It is a genuinely welcome kind of consideration.
Dinner, and the fish we caught
The dinner dishes were set out all at once, and a toast with local sake started the feast. It opened with starters built around fish, followed by roast beef, cream cheese cured in miso and grilled early-summer vegetables. Then came mebaru (rockfish) fried and then simmered, and hamo (pike conger) tempura, one nourishing dish after another.
Separate from the sashimi was aji ichishio, horse mackerel lightly salted and served raw, which was delicious. Next to it you can see scorpionfish wrapped in bamboo leaves and usui peas with steamed glutinous rice. Every dish showed thought and care on the part of the cooks.
Then a rather adorable plate arrived: the small fish we had caught ourselves. The ryokan will cook guests’ catch and serve it at dinner, and this service is apparently very popular. Extra dishes ordered separately are popular too, and this time we added karaage (Japanese fried chicken). We liked that the desserts are made in-house.
Beyond this in-room style, there are also a buffet and meals in a dining hall, so guests can choose from a wide range of dining styles.
The balcony by night
At night, the benches and hammock on the balcony are lit up and a real fire burns in the fire table. Looking out at the sea with the night breeze on our faces was a beautiful and special time.
Breakfast
The breakfast room is a wonderfully open space, with sunlight reaching every corner. The buffet is extensive, with colorful vegetables and dishes made with local seafood. The sheer number of dishes, all prepared so early in the morning, was overwhelming, and we take our hats off to the people who work here.
While we were taking photographs, a member of staff from overseas lifted the lids of the dishes for us, a small, considerate gesture that impressed us. Encountering such sincere service, we felt deeply grateful for the important role that workers from abroad now play in keeping Japan’s hotels and ryokan running.
From the length of the menu to the beauty of its arrangement, you can feel how carefully the whole spread has been coordinated.
Little surprises around the annex
The walls of the annex are decorated with playful designs, and the stone paving underfoot hides a map of Awaji Island, a charming idea. A wide variety of events is also organized: photo events, science shows, meet-ups with the international staff, talks on fishing and more than we could list. There is so much going on that guests never get bored. As befits a place that bills itself as a “detached palace by the sea”, real money has gone into every piece of merchandise as well.
Postscript: night fishing
The fishing spot stays open after dark, so we went out again and tried night fishing with a rod borrowed from the ryokan, alongside members of the public. The fish bit far more readily than in the daytime, and we began to understand the appeal of fishing; the children nearby were dangling their lines with great concentration too. People who come to fish Osaka Bay told us again and again that this is a famous spot, and some had even traveled from Saitama.
This review reflects a visit in early summer 2025; facilities, events and services may have changed, so please confirm current details directly with Awakan before visiting.
