Favourite Traditional Onsen Ryokan

Aug 12

Written By Lia

A LIST OF AUTHENTIC ONSEN RYOKAN & TRADITIONAL STAYS I LOVE

For Those Who Wish to Experience a Japan of Yesteryear

There are somewhere around 50,000 ryokans still operational around Japan today, from the traditional to the modern to the ultra luxurious, yet within that number only somewhere between 3000-4000 are classified as onsen ryokans, meaning the properties use onsen/hot spring water in their bath facilities. Remember if it’s simply a ryokan, its public baths are reheated water.

Having travelled all 47 prefectures and experienced in the hundreds of onsen ryokans and ryokans combined (yet still very far away from visiting all of them) - here are some of my favourite more traditional style onsen ryokans with some exceptional ryokans/shukubo*/minshuku** included. Every one listed here, I have personally stayed at and loved for various reasons. Hopefully I will finally get around to writing a more in depth article about each one over time, but for now enjoy this quick list with their offical website links, and the in-depth article (when available). These do not cover every single onsen ryokan I’ve visited, to see all I’ve stayed at - go here for onsen ryokan/ryokan - minshuku - boutique

*shukubo: a traditional Japanese temple stay, offering similar elements to a ryokan but often with vegetarian cuisine along with meditation and other spiritual elements - generally not with onsen

**minshuku: a traditional “homestay” experience (think like an bed & breakfast) where the owners of a big house may rent out rooms/separate buildings on their land - breakfast and dinner generally included too - a very local experience - generally not with onsen

remember: if there is a private onsen, that means tattoos are ok for bathing in the private onsen (not public onsen) | if their public onsen is tattoo friendly - “tattoo friendly” will be written

ps. yes some of these are so local and small, they do not have a website presence!

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Please Note: This article contains some affiliate links. If you make a reservation through one of these links,
I will receive a small commission at no additional cost to you. Every property and destination featured on this website has been personally experienced by the writer, and are their personal thoughts and opinions.