Yama no Yado — Hotel in Semboku

Yamanonado is the annex of the main onsen Tsurunoyu. It is smaller than the « mother ryokan » Tsurunoyu; its baths are closed between 11 AM and 3 PM. But they have a free shuttle every hour to reach Tsurunoyu where you can bathe for free. So basically you can enjoy 2 onsens for the price of one! Yamanonado is a complex made of beautiful old buildings, as in such Japanese older constructions; the downsides are that it is often cold, but it's possible to heat up your room quite well. They only have 3 private baths, one outside and 2 inside, which are accessed on a first come first served basis; the total number of guests is low so it's relatively easy to get a session. There is an area where you can find the keys to each bath, so it’s easy to know when a bath is available.

Dinner and breakfast were simply amazing! Meal is served around an hearth in either a large common room with multiple hearths or small private rooms. The meals consist of traditional Japanese cooking mostly made from locally sourced ingredients with a lot of mountain vegetables. It is simply delicious, and the portions are huge. You get to grill some of your food… Some sausage, some pork, some mountain vegetables, at the end there is a nabe hot pot. I also took some tokuri of different delicious Akita sakes. The staff is nice and attentive if you need them, but service is only in Japanese. I would come back here...

Not being able to book online can be a problem; at the time, I had to call personally to make the booking. Getting there is also seemingly not easy, but turned out to be easier than expected; get off at Tozawako Station, pre-buy the bus ticket from the bus information centre at the train staion, catch the local bus to Arupa Komakusa (appears as Alpa Komakusa in English maps), and there is a regular shuttle that goes to both Yamanoyado and Tsurunoyu.|Yamanoyado is newer than Tsurunoyu, and has facilities in each room, as well as 4 private onsens (there is a board with the key; if it's free, the key is there), 2 outdoors and 2 indoors, with one outdoor being closed for winter.|The outdoor onsen was nice, but due to the amount of snow, you couldn't see past the snow wall, whereas the indoor onsens had huge windows looking down the valley and to the hill across; being isolated, there is no one that can look in on you enjoying the outdoors (which is lit at night).|It was the first time we've experienced food cooked over the hearth at a ryokan, and it was all tasty. There is a shuttle to Tsurunoyu if you want to try their onsen (an the unique open-air mixed onsen), as well as to Ski-Jo (the local ski fields), or you can just laze around.|There are English speakers on staff, and they try hard to accommodate you; fortunately I knew enough Japanese to...

Not being able to book online can be a problem; at the time, I had to call personally to make the booking. Getting there is also seemingly not easy, but turned out to be easier than expected; get off at Tozawako Station, pre-buy the bus ticket from the bus information centre at the train staion, catch the local bus to Arupa Komakusa (appears as Alpa Komakusa in English maps), and there is a regular shuttle that goes to both Yamanoyado and Tsurunoyu.|Yamanoyado is newer than Tsurunoyu, and has facilities in each room, as well as 4 private onsens (there is a board with the key; if it's free, the key is there), 2 outdoors and 2 indoors, with one outdoor being closed for winter.|The outdoor onsen was nice, but due to the amount of snow, you couldn't see past the snow wall, whereas the indoor onsens had huge windows looking down the valley and to the hill across; being isolated, there is no one that can look in on you enjoying the outdoors (which is lit at night).|It was the first time we've experienced food cooked over the hearth at a ryokan, and it was all tasty. There is a shuttle to Tsurunoyu if you want to try their onsen (an the unique open-air mixed onsen), as well as to Ski-Jo (the local ski fields), or you can just laze around.|There are English speakers on staff, and they try hard to accommodate you; fortunately I knew enough Japanese to...