Okukinu Onsen Kaniyu

Love the area and the outdoor public baths. The meals were good. My husband complained that there’s no meat but I like all the vegetarian dishes provided. Tasted very good. There’s a small fried fish and few sashimi slices. My husband rates the food to be 3/10 while I rate it 5/10 as I am amazed at how they make vegetarian dishes so well.They do not serve any fish for breakfast which is quite unlike other ryokan we had been to. They had more vegetables and an egg for breakfast. I liked it though.The ryokan had free shuttle service for pick up and drop off to coincide with the bus times, very convenient, responsible and timely.

My 2 days at Kaniyu were spent like this: Eat, hike, bathe, nap, read, eat, bathe, sleep. If that sounds like something you‘d enjoy, go here! Bang for buck ratio is great. The building is older and some things are a bit rusty, which adds to the charm in my opinion. I‘ve seen some reviews saying the food wasn‘t great, which I cannot confirm. I found it tasty, healthy and veried. There is a dish prepared with Onsen water for every meal, which is fun. Although it might not hold up to (at least twice as expensive) Onsen luxury resorts, you‘ll have the full Japanese Ryokan experience here. The hikes around here were amazing (I was there in summer). Kaniyu is beautifully nestled in a river valley that cuts through the mountains. The outdoor baths with a view of a waterfall are fantastic. Some information I wish I had had to make your stay easier: - This is cash only and the next ATM is at least 2h away. Before going up the mountain, pick up your room rate in cash + at least 20.000 Yen for extra purchases - The staff speaks some English and are very friendly! Don‘t hesitate to give them a call if you don‘t understand the reservation website. It will work out in English! - Lunch is not included, but you can buy some for reasonable prices (800-1000¥) or bring you own when going up the mountain. There is a fridge in your room. - It‘s in the middle of the mountains. There is gonna be bugs, spiders and other insects. I loved it and saw at least 5 different types of butterflies, but be aware. - You can go by city bus to Meteobuchi and be picked up there by a free shuttle bus (make sure to reserve it when booking, but it usuall runs anyway according to the city bus timetable). You can also walk around 2h up the mountain from Meteobuchi. There a two routes, one for the shuttle bus and one only accessible by foot. Second one is shorter and a lot more beautiful, highly recommend it! There is a don‘t enter sign because of falling branches and stones which is - as I was told - more of an „at your own risk“ warning. Like everywhere in Japan, the path is well secured in areas where rockslides would even be remotely possible. Several waterfalls and beautiful sights up the path, I saw a deer even. - Hiking further upstream from Kaniyu to the marshlands will tempt you, like it did me. The hike is very challenging and only for very experienced hikers with proper equipment. Prepare accordingly (unlike me).

The cloudy milky blue water was what I love about this onsen and service was alright overall, but I wouldn't stay here again due to bad room quality (smell bad, even clothes stink after of smoke), bad food, and how place is not too clean (they really need to dust out down, too many spider webs and dead insects). The bus drivers to and from, and staff were friendly tho. There's 2 large & 1 small all outdoor mixed baths. These were actually my favorite so I went to them multiple times. My skin felt so rejuvenated and healed! No wonder there's so many old locals here. We were one of the youngest guests. There's also 1 outdoor women's only bath, a few private baths, & a few other small mixed baths. There's only 1 indoor shower with indoor bath that's gender separated. Basically there's a lot of baths here to try so I never got bored. I enjoy my bathing experience, just wish it's cleaner. Just glad I went when it's cold so didn't have to deal with live bugs. The place can be a bit confusing too since all the baths have different paths. This place is all out in the mountain too so took us 2 hours from Kinugawa Train Station. I'm glad we went during late Oct when it's colder because there was a ton of webs and dead spiders there. I have bug phobia but I managed to ignore it since I was that excited about the onsen. They don't do good job in cleaning at all it seems. I imagine it's bad in summer so I would only want to visit in winter. The food was not great, very disappointing. But I did like the udon for lunch. The room smelled heavily of smoke so my clothes smelled after which I didn't like. It's a smoke free room but I think the tatami mats are so old that the smell lingered. The bed and pillows were hard so not comfortable. I noticed many visitors only stayed for the day. We were one of the few who stayed. The cleanliness, room, and food was like 2/10 but onsen itself was 10/10. Next time I will only visit as a day trip. Overall I still enjoy it tho and would love to go again when it's snowing!

This onsen hotel was incredible. It’s off a forest road so you can’t drive to it on your own. They have a shuttle service that will pick you up from a nearby parking lot (you have to contact them to arrange this service) or if you drive on your own, you can leave your car in the parking lot, and it’s a 1-2 two hour hike up the forest road to the hotel. They have a variety of outdoor pools that have varying temperatures. The meal plan was fantastic and my dinner and breakfast were delicious. The staff was friendly, the rooms were clean, and it was quiet, so you can rest and relax.

Only the hot spring itself is good. Others, including service, the attitude of the owner( an old man) are very bad. I am so sure I left my iPhone charger and line in the room plugged in. But they say they did not find it. Greedy. btw， this hotel do NOT accept credit card. Cash only. But they will not inform you in advanced.

This was a wonderful experience. The onsen was very good, with a nice lukewarm pool for the kids to enjoy and with several different onsen baths. I specially enjoyed the milky water of the mixed-baths. While there were many costumers, the baths were not crowded. You are expected to wrap in a towel when using the mixed baths.

We came for a day trip. Excellent service. Onsen featured several close- to-nature hot springs pools. Mixed bathing in most. I loved soaking in pools next to the rushing river. Very hidden location, but the information booth near Kinugawa Onsen Station helped set it up. Great day trip.

I have always wanted to go to a mountain onsen in the snow and we were lucky enough to catch a little! We missed the last bus up the mountain and had to take a cab. The cab was expensive, but it was worth the adventure. When we finally got to the Onsen they had dinner waiting for us. It was traditional and delicious! All four of us are white people from the states, only one speaks fluent Japanese. I think with a translater like Ili(which doesn't use wifi) you could make it through just fine. Our room was beautiful and spacious and warm. We could see the waterfall from our room. || There was a bath and shower in our room. The baths were 24 hours, so we waited until about 8 and then got in. The baths are so beautiful! If you've never been to an Onsen, you bathe before you get in, there's a bath specifically for that. And every time you enter a new bath you use the little bucket provided to wash off. The sulfur smell was not strong, but it made the water opaque. It started snowing about midway through our evening and it was absolutely magical. We slept well and got up early to get in the baths again before breakfast- which was also traditional breakfast. I like fish and I love Japanese food so I really enjoyed it. We had to catch the bus down and the views are beautiful during the day. If you get car sick you might want to take some dramamine with you. I will definitely make a point to come back next time I'm in Japan to try the onsen in another season and spend more time in Nikko. The cost for four of us was very reasonable considering i'm used to the prices of American hotels. And we were so well fed and everyone was unbelievably kind.