Shinhotaka Onsen Yarimikan

It is our second time visit this Ryokan. And the first time with snowing. The place is perfectly good for a relaxing days. Food, onsen, bed and the rivers sound are all perfect for sleeping. Should visit again in future.

We loved Yarimikan and had what we thought was a very authentic experience. They have a lot of foreign guests, including us, which is not their fault. They are quite clear to guests about acceptable behaviour and noise so as to preserve the ambience of a ryokan, but ultimately there's not much they can do about rogue guests. The location is reached by car or bus so it takes a bit of effort to get there but somehow hoards of tourists swamp the area and its numerous ryokan, even or perhaps because it's winter because the snow is so pretty. It's also very close to the base of Shinhotaka Ropeway which is a big tourist attraction and they offer a shuttle service there, and also to the closest bustop should you want to go to Takayama. We chose the Japanese room that slept 4 on futons which were really comfortable. The kaiseki dinners and breakfast were epic and had so much variety. If you stay 2 nights you receive a different course on your second night, which seems to be fairly standard at the ryokan I have been to. The dinners both featured the famous, local Hida beef. The meals are very large and we had trouble finishing them. All of the staff were really lovely to us. As foreigners we make an effort to communicate in Japanese, and generally try to be good guests without a sense of entitlement. I think this definitely gets reciprocated as the service we received was amazing.

The scenery and food were great. The owner (I assume) didn’t speak English so he just simply ignored all non-Japanese guests. But the waitress who served our dinner was super nice and friendly. Maybe due to its historic design, the rock path to the outdoor bath was very slippery and cold, so we didn’t feel like using it much. After trying the 槍見湯, my skin got super itchy and it never happened before and after —so I guess it might be the green robes not clean? All these still didn’t kill me until I found two bugs in our room. (This happened even though it was December and freezing outside.) I have huge bug phobia issue, So definitely wont come again.

Best ryokan with gorgeous onsens next to the river. The staff were kind and friendly, the breakfast and dinners are super yummy. We stayed in an annex with our own onsen - which was really nice to relax in late at night. The public onsens have amazing views. There’s a mochi making experience in the morning - definitely fun to try!

This was our 3rd stay in this wonderful Onsen Hotel and we enjoyed every minute. We stayed 2 nights to celebrate my husbands birthday and this time we chose the room Kiri with our own little outdoor bath. But the Hotel has a wonderful mixed outdoor bath too and several private baths to use. Staff was very friendly and helpful as always, many speak english. Food is very delicious, we really loved it. We have stayed in many Onsen Hotels during our last visits to Japan but Yarimikan is our favourite because its a perfect location. We like this style of the house at the river, the dark wood, the views from the windows, the noise of the river. I really hope, we can come again real soon. Thank you Yarimikan Team for 2 lovely days and a great birthday!

Our stay was very comfortable, and the staff were kind and attentive. We really felt immersed in authentic Japanese culture. Our two-night stay was so restorative. We did not have any trouble getting time alone in the private and group onsens. We were nervous about embarassing ourselves, not knowing the details of onsen etiquette, but the room had all the clothing supplies we needed for our entire stay, and they also gave a booklet of instructions. I added on a Japanese massage, and it was great. The food was delicious, even though it was outside our comfort zone. We loved the ceremony of the dishes and courses. Tip -- there's a quick 15min walk behind the inn to a waterfall. We discovered it but don't think people often do!

This is a single inn with free-flowing water that has been in operation since the Taisho era. The inn was built as a relocated, grand old house, and has the atmosphere of a hidden hot spring. There is a mixed outdoor bath, Yarimi-no-Yu, with a panoramic view of Mount Yari in the Northern Alps, an outdoor bath for women only, separate large baths for men and women, and four private baths, so you can bathe while feeling the nature. The meals, which are unique to a mountain inn and feature a variety of seasonal ingredients, are also something to look forward to.

out door hot spring bath by the river is great, the rooms are like an authentic Japanese house and the service is fine, except they had people from Asian countries to serve your meals who can't really speak Japanese or English and didn't even know what they are serving. The worst part for me was their soup stock was basically MSG as opposed to shaved bonito or kelp stock.