Fujiya — Hotel in Takayama

There are a surprisingly few places in Japan that use 100% natural hot spring water. This place is one of them. If you're really into onsens then this is a must visit. The rooms are average and the views are minimal but the quality of the onsen water is excellent.

Booking a room on their website might be difficult if you can't read Japanese but Google translate helps. The staff's English is limited but they are kind, patient, and accommodating. I saw five groups while I was there and I was the only foreigner. I got by fine with my basic Japanese.

I loved the service. You'll get everything that's expected from a ryokan but more casual. The host explained everything, showed me to my room, offered to carry my luggage, inquired what I planned to do the following day and offered travel tips.

The food is great and plentiful. I ate small lunches to save my appetite and I still could barely finish the dinner.

The WiFi was a little spotty but it was good enough for YouTube. My room was closest to the lobby. Other rooms may struggle with the WiFi. There's no WiFi reception in the dining area.

Overall the facilities are well maintained and clean. It has a lost-in-time feel where it counts, like in the natural wood decay patterns in the baths, rotatory phone to call the front desk, architecture and iron tools in the dining area. However, they're also modern with toilets, lights, heating / cooling, air filters, electric kettles, etc.

The only big issue I had was the private bath water temperature early in the morning. It seems they stop regulating the temperature overnight so in the morning the baths are scolding. Like 40c+ even in the winter. A couple of guests attempted to enter and everyone gave up.

The place only had a handful of guests and everyone's rooms were spread out. I don't know if noise becomes an issue when it's fully booked. It was very quiet for me.

Location isn't the greatest if you don't have a car. The bus stop is literally just a stone's throw away but there's no seating or weather cover at the bus stop. There's also nothing to visit within a short walking distance. If you're willing to walk 30 minutes one way then the outdoor public onsen is a great visit.

I would recommend this place for the service and for one of the best onsen waters in all of Japan. Don't go expecting full views of the mountains and luxury hotel rooms and amenities. By the way, the loose leaf green tea they leave in the guest...

We loved this ryokan. The room was large with en suite toilet. The bedding was super comfortable. The food was delicious and featured local river fish. The owners were lovely and gracious. Public onsen facilities are small but nice. (The private baths were far, far too hot for us). But stop from Takayama is no more than a 1/4 mile away and the stop to Takayama is just...

ブログも書いてるというオヤジさんは話しかけると何でも答えて教えてくれるので、温泉やら周辺のことやら化石のことやら聞きたいことがあれば遠慮なく聞いた方が良い。||かたや、たまに帳場に顔を出して朝食を運んできた若女将はまったく愛想なし。外出の時に鍵を預けると面倒くさそうな表情をしたので、こちらも気分が悪くなって、鍵は預けずに自分で持っておくことにした。若女将も突き放すような言い方でその方がいいと言った。||で、その子供、すなわちオヤジさんのお孫さんは人なつっこいというか客の前まで遠慮無く近寄ってきたり、ドンドンと足音をたててあたりを走り回り、ひとりでよくしゃべり、その声が大きかった。若女将も我関せず。子供が苦手な客は結構ストレス間違いなし。||若女将の朝食の配膳は、食材やご飯の説明なし。ご飯のおひつを隣の客のところに置いていて、何も言わないので、お代わりの時、こちらはまずおひつを探し回り、隣客に気を遣って自分のご飯をよそった。||こういうところにまったく気づかない若女将。||そういえば、以前この奥飛騨温泉郷に数十年間の行きつけの旅館があって、ずっと世話になっていた経営者の老夫婦がいた。しかし、経営が若夫婦になって、雰囲気ががらりと変わり、客を大切にしてもらえなくなり、宿泊料金だけ高くなり、縁がなくなったとあきらめて２度と行かなくなった。それが数年前。||この宿もオヤジさんは気に入ったのでまた泊まりたいとは思ったが、客にも自分の子供にも気を遣わない若女将の態度が良くないので、そのうち先の行きつけ旅館と同じような運命を辿るように感じた。||旅館の立地はこちらでは幹線道路沿いなので、夜中も大型トラックがビュンビュン通過する。そのたびに、旅館は地震のように揺れる。||道路の反対側では音は聞こえないでしょうが、揺れは感じると思う。||そんなこんなで、周辺の宿の中では安めの設定というのがよくわかった。安いには安いの理由があるもの。||狭い道だが、この道は富山から松本方面に抜ける幹線道路。||狭くて勾配もあってカーブも多いのに、地元の車は昼でも夜でも思いっきり飛ばす。あきらかに地元でない車は道がわからないのでそんなにスピードを出せないが、それでも地元車は遠慮無くあおってくる。観光客でもってる地域なのに、もっとよそ者を大...