Yutorian Kawaba Onsen — Hotel in Kawaba

Yutorian has a great mix of modern and old Japan. My mom and I went on a ladies' trip for two nights while we stayed in Tokyo. The ryokan is rural, very quaint and off the beaten path, posh, but not snobby. ||The Room: They were kind enough to give us an upgrade to the larger room (本館 style room, Yamabuki Room or Keyaki Room). The rooms were huge, and the room we stayed in had a private tub outside (it's not huge but it's something). The floors were heated, and there was 2 toilets and one shower with a double "his and hers" vanity. Definitely a bit much for two people, so we were very appreciative of the upgrade. ||Onsen: The Ryokan has two soaking areas: one for the public (day use), and one for the Ryokan guests (open 24/7!). The soaking tubs were nice: one outdoor and one indoor. The place is along a road, and they did a very good job in making the outdoor soaking tub feel private.||Food/Meals: Kawaba is a small village which specializes agriculture, so the meals always had great vegetables and meat. They try to give you seafood with lots of trout. We had two dinners there, and they have a good mix of seafood and meat (the meat was much better). The portions were good, and we did not leave hungry. Food was served in a dining area, but always in a private room for dinner. We had the Japanese style breakfast which was also very good and filling.||Sightseeing: You can rent bicycles for 500 yen and bike into the Kawaba "village": it is VERY touristy but worth visiting if you don't feel like hanging around the onsen during the day. The roads are flat in Kawaba since it sits in a valley nestled between the mountains. It is a very beautiful view. There is a Sake "factory" nearby off of Okutone-Yukemuri Hwy (64), south of main road where Yutorian is. Skip the visit as their sake is terrible.||Getting there: You can drive there, but since we speak no Japanese and drive on the right side of the road, driving is not an option. They do offer a free hotel shuttle form Numata Station or Jomo Kogen station. Just call them ahead of time and they will come and pick you up. They have staff that speak English there. In fact, Shinichi (the manager there), speaks very good English and was very accommodating and kind.||Conclusion: I would definitely come back to stay! Thank you everyone at Yutorian for your kind...

At first I thought it was simply a traditional inn with high quality services and rooms in Japan, but man I was wrong! Besides things you can easily think about with a traditional Japanese inn, it has some cool things I didn't expect to see in there--

Self driving car: because this inn is so massive, it offered several self-driving cars for people to go around places. Not as high tech as the general purpose self-driving cars made by carmakers, but it is still really cool!

Gondola: because this inn was built around the mountain, each "floor" in this inn is not on the vertical line, so the ordinary elevator is not suitable here. To overcome this, the inn built a small Gondola for visitors to move between floors, and they also have some decorations around the rails so you won't be bored while the Gondola is moving.

Besides those cool things I mentioned, this place is a cozy place to stay. Beautiful views, hot springs, delicious foods, pet hotel and a small exhibition with lots of antiques, etc. Highly recommended for a...

Came here in the spring. The weather in this region is much cooler with Cherry blossoms still in bloom despite being there in late April. This ryokan is tucked away in a mountainous area in Northern Gunma. Kawaba Village is very bucolic and idyllic. Nearby is the beautiful Kichijō-ji (temple) famous for its floral setting in the spring. Came here for onsen and also dinner. The Kaiseki, traditional Japanese multi-course meal, was very unique with local ingredients used in all its dishes. ||||The dining area where the kaiseki was served is housed in a 100+ year old farm house that was transported from Komochi Village (now part of Shibukawa) located south in Central Gunma. This is an amazing place to relax and enjoy the unique scenery and fresh air that only Gunma can offer. ||||Should have stayed here overnight! Well, there's...