# Japan Undiscovered

> First-hand reviews of ryokan, hotels and restaurants in Japan, with visit dates and a clear verdict.

Independent, first-hand reviews. Each review states when we visited; details may have changed since.

## About

- [About us and how we review](https://japan-undiscovered.com/about-us/): who publishes the site (Basicmath LLC, Kyoto Prefecture), how reviews are made (own stays and meals, visit date stated, verdict up front, own photos), what we judge (value of the experience rather than price, hospitality, food, onsen water quality) and what we leave out (no numerical ratings, no unverified prices or hours).

## Reviews

- [Yumekaiyu, Awaji Island: Warm Smiles, Big Baths and a Spanish Buffet](https://japan-undiscovered.com/2025/12/05/yumekaiyu-awaji/): Hotel · Awaji Island · visited December 2025. Yumekaiyu wins on its baths, its views of the Seto Inland Sea and the warmth of its staff, from the four-strong welcome to the wave goodbye. The handmade, seafood-led Spanish buffet showed real ambition. Against that: dim rooms lit only indirectly, dust above the headboard, thin walls, no free water in the room, a cluttered drinks corner, and a dining room that opens straight onto the lobby. A good stay that could become a very good one. Recommended for: Families with young children, thanks to a kids’ corner and retro game room, and travelers who prize large, well-designed hot-spring baths and a lively buffet over polished in-room comfort.
- [Hotel Ogawa, Toyama: A Cave Bath at the End of the Mountain Road](https://japan-undiscovered.com/2025/10/19/hotel-ogawa-toyama/): Hotel · Toyama · visited October 2025. Hotel Ogawa is all about the water. Its free-flowing hot spring warms you long after you leave the bath, and the walk to the natural cave bath, with its crystal-encrusted walls and a roaring waterfall beyond, is a genuine adventure. The rooms are dated but spotless, and the welcome is courteous. The meals are the weak point: dinner was modest in number of dishes, apart from an excellent mushroom dumpling, and breakfast fell slightly short of expectations. Recommended for: Hot spring enthusiasts who will travel for remarkable water and a wild setting, and who are comfortable with mixed bathing, early cut-off times and simple, old-fashioned comforts rather than fine dining.
- [Matsuya Senzen, Awara Onsen: Big Baths and a Wave Goodbye](https://japan-undiscovered.com/2025/09/09/matsuya-senzen/): Ryokan · Fukui · visited September 2025. Matsuya Senzen is a vast ryokan, said to hold around 600 guests, yet it runs with unusual ease: an efficient early check-in, spotless corridors, a room readied down to the fridge switch and staff who greet you at every turn. The baths are the highlight, with a huge changing room and a women’s bath full of different tubs. The shampoo bar felt a little budget and we did not try dinner here, but after many visits to Awara, it was the staff’s gentle, attentive hospitality that impressed us most. Recommended for: Travelers who want a large, well-run onsen ryokan with plenty of bath variety and warm, efficient service, including families and older guests, and who are happy to eat out in the town rather than dine in.
- [Futarishizuka, Komagane: Wildflowers, Cold Springs and a Mountain Supper](https://japan-undiscovered.com/2025/08/23/futarishizuka-komagane/): Ryokan · Nagano · visited August 2025. Futarishizuka is a mountain ryokan with a split personality that works: a log-cabin warmth, wide Showa-era corridors and banquet halls, and rooms where beds sit within a traditional Japanese setting. Its strengths are the soft alkaline baths with a cold spring alongside, big views over the mountains at dinner, and a kitchen that adds thought to local produce, down to hand-cut paper covers. One shinjo dumpling was grainy in texture, but the meal and the night-time baths left a lasting impression. Recommended for: Hikers coming down from the surrounding peaks, and travelers who want soft hot-spring water, a cold-spring plunge and an inventive mountain supper with Shinshu wine, more than polished modern luxury.
- [Awakan, Awaji Island: A Ryokan Where the Sea Comes Right to the Door](https://japan-undiscovered.com/2025/06/01/awakan-awaji/): Ryokan · Awaji Island · visited May 2025. Awakan is a big, busy seaside ryokan that puts its energy into giving guests something to do. Fishing from the sea wall with rented tackle, a family-minded renovated annex with direct sea access, an in-room semi-open-air bath and free drinks all add real value. The communal baths are retro but spotless, dinner is carefully made, and breakfast is a remarkable buffet. The only caveat: the in-room bath faces the anglers just outside, so keep the windows in mind. Recommended for: Families with children, and travelers who want an active seaside stay rather than a quiet retreat. Ideal for anyone curious to try fishing without bringing their own gear, and to eat what they catch.
- [Kaikatei Hanagozen, Tango: Red Snow Crab and Gardens at Every Turn](https://japan-undiscovered.com/2025/04/11/kaikatei-hanagozen/): Ryokan · Kyoto · visited April 2025. Kaikatei Hanagozen is a ryokan that puts its effort into setting and table. Gardens appear wherever you look, from the waterfall beyond the lounge to the moss and stone outside our room, and the tatami corridors are lit by lanterns. The spring kaiseki moved from Sea of Japan sashimi and simmered nodoguro to a crab hotpot finished as zosui at the table, but the red snow crab, unusually full and in excellent condition, was the highlight. The retro bathing areas have charm rather than polish. Recommended for: Travelers who come to the Tango coast for its seafood, especially crab, and who enjoy a traditional ryokan with Japanese gardens, spacious tatami rooms and a quiet open-air bath.
- [Kobe Minato Onsen Ren, Kobe: A Hot-Spring Ryokan on the Harbor](https://japan-undiscovered.com/2025/03/02/kobe-minato-onsen-ren/): Ryokan · Kobe · visited March 2025. Ren feels more like a high-end hotel than a ryokan, until the hot springs appear: a private semi-open-air bath in the suite, and rock and hinoki baths below. The Harbor Suite is spacious, flawlessly clean and full of thoughtful touches, from soft toothbrushes to a full-length mirror. The buffet is better than most, with neatly cut grilled fish, and the top-floor bar is a real draw. It is not cheap, and the dining room skews older, but as an occasional treat it earns its reputation. Recommended for: Onsen lovers who want a hot spring in their own room and a harbor view, plus a big bathing and wellness complex to explore. Best for those happy with buffet dining rather than a traditional served kaiseki dinner.
- [Hotel Kawakyu, Shirahama: A Palace on the Shore of Tanabe Bay](https://japan-undiscovered.com/2024/12/13/hotel-kawakyu/): Hotel · Wakayama · visited December 2024. Hotel Kawakyu is an extraordinary building, and the craftsmanship is the reason to come: a gold-leaf ceiling, blue-and-clear glass chandeliers, mosaic floors and a salon of tall arched windows over the sea. The baths are as memorable as the architecture, with a painted-tile indoor bath, a rock-lined open-air bath and a genuine barrel sauna with thoughtful extras. Our one wish was for the bespoke Steinway, displayed purely as a showpiece, to be something guests could actually play. Recommended for: Travelers who love architecture and spectacle, sauna enthusiasts, and anyone who wants a stay on the Shirahama coast that feels like stepping into a European palace, with views over Tanabe Bay.
- [Taiseikan, Atami: A Ryokan with Its Own Spring and the Sea at the Window](https://japan-undiscovered.com/2024/07/04/atami-taiseikan/): Ryokan · Atami · visited July 2024. Taiseikan’s strengths are its water and its outlook: hot spring water flowing from the ryokan’s own source, private and lookout baths facing the sea, and rooms with the horizon filling the window. Dinner was generous and entertaining, from a smoking box of sashimi to beef grilled at the table, though a clear soup with a fishy edge, a forgotten plate of pickles and an oddly seasoned rolled omelet at breakfast kept the meals short of polished. Warm, comfortable and well suited to keen bathers. Recommended for: Hot spring lovers who want sea views from the bath and the room, families with small children, and couples who enjoy a generous seafood dinner and are happy to eat early to have the baths to themselves.
- [Tagawa, Kyoto: A Spring Menu of Bamboo Shoots and Flower Pepper](https://japan-undiscovered.com/2024/04/18/tagawa-kyoto-2024/): Restaurant · Kyoto · visited April 2024. This spring menu at Tagawa was packed with the season: morning-dug Tsukahara bamboo shoots grilled over charcoal, young ayu, an ambitious hassun and a main of thinly sliced beef with flower sansho, kept deliberately light. The room has changed, with more than half the guests from overseas and a staff member explaining every dish in fluent, knowledgeable English, but the cooking and the owner’s easy warmth have not. Ending with rice porridge made from the beef broth felt like a magic trick. Recommended for: Diners who want to taste a Kyoto spring at a counter, from bamboo shoots and wild garlic to flower sansho. Visitors from abroad will find dishes explained in English; those seeking an all-Japanese room should note how international the counter has become.
- [Hotel Yagi, Awara Onsen: A Winter Return to the Buffet and the Free-Flowing Sake](https://japan-undiscovered.com/2024/01/20/hotel-yagi-2024/): Ryokan · Fukui · visited January 2024. On a return visit in January, Hotel Yagi showed that its generosity is no one-off. Handmade sweets and s’mores at check-in, a buffet with Matsusaka beef, meat sushi and a pâtissier’s dessert table, free drinks, sake poured by a lit winter garden and a breakfast of bite-sized breads all came with a professionalism rooted in a long-established ryokan. The menu keeps evolving, and the welcome for children and older relatives feels sincere. This remains one of Awara Onsen’s standard-bearers. Recommended for: Families traveling with children or grandparents, buffet and dessert lovers, sake drinkers and sauna fans who want a lively, generous ryokan stay in Awara Onsen, and returning guests curious to see what has changed.
- [Miyajima and Hiroshima City: A New Year of Oysters, Okonomiyaki and Sushi](https://japan-undiscovered.com/2024/01/02/hiroshima-new-year-2024/): Experience · Hiroshima · visited January 2024. A compact New Year in Hiroshima that covered a lot of ground well: the Itsukushima torii under a clear sky, a casual meal of Ugo no Tsuki sake, seared sashimi, oysters in ponzu and nigiri, a quiet moment at the Atomic Bomb Dome, okonomiyaki done the Hiroshima way and a second round of sushi at Sushi Tatsu. The Sheraton was a stylish, comfortable base with an unusually open room layout. Only the shucked oysters felt slightly underwhelming. Recommended for: Travelers spending a day or two in Hiroshima who want to combine Miyajima and the Peace Memorial area with the city’s food: sake, oysters, okonomiyaki and sushi, with a comfortable central hotel as a base.
- [Inasa Beach, Izumo: New Year’s Day on the Shore of the Gods](https://japan-undiscovered.com/2024/01/01/inasa-no-hama/): Experience · Shimane · visited January 2024. A New Year’s Day that worked best as a sequence: Inasa Beach and its rock islet Benten-jima first, then Izumo Taisha with its enormous sacred rope and unusual four-clap ritual, and finally a night at Chorakuen, whose huge mixed open-air bath and string of distinctive indoor and solo baths made it, in our view, an ideal ryokan for bath lovers. Dinner was a regional station bento rather than a ryokan meal, so this is a day about place and water, not cuisine. Recommended for: Travelers visiting Izumo Taisha who want to understand the shrine through its setting and customs, and onsen lovers looking for a ryokan where varied, characterful baths are the main event.
- [Asanoya, Yumura Onsen: New Year’s Eve in a Ryokan of Tea, Flowers and Incense](https://japan-undiscovered.com/2023/12/31/yumura-onsen-asanoya/): Ryokan · Hyogo · visited December 2023. Asanoya is a large, confidently staged ryokan that builds its hospitality on tea, flower arrangement and incense, and it shows: Tale of Genji paintings line the corridors, an indoor torii greets guests in the lobby, and a bowl of matcha awaits on arrival. The outdoor bath, with its waterfall and drinkable spring, is the highlight. Our New Year’s Eve dinner of snow crab and Tajima beef, and a New Year’s Day breakfast of tiered festive dishes, were honest and carefully composed rather than showy. Recommended for: Travelers who enjoy a full-scale traditional ryokan with plenty of theater, those seeking a room with its own open-air bath, and anyone looking to spend the New Year with seasonal crab and festive dishes on the San’in coast.
- [Grandia Housen, Awara Onsen: A Return Visit for the Buffet](https://japan-undiscovered.com/2023/11/10/grandia-hosen-2/): Ryokan · Fukui · visited November 2023. On our return, Grandia Housen impressed with its scale and its upkeep: a room with space to roam and a separate work area, clear signage, spotless changing rooms and a barrier-free route to the restaurant. The buffet is the star, with live sushi, steak and onigiri stations and a remarkable range at dinner and breakfast, though the seasoning plays it safe. The one lingering weakness is check-in, where guests can still feel left to fend for themselves. Recommended for: Families, couples and groups who want a large onsen resort with generous baths and a huge buffet of Fukui seafood and home-style dishes, and travelers who need step-free access or a quiet corner for remote work.
- [Okasanya Irokasane, Wakasa: A Fisherman’s Family Ryokan by Lake Mikata](https://japan-undiscovered.com/2023/09/01/okasanya-irokasane/): Ryokan · Fukui · visited Late summer 2023. Irokasane is a modest, family-run ryokan whose strengths are its lake view, its warmth and its fish. A boat-shaped platter of carefully prepared sashimi, a Fukui salmon and scallop hot pot and buri rice to finish reflect the owner-chef’s years as a fisherman, and breakfast is served in the room. The building feels its age, the baths are small, a fried fish course was a little oily and the steak’s cucumber sauce did not quite convince, but the welcome is genuinely kind. Recommended for: Travelers exploring the Mikata Five Lakes and the Wakasa coast who want a homely, family-run ryokan with lake views and fish-led cooking, and who value warmth and local produce over modern design or large baths.
- [Hotel Yagi, Awara Onsen: A Ryokan That Keeps the Party Going](https://japan-undiscovered.com/2023/07/01/hotel-yagi-2023/): Ryokan · Fukui · visited July 2023. Hotel Yagi is a ryokan built around generosity: a book-lined lobby with a drink bar, a huge room with its own open-air bath, hot spring baths with a sauna, and a buffet that aims to be Japan’s best, with pâtissier-made desserts, local fruit and made-to-order sushi. Free sake and late-night sweets keep coming until bedtime. There are flaws: a faded carpet, fogged bath glass, compact buffet tables and a sushi counter that struggled to keep pace. But the hard-working staff make it feel like a party. Recommended for: Families with children, groups of friends and couples who enjoy abundance over quiet refinement: buffet lovers, dessert enthusiasts and sauna fans who want plenty to do from check-in to bedtime, and who do not mind a busy dining room.
- [Matsuzakaya Honten, Hakone: A Return Visit to a Ryokan Moving Forward](https://japan-undiscovered.com/2023/03/01/matsuzakaya-honten-2023/): Ryokan · Hakone · visited March 2023. Returning to Matsuzakaya Honten, we found a ryokan that had moved forward. The museum-like corridors and the Emperor Meiji’s mirror remain, the main baths reopened after renovation in February 2023 with untreated spring water at 200 liters a minute, and drinks are now all-inclusive. Under a new head chef, a spring kaiseki of mountain vegetables, scallop shinjo chawanmushi and saikyo-yaki showed far more assured seasoning, and the service was attentive from arrival to departure. Recommended for: History lovers and onsen enthusiasts who want untreated spring water in a historic setting, and travelers who enjoy an all-inclusive evening in the lounge. Also worth a second look for anyone put off by earlier reports of its cooking.
- [Tagawa, Kyoto: The Anniversary Night the Counter Turns Izakaya](https://japan-undiscovered.com/2023/02/01/tagawa-kyoto-anniversary/): Restaurant · Kyoto · visited February 2023. Tagawa’s anniversary event swaps the usual set course for an izakaya-style evening: a long handwritten menu of small plates, guest cooks behind the counter, and food and drink at a fixed price. The standards stay high, from a potato salad with a black-garlic secret to a generous sashimi platter, lightly fried shirako and sushi worthy of a dedicated sushi bar. It is a rare thank-you occasion: booking is essential, and an invitation from the owner is a stroke of luck. Recommended for: Regulars of Tagawa, or diners hoping to become one, who enjoy grazing through many small dishes, ordering freely and talking with the cooks. Booking is essential, and being invited by the owner is a matter of luck.
- [The Ritz-Carlton, Osaka: European Grandeur High Above the City](https://japan-undiscovered.com/2023/01/28/ritz-carlton-osaka/): Hotel · Osaka · visited January 2023. The Ritz-Carlton, Osaka leans fully into European grandeur: embossed headboards, Italian marble bathrooms, thick monogrammed towels, polished silver and a top-floor lounge bar with live piano where conversation flows. The views over Osaka, from rain-blurred towers to the city at night, are a highlight, and the bedside chocolates are a gracious touch. The minibar and bar are priced accordingly, and the breakfast buffet was solid rather than special, its made-to-order omelet arriving overcooked and dry twice. Recommended for: Travelers who enjoy classic, European-style luxury and a refined bar with live music, and who want a quiet, high-floor retreat in central Osaka. Check minibar and bar prices in advance; breakfast alone is not a reason to book.
- [Tagawa, Kyoto: A New Year Feast of Fugu](https://japan-undiscovered.com/2023/01/01/tagawa-kyoto-new-year/): Restaurant · Kyoto · visited January 2023. Tagawa’s New Year menu takes the festive staples of a Kyoto New Year, from white miso zoni to the osechi line-up, and handles each with thought: tazukuri bundled into single bites, a kabosu scored so it squeezes easily. Fugu runs through the meal, from a chilled skin dish to the grilled main and a porridge made with its broth. The owner’s own ideas, such as a turtle croquette and tender beef cheek, make it feel unlike anywhere else. Recommended for: Diners spending the New Year in Kyoto who want the season’s traditional dishes reinterpreted rather than simply reproduced, and who enjoy counter conversation and sake chosen from across Japan. Come hungry: the closing rice courses are generous.
- [Tokiwa Bekkan, Kinosaki Onsen: Crab Season in the Winter Rain](https://japan-undiscovered.com/2023/01/01/kinosaki-tokiwa-bekkan/): Ryokan · Kinosaki · visited January 2023. Tokiwa Bekkan is a classic ryokan done with care: a spotless Japanese-style room with its own small garden, generous lounges, and staff whose thoughtfulness went well beyond the expected, from umbrellas in the rain to a free shuttle that fetched our dessert before the ice cream melted. The in-room crab feast was lavish and varied, though the sashimi seemed watery, perhaps from frozen crab, and the crab miso dip was diluted. The town itself completes the stay. Recommended for: Travelers who want a winter crab dinner served in their room, a traditional ryokan atmosphere without pretension, and an easy base for strolling Kinosaki’s hot spring streets, browsing the fish shops and hopping between public baths.
- [FORNI at HOTEL THE MITSUI KYOTO: Pizza in a Garden Setting](https://japan-undiscovered.com/2023/01/01/hotel-the-mitsui-kyoto/): Restaurant · Kyoto · visited January 2023. FORNI, the Italian restaurant at HOTEL THE MITSUI KYOTO, is built around pizza, and the pizza is the reason to come: thin, crisp bases, gentle salt and toppings allowed to speak for themselves, from Kujo leek with Iberico pork to a mushroom pizza where maitake outshines porcini. A large window onto the courtyard garden, a free-flow wine and Champagne course and graceful staff complete the evening. A relaxed way to experience a grand Kyoto hotel. Recommended for: Diners who want a relaxed, well-served meal inside one of Kyoto’s grand hotels without committing to formal fine dining, particularly pizza lovers and those who enjoy a free-flowing glass of wine with a garden view.
- [Tagawa, Kyoto: Matsutake and a Harvest Moon at the Counter](https://japan-undiscovered.com/2022/09/01/tagawa-kyoto-2022/): Restaurant · Kyoto · visited September 2022. Tagawa is a counter restaurant where the cooking is the performance: matsutake and a block of beef sit on the counter before service, and the meat roasts over binchotan while the courses unfold. The highlights were conger eel served as sashimi, a broth worth finishing to the last drop, and a turtle broth whose thickness changes with the season. What lifts it further is the owner, who explains technique and etiquette with an easy, unpretentious warmth. Recommended for: Diners who enjoy sitting at the counter and watching the work, asking questions about Japanese cooking and drinking sake chosen by the owner. Best for those who like a little playfulness, such as a Japanese-Western roast beef course, within a Kyoto framework.
- [Grandia Housen, Awara Onsen: An Autumn Kaiseki on Fukui Lacquer](https://japan-undiscovered.com/2022/09/01/grandia-hosen/): Ryokan · Fukui · visited September 2022. Grandia Housen is a big, lively onsen ryokan whose strength is its kitchen: an autumn dinner built on Fukui produce such as amadai, Wakasa beef and Echizen soba, served course by course on fine local lacquerware, with genuine invention behind it. The spacious room with its own bath and the large garden-view baths are a pleasure. Against that, check-in was slow, and dusty air-conditioning, dead flowers, worn gilt on the dishes and an uncleared towel bin fell short of the prices charged. Recommended for: Families and older travelers who want a relaxing, well-fed base for exploring Fukui and the Hokuriku region, enjoy regional ingredients and crafts, and value big baths and generous dinners over attentive, high-touch hospitality.
- [Beniya Mukayu, Awara Onsen: A Historic Ryokan in New Timber](https://japan-undiscovered.com/2022/07/01/beniya-mukayu/): Ryokan · Fukui · visited July 2022. Beniya carries a long history into a newly built home of fragrant timber, white shoji and quiet gardens. Every room has its own semi-open-air bath fed straight from the spring, the large baths are clean and peaceful, and dinner is a careful parade of Fukui ingredients, from Wakasa fish and sweet shrimp to ayu steamed with Ichihomare rice, partnered by Kokuryu sake. Some carpets and curtains show their age, and old regulars may miss the former building, but this felt like a restaurant visit as much as a ryokan stay. Recommended for: Couples and food-minded travelers who want refined, in-room kaiseki and a private hot spring bath, guests who value calm and traditional Japanese design, and anyone curious to see a historic Awara Onsen ryokan in its rebuilt form.
- [Ito Yukitei, Izu: Stone Baths and a Trio of Abalone](https://japan-undiscovered.com/2022/05/01/ito-yukitei/): Ryokan · Izu · visited May 2022. Ito Yukitei is at its best in the bathhouse, where clear, faintly briny water fills a large stone-lined bath and smooth pebbles cushion the floor of the open-air pool. Dinner opens strongly with the signature trio of abalone and keeps a pace that suited us, though the sashimi was conventional and the tilefish a little fishy. Breakfast was ordinary, its dried horse mackerel mostly bone, and dust showed in places. The manager’s response to our feedback was gracious. Recommended for: Travelers who want a comfortable onsen base in Ito, with good baths, a moderate dinner and the town’s retro architecture and bars within walking distance. Those expecting a lavish multi-course feast or an exceptional breakfast may find it modest.
- [Sagashiokan, Yamanashi: Back Again for the Mountain Kitchen](https://japan-undiscovered.com/2022/01/01/sagashiokan-2022/): Ryokan · Yamanashi · visited January 2022. Sagashiokan rewards the return visit. The old timber house is kept immaculate, with staff still wiping down shelves and stairs by hand, and the kitchen’s inventive mountain cooking remains the draw: salt-grilled char without a trace of muddiness, duck swished through a soy-milk dashi, handmade udon and a chawanmushi enriched with raclette. Gluten-free desserts sweetened only with beet sugar and honey show how far the care extends. A wine-loving member of staff makes choosing a bottle a pleasure. Recommended for: Travelers who value creative, home-made country cooking over formal kaiseki, wine lovers curious about Yamanashi bottles, and anyone looking for a small, spotless mountain ryokan with a personal touch and a health-minded kitchen.
- [HANA Kitcho, Kyoto: The Quiet Grammar of Kaiseki](https://japan-undiscovered.com/2021/12/13/hana-kitcho-kyoto/): Restaurant · Kyoto · visited Late 2021. HANA Kitcho brings the Kitcho name to a smaller, private-room setting in Higashiyama without diluting the cooking. The strengths are in the details: moistened chopsticks, restrained dashi, a takiawase in which every vegetable seems seasoned anew, monkfish liver without a trace of heaviness, and courses timed to our pace rather than the kitchen’s. The only puzzles were minor, such as a faintly grainy dessert sauce. A personal farewell from the sous-chef made it an evening worth the anticipation. Recommended for: Diners who want to understand Kyoto cuisine through its subtleties: lightly seasoned dashi, seasonal vegetables and precise pacing. Best suited to those who enjoy sake with their meal and conversation with the kitchen, rather than theatrical presentation.
- [Karaku, Hakone Gora: A New House of Water, Stone and Spring Light](https://japan-undiscovered.com/2021/07/12/gora-karaku/): Ryokan · Hakone · visited Spring 2021. Karaku, opened in 2020, gets much right: a private open-air hot spring bath for every room, communal baths with a view down to Sagami Bay, a lounge whose drinks and snacks are included in the rate, and quiet, well-timed service. The kaiseki has real highlights, among them a citrus-bright tosa-zu jelly, a kabosu-scented clear soup and pot-cooked pea rice. Small portions in the sashimi and main courses, an underpowered peanut paste and a modest drinks list hold it back. A polished new ryokan with room to grow. Recommended for: Travelers who want a modern, comfortable ryokan with a private hot spring bath in the room and plenty to enjoy within the property. Those who choose a stay mainly for generous, assured kaiseki may find dinner uneven.
- [Fuji Marriott Hotel Lake Yamanaka: A Quiet Base Beneath the Mountain](https://japan-undiscovered.com/2021/03/11/marriott-fuji-lake-yamanaka/): Hotel · Mt. Fuji · visited Autumn 2020. This is a Marriott without the luxury trappings: relaxed, family-friendly and simple, with little beyond clean, softly lit rooms, a restaurant and natural hot spring baths. That simplicity suited our purpose. The half-buffet dinner offered fresh vegetables, house-made dressings and a hefty 300-gram steak, and given the price it was good value. As a place to rest before an early start on Fuji's lower slopes, it did exactly what we needed. Recommended for: Hikers and walkers looking for a clean, comfortable and reasonably priced base for the Fuji foothills and Lake Yamanaka. Travelers wanting a destination hotel with extensive facilities should look elsewhere.
- [BBQ at Mt Takao: Lunch With a View, and a Lesson in Patience](https://japan-undiscovered.com/2021/03/03/bbq-mt-takao/): Experience · Tokyo · visited Late 2020. A barbecue terrace just below the summit of Mt Takao, where you can turn up empty-handed and eat outdoors with the mountain around you. The setting is the draw. The food is not: even the cheapest set cost ¥3,700 a head for pork still frozen, lightly marinated beef, processed chicken and mini sausages, and the meat took so long to cook that our post-climb sweat turned cold while we waited. Flavor was ordinary and portions modest. Come for the occasion, not the meal. Recommended for: Groups of friends who want a beer and a barbecue on a famous mountain and value the outing over the food. It is reachable by cable car or chairlift, but hungry hikers expecting a hearty, good-value meal will be disappointed.
- [Hamanoyu, Inatori: The Ryokan Where You Come to Eat](https://japan-undiscovered.com/2021/02/19/hamanoyu-inatori/): Ryokan · Izu · visited Winter 2021. Hamanoyu lives up to its billing as an “inn for eating”: a dinner too big for the table, a generous sashimi boat and two whole simmered golden-eye snappers on one platter. Its long infinity bath, facing the open sea, is the other highlight, especially under the stars. The water is not free-flowing from the source, the lobster and turban shell were thinly portioned, and our overstretched attendant timed the celebration gift oddly. Still, the young staff’s warmth made a lasting impression. Recommended for: Travelers marking a special occasion who want abundant seafood and a spectacular sea-view bath. Less suited to those seeking a small, quiet ryokan, or to onsen purists who insist on water fed straight from the source.
- [Taikanen, Hotel New Otani Tokyo: Fine Shanghai Cooking, Served in Haste](https://japan-undiscovered.com/2021/02/10/new-otani-taikanen/): Restaurant · Tokyo · visited Winter 2020. The kitchen at Taikanen cooks at a genuinely high level: a deeply flavored shark fin soup that held its heat, carefully made dim sum and fried white fish whose coating stayed crisp under sweet-and-sour sauce. The hotel’s complimentary anniversary dinner program, however, was so brief and finely portioned that it felt like a tasting, and the service — the wrong menu, plates cleared too soon, a curt farewell — showed no sense of occasion. The food alone makes a return visit tempting. Recommended for: Diners who want accomplished Shanghai cooking in a grand Tokyo hotel and are happy to pay for a full menu. Those offered the complimentary anniversary dinner should not expect a leisurely celebration or travel far for it.
- [Senoumi, Inatori Onsen: A Parade of the Sea](https://japan-undiscovered.com/2021/02/09/sekkai-inatori/): Ryokan · Izu · visited Winter 2020–21. Senoumi is a ryokan built around the sea. Dinner was a procession of seafood: abalone, spiny lobster and turban shell grilled at the table, kinmedai served as shabu-shabu, sashimi, simmered fish and sushi, all served fresh rather than aged. The tea-brown hot spring is free-flowing from the source, both in the rooftop baths and in the room’s own open-air bath. Small touches, from welcome champagne to a choice of half-width obi, add to an exuberant, generous stay. Recommended for: Seafood lovers, especially fans of golden-eye snapper, and onsen enthusiasts who want free-flowing hot spring water with sea views, including from their own room. Better for those who like hearty abundance than for diners seeking delicate, refined cooking.
- [Sagashiokan, Yamanashi: A Mountain Hideaway Beneath Daibosatsu](https://japan-undiscovered.com/2021/01/20/sagashiokan/): Ryokan · Yamanashi · visited Winter 2020–21. Sagashiokan is a small, timber-built ryokan near the foot of Daibosatsu that wins you over with personality rather than polish. The owner's handmade carvings fill the lobby, corridors and back garden; the pH 10.2 spring is silky and kept pleasantly cool; and the self-taught head chef's creative country cooking, from duck hot pot to a mascarpone-based cheese chawanmushi, is finely judged. The old building is kept spotless, the wines are fairly priced and the overall cost is modest: a ryokan of genuine value. Recommended for: Hikers coming down from Daibosatsu, and travelers who value inventive home-made cooking, a characterful mountain setting and good value over luxury. The rooms are compact and the location remote, so it suits those happy with simple mountain comforts.
- [Ochiairou](https://japan-undiscovered.com/2021/01/19/ochiairou/): Ryokan · Izu · visited July 2020. Ochiairou is a registered cultural property, and simply wandering it is a pleasure: generous corridors, Taisho-era glass, a great hall like a museum and a tea-room-style sauna with self-löyly. Drinks, alcohol included, are part of the all-inclusive rate, and staff happily produced an off-menu hojicha ice cream and a second helping of sukiyaki. But the menu was short, the food did not justify the premium price, and there was dust on the sashes and air conditioner. A beautiful stay that stops short of extraordinary. Recommended for: Lovers of historic Japanese architecture seeking a quiet stay, sauna enthusiasts, and travelers who will make full use of the included drinks. Those choosing a ryokan chiefly for its cooking may find the premium hard to justify.
- [Yukitei Kawana Bettei, Izu: Five Private Villas Above Sagami Bay](https://japan-undiscovered.com/2021/01/19/yukitei-kawana-bettei/): Ryokan · Izu · visited Spring 2020. Kawana Bettei is built around privacy: just five detached villas, check-in inside your own, and an open-air bath fed directly from the spring, with nothing but Sagami Bay in view. The villas are spacious and flooded with light, though the curtainless windows rule out an afternoon nap. Dinner, served in the main building, was uneven: skillful tempura and a clever crab dish, but a small abalone course and little lobster. For seclusion and silence, though, it delivers. Recommended for: Travelers who want complete seclusion and a private onsen with a sea view, or a quiet place to stay and work. There are no shops within walking distance, so bring books, snacks and drinks; dinner is not served in the villas.
- [Matsuzakaya Honten, Hakone: A Night Inside Japanese History](https://japan-undiscovered.com/2021/01/07/matsuzakaya-honten/): Ryokan · Hakone · visited Late 2020. Staying at Matsuzakaya Honten is like spending a night in a museum: timbers from the old Hakone checkpoint, the mirror used by the Emperor Meiji, and rooms in the relocated Iwasaki family villa. The spring water is never diluted, heated or recirculated, and the private baths are spotless. Against that, we were first shown to the wrong room without an apology, and the cooking leaned heavily sweet with no one able to explain why. For history and untouched spring water, it is still worth the visit. Recommended for: History lovers, particularly admirers of the Meiji era, and onsen enthusiasts who value untreated spring water. Travelers who put polished service and well-explained cooking first may find it falls short; check the floor plan before choosing a room.
- [Gyokuhokan, Kawazu: Steam, Stone and a Chef Who Shared His Secrets](https://japan-undiscovered.com/2021/01/06/gyokuhokan-kawazu/): Ryokan · Izu · visited Early 2020. Gyokuhokan is a compact ryokan by designer Shigeru Uchida, where a hot-spring source bubbles up at the entrance and the garden is as large as the building. What brought us back four times was the dinner counter: a head chef who explained every dish and generously shared techniques, from aged sashimi to his kinmedai rice. Not everything landed, with a flat fish main, small Wagyu portions and unvarying tableware, and that chef left in spring 2020, after which we found the cooking had changed. Recommended for: Food-minded travelers who enjoy counter dining and talking with the cooks, and adults seeking a quiet, private onsen stay. Bear in mind that the chef described here has since left, and each private bath can be booked only once a day.
- [Hotel Grand Bach Atami Crescendo: A Hilltop Sonata Above the Bay](https://japan-undiscovered.com/2020/12/17/grand-bach-atami-crescendo/): Hotel · Atami · visited Summer 2020. Set 361 meters up Izusan and themed on Bach, Grand Bach Atami Crescendo is at its best in the room: fittings worthy of a top Tokyo hotel, a private bath of free-flowing spring water and MIKIMOTO amenities that genuinely impressed. Once the cloud lifted, the view and a carefully calorie-counted breakfast made a strong case too. The creative French dinner championed local ingredients but ran small and was at times awkward to eat, and two service moments fell short of what a luxury hotel should deliver. Recommended for: Travelers seeking a secluded hilltop retreat with a private hot-spring bath, sea views and a health-minded breakfast. Less suited to big appetites, or to anyone hoping to wander a hot-spring town: there are no shops, not even a convenience store, nearby.
- [The Prince Gallery Tokyo Kioicho: The City as a Diorama](https://japan-undiscovered.com/2020/12/08/prince-gallery-tokyo-kioicho/): Hotel · Tokyo · visited Late 2020. The Prince Gallery makes Tokyo itself its finest feature: rooms and a see-through bathroom walled in glass high above Kioicho, a skyline that changes by the hour, an excellent mattress and a quick, clear check-in. The club lounge cost extra and earned it, with staff who offered decaf unprompted and produced an off-menu cheese plate without hesitation. No upgrade was available, there is no communal bath, and we did not dine in the hotel’s restaurants, so this is a verdict on room, view and lounge. Recommended for: Tokyo residents planning a city staycation, and visitors wanting a calm, skyline-facing base within walking distance of Akasaka. Best booked with club lounge access. Not for travelers hoping for a communal bath or hot spring.
- [Asaba](https://japan-undiscovered.com/2020/10/03/asaba/): Ryokan · Izu · visited October 2020. A family-run ryokan in Shuzenji with some 350 years of history, Asaba impressed at every turn: no check-in formalities, a Noh stage before the rooms, corridors so clean that bare feet gather no dust, and attendants whose poise was as memorable as the food. Dinner was a procession of finely judged autumn dishes, from hamo soup to matsutake rice and a startling grilled-eggplant ice cream. A simple twelve-tatami room without its own bath gets the same meals as the best rooms. Prices have risen, but it remains our favorite. Recommended for: Travelers seeking a quietly refined onsen ryokan, with seasonal dinners served in the room and exceptionally attentive staff, and visitors drawn to traditional architecture and gardens. Budget is the main limitation.
- [Auberge Ren, Hakone: A House in the Woods, Set for Two](https://japan-undiscovered.com/2020/05/15/hakone-ren/): Auberge · Hakone · visited Spring 2020. Ren was a small auberge where the kitchen came first, and it delivered: a kinmedai poêlé with an extraordinary squid ink and butter sauce, house-made terrines, ham and sausages, and desserts served on deliberately chilled plates. Two kinds of hot spring in the room added to the appeal. Service was polished but sparing, and the front desk was often unstaffed, which suits guests who value quiet more than attention. Ren is understood to have since closed; this review is a record of our stay. Recommended for: Now understood to be closed, this review is a record rather than a booking guide. Ren best suited travelers who chose a stay for its French cooking and quiet hot springs, and who were happy with minimal staff contact.