Tae no yu — Hotel in Semboku

I stayed at Taenoyu for three nights with two of my friends. Taenoyu is in a very convenient location-- near the center of the Nyuuto Onsen village. There are three other ryokan just a few minutes away, with the further ones being Magoroku (15 min walk), Kuroyu (25 min walk), and Tsurunoyu (take the onsen shuttle). ||||Hot Springs: The ryokan rotates the two sets of hot springs, and the two sides are completely different, so I recommend you stay long enough to enjoy both. The onsen were very clean and Taenoyu is unique in that it allows women to wear their towels into the mixed onsen if they wish. This makes it the most foreigner-friendly onsen in my view. I recommend you take advantage of this as well! The large 'gold' mixed bath is a very comfortable temperature and the view of the stream and mountains from it is wonderful. The private bath, which guests may reserve for free once a day, also has a great view, but it is a 'silver' bath, which seemed to have hotter water, so I would spend as much time out of it as in it during that time. This private bath is the second foreigner-friendly aspect I'd like to underline-- for people uncomfortable being naked around others, there is a private changing room and shower in the private bath. The baths were never crowded when I went and I most often had the entire bath to myself. My two favorites were on the right side section-- there was a bath with a floor of river stones, and the small outdoor bath right above it which felt very relaxing and private, surrounded by forest and trees.||||Room: We stayed in a Japanese-style river-view room on the first floor. It was lovely. The room has a convenient hot water machine that keeps a few liters of hot water ready-to go whenever you want it. Green tea is provided. They changed the Japanese snack accompaniment and tea set each day-- small dry sweets and a savory bite of cheese with smoked daikon one day, large sugared black beans the next, and fortune cookie-like large flat biscuits the last. All of these snacks are available for sale at the front desk as well-- one of my friends liked the biscuits so much he bought a gift box of 6 packs and ate them himself while we were still staying there. My absolute favorite part of the room is the little porch with a rocking chair. You have the best view of the stream and waterfall and it is carefully designed to be very private-- you cannot see other rooms and they cannot see yours. The room we had did not have a private bathroom, but that was not a problem. There were no problems with noise as the walls were pretty noise-proof and the sound of the waterfall just outside covered any small background noises. ||||Food: The food was excellent. There was also a LOT of it. It was traditional japanese style dining with many small courses. If you tell them in advance, they can accommodate dietary needs (one of my friend is allergic to broccoli). Apparently also preferences! After our first breakfast, we decided we didn't especially care for natto (fermented soybeans that are a classic part of Japanese breakfasts) and they exchanged it for an extra cold vegetable dish, which was tasty. ||||Service: The service was excellent. Everyone was very welcoming and patient with my very poor, basic Japanese. There were two English-speaking staff that were often assigned to our tables. There were still some difficulties communicating more complicated questions, but everyone was very friendly and did their best to help. They are very willing to explain how to prepare or eat...

I stayed at the Tae no Yu ryokan for one night in late December 2022, and I was extremely happy with my stay. It is a gorgeous and accommodating traditional Japanese inn. It was very accessible, the staff were fantastic, the food was delicious, the room was very comfortable and the baths were just the best.

Planning and getting there: We took the Komachi shinkansen directly from Tokyo station to Tazawako station, and then took a connecting public bus, which leaves right from the station and stops at other ryokan along the way to Tae no Yu. I would strongly recommend the bus if you visit in winter, as the mountain roads can be difficult when driving. When we arrived, the staff carried our luggage from the bus to our room for us. They also explained the layout of the building, and the schedules for dinner, breakfast, and the various baths.

Features: Your booking includes dinner and breakfast. They serve an absolutely delicious multi-course meal for dinner, a "kaiseki" meal with lots of fish and veggies. While you eat, the staff will prepare your room for bed, so when you come back you'll have your room all set to go. If you stay in the traditional rooms, this means your futon beds will be laid out for you and ready for sleep (although you should definitely go to the baths first). They have western-style rooms with beds, but we didn't stay in one. They also serve Japanese-style breakfast, which is a set and has a mix of different foods.

The baths are amazing. They do not have baths in each room. Instead, they have a women-only bath, a men-only bath, and a mixed bath with separate entrances for men and women (and some private mixed baths adjacent to the main bath, which we reserved at check-in). In winter, you can look up at the sky and watch as snowflakes fall all around you, which is amazing when you're sitting in very hot water. Be sure to get one of the cold drinks from the vending machines after being in the hot water - it tastes 1000% better.

Communication and service: World class! The staff were very accommodating and communicated with us via email, in both English and Japanese. They had at least one staff member who spoke excellent English while we were there, which was great for us. Everyone was very sweet and made sure we were taken care of. I would recommend notifying the staff via email in advance if you do not speak much Japanese, so they can be sure to accommodate you. Advance planning is good.

Related to that, I wanted to make a special note about the impeccable service. They are very accommodating of allergies. I have a specific food allergy, and mentioned it right away when booking the room online as they requested. Since Tae no Yu serves delicious breakfast and dinner sets which include that ingredient, I was expecting that it would be hard for them to make an exception. But instead, they created a totally separate, equally amazing meal just for me, without the ingredient I am allergic to. I am beyond extremely grateful.

I think this is one of the finest establishments I have stayed in, not just in Japan, but in the world. I would recommend it to anyone looking for a traditional Japanese...

Me and my partner spent a day in this amazing place near Tazawako lake.|We came here after 5 hectic days in Tokyo, after fully enjoying Japan's vibrant capital we really needed some rest and this place did the trick perfectly. |We could appreciate right from the start the change in scenery, as soon as we completed our two and an half hour Shinkansen trip we gound ourselves in a world covered in snow at the end of March. Next up was the bus ride to Taenoyu, I would include this journey in the overall experience : the bus ascended through Tazawako's steep mountain roads, revealing some amazing sceneries like the lake surrounded by snow coated mountains and the leafless vegetation filtering the sun's light as we climbes to our final destination.|As soon as we got to Taenoyu onsen, part of the Nyuto onsen complex, we were greeted by their amazing staff. Albeit we had some difficulties expressing yourself if yoy don't speak Japanese, the staff members' dedication and warmth made us feel at home right from the start. We completed our check in while sipping green tea and admiring the waterfall right beside the hotel. At that point we were granted access to the our beautiful japanese room, very simple in design, but sparkling clean and sporting a tatami and a kotatsu (to this day I still wonder why I don't have such a thing in my flat).|Within the room we found everything we needed to bathe in the onsens : a set of towels, yukatas and jackets that enabled us to fully experience the termal baths like any japanese would.|It was our turn to dip ourselves in the steaming water coming from the heart of Japan's mountain. There is a total of 7 pools between outdoors and indoors ones at Taenoyu, four of the pools are gender segregated (rotating every day at 8 pm, to enable all the clients to bathe in them), 2 of the waterfall facing ones are for public bathing and the final one has to be booked at check-in and allows guests to have a private bathing experience with a majestic view of most of the bathing complex.|It's needless to say that in our one day stay in Taenoyu we indulged in the baths 3 times and came out of them completely refreshed and relaxed.|As part of the experience you will also get to taste Japan's famous Kaiseki cuisine, a course set menu with different flavours mixed with great balance. At Taenoyu this menu has a mountainous twist with it, since it heavily resorts to mushrooms and fresh vegetables hand-picked from the mountains slopes and fishes caught in the lake at the base of the mountains. Apart from being delicious the dinner turned out to be somewhat of a show as well, with the hotpot cooked on a kennel on our own table.|The next morning, after a bath, we found the breakfast room ready for us as we walked in with Japanese pickles, a grill and a smaller hot pot waiting for us. We got to grill our own fish and were constantly assisted by the staff on how to proceed with the meal. ||I will not easily forget the amazing experience we lived here and would like to thank the staff once more for their hard work and the passion they poured into welcoming us, up in...