This page contains promotions (affiliate links) (Editorial & ad policy)
Nyuto Onsen and Lake Tazawa ryokan with open-air baths: 5 picks
Approximate, at the rate on 2026-10-02. You pay in yen.
- Five Nyuto Onsen ryokan and inns: three off Tazawako station, two near Omagari
- Shin-Tamagawa has the spring said to be Japan’s most acidic
- Aoni Sanso has a private bath booked at check-in; Shuhoen picks up from the station
The five
| Best for | Where to book | Score | Weeknight (per person) | Saturday |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Highest-rated of the five, a 10-room inn near Omagari — if you can’t decide | Forest Resort Yamanote Hotel Check price |
86/100 | ¥18,000–24,000 | ¥26,000–43,000 |
| In Nyuto’s beech forest, right at the Kyukamura bus stop | Kyukamura Nyuto Onsen-kyo Check price |
77/100 | ¥17,000–18,000 | — |
| Tamagawa’s strongly acidic spring, straight from the source | Shin-Tamagawa Onsen Check price |
77/100 | ¥15,000–19,000 | ¥16,000–21,000 |
| A registered cultural property mansion with station pick-up | Kowakubi Onsen Shuhoen Check price |
74/100 | ¥20,000–24,000 | ¥22,000–28,000 |
| Mizusawa Onsen inn with a private bath you book at check-in | Mizusawa Onsen-kyo Aoni Sanso Check price |
64/100 | ¥21,000 | ¥24,000–25,000 |
Prices are the cheapest per person found on Rakuten Travel for Wednesdays and Saturdays between 2026-10-31 – 2026-12-23, for 2 adults in one room (checked 2026-10-24). They move daily — the link shows live prices.
The booking links go to Agoda, which shows today’s price and lets you pay in your own currency. Its price can differ from the Rakuten Travel figures above.
Highest-rated of the five, a 10-room inn near Omagari
Reviews: Rakuten Travel 4.65/5 (122) · Agoda 9.4/10 (8) · 130 in total
- Samue (loose cotton loungewear) instead of yukata, on request at the front desk
- Scores 86/100, the top pick here
Why it made the five
- 4.65 across 122 reviews, with dinner 4.85 and service 4.76 — the highest of the six.
- Only ten rooms; natural hot-spring large bath and open-air bath.
- About 15 minutes by car from JR Omagari; Rakuten lists a shuttle bus but gives no details.
- About ¥18,000–24,000 per person with two meals on a weeknight.
Getting there: About 15 minutes by car from JR Omagari station (Akita Shinkansen), or about 5 minutes from the Omagari interchange. Rakuten lists a shuttle bus among its facilities without times or conditions, so ask when you book. Free parking for 20 cars, no reservation needed.
Language and payment: English support and tattoo rules are not published, so ask when you book. Visa, Mastercard, JCB, American Express, Diners and many Japanese cards are listed. The eight major allergens (egg, shrimp, crab, buckwheat, milk, peanut, wheat, walnut) can be handled if you declare them when booking; other ingredients cannot. A wheelchair to borrow and handrails in the large bath.
-
Right for: A small inn with the surest reviews here, where the food and the service matter most.
-
Not for: Wanting to stay by Lake Tazawa or in the Nyuto forest — it is on the Omagari side, a car ride from the station.
-
Worth knowing: Last check-in is 18:00; call if you will be late. A ¥150 bathing tax per adult is charged on top.
Score breakdown — 86/100
| Criterion | Stars | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Quality | ★★★★☆ | Room, bath and dinner average 4.66 on Rakuten Travel |
| Value for money | ★★★★☆ | ¥18,000–24,000 per person on a weeknight (Rakuten, dinner and breakfast) — 92% of the median of everything we compared |
| Easy to stay | ★★★★★ | A shuttle bus in Rakuten’s facilities list (ask the inn for details); about 15 minutes by car from JR Omagari and 5 from the Omagari interchange; a natural hot-spring large bath and open-air bath; only ten rooms; room service listed; the eight major allergens handled if declared when booking. |
| Trust | ★★★★☆ | 4.65 across 122 reviews (Rakuten Travel 122) |
| Only here | ★★★★☆ | Its 4.65 average is the highest of the inns that qualified, and its dinner (4.85) and service (4.76) scores are the highest too. |
In Nyuto’s beech forest, right at the Kyukamura bus stop
Reviews: Rakuten Travel 4.51/5 (567)
- 38-room lodge in the beech forest of Nyuto Onsen-kyo
- Baths run on simple sulphur and sodium bicarbonate springs
Why it made the five
- Zero minutes on foot from the Kyukamura bus stop, on the bus from Tazawako station.
- Hot-spring large bath and open-air bath in the beech forest; bath rated 4.68.
- A few staff understand a little English — the only one of the six to say so.
- About ¥17,000–18,000 per person with two meals on a weeknight.
Getting there: Ugo Kotsu bus from JR Tazawako station towards Nyuto Onsen, alighting at Kyukamura; the lodge is right at the stop. Free parking for 100 cars, no reservation needed.
Language and payment: Per Rakuten, a few staff understand a little English. Visa, Mastercard, JCB, American Express and Diners are listed. Tattoo rules are not published, so ask before using the shared baths. Barrier-free rooms, a wheelchair to borrow and braille signs in the building.
-
Right for: Staying in Nyuto’s forest without a car, with an easy buffet for dinner.
-
Not for: Wanting dinner served in your room or a private room — both meals are buffets in the restaurant.
-
Worth knowing: Rakuten’s notes give a curfew (mongen) of 18:30, the same as last check-in, so if you will arrive late, check with the lodge first. A ¥150 bathing tax per adult is charged on top.
Score breakdown — 77/100
| Criterion | Stars | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Quality | ★★★☆☆ | Room, bath and dinner average 4.54 on Rakuten Travel |
| Value for money | ★★★★☆ | ¥17,000–18,000 per person on a weeknight (Rakuten, dinner and breakfast) — 83% of the median of everything we compared |
| Easy to stay | ★★★★★ | Zero minutes on foot from the Kyukamura stop on the Ugo Kotsu bus from JR Tazawako station towards Nyuto Onsen; a few staff understand a little English; a hot-spring large bath and open-air bath, with simple sulphur and sodium bicarbonate springs; buffet breakfast and dinner in the restaurant; barrier-free rooms and a wheelchair to borrow. |
| Trust | ★★★☆☆ | 4.51 across 567 reviews (Rakuten Travel 567) |
| Only here | ★★★★☆ | In the beech forest of Nyuto Onsen-kyo, with the bus stop at the door, and a bath score of 4.68 that matches the best of the five. |
Tamagawa’s strongly acidic spring, straight from the source
Reviews: Rakuten Travel 4.42/5 (1,830) · Agoda 8.5/10 (259) · 2,089 in total
- 185 rooms, with buffet meals
- Calls itself a toji inn, for therapeutic bathing rather than sightseeing
Why it made the five
- Tamagawa’s strongly acidic spring, free-flowing from the source.
- Large bath, open-air bath, sauna, family bath and ganbanyoku (heated-stone bathing).
- 1,830 reviews, the most of the six; bath rated 4.68.
- About ¥15,000–19,000 per person with two meals on a weeknight — the cheapest of the five.
Getting there: Route bus from in front of Tazawako station (Akita Shinkansen), about an hour and ¥1,700 one way. By car, the inn asks you to set your navigation by its phone number, 0187-58-3100. Free parking; in winter there is free parking near Tazawako station instead — ask the inn.
Language and payment: English support and tattoo rules are not published, so ask when you book. Visa, Mastercard, JCB, American Express, Diners and debit cards are listed. Barrier-free rooms and wheelchairs to borrow. The family bath is for your own party.
-
Right for: Bathing in a spring like no other, at a large, much-reviewed inn that keeps the cost down.
-
Not for: Wanting ryokan-style hospitality or meals in your room — the inn calls itself a therapeutic inn, and both meals are buffets.
-
Worth knowing: Route 341 to the inn usually closes at night from early November and to private cars from 1 December, reopening in late April. From 1 December the last bus from Tazawako station leaves at 12:30, and the inn says that if you miss it you cannot get there. A ¥150 bathing tax per adult is charged on top.
Score breakdown — 77/100
| Criterion | Stars | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Quality | ★★☆☆☆ | Room, bath and dinner average 4.41 on Rakuten Travel |
| Value for money | ★★★★★ | ¥15,000–19,000 per person on a weeknight (Rakuten, dinner and breakfast) — 75% of the median of everything we compared |
| Easy to stay | ★★★★★ | Route bus from in front of Tazawako station (Akita Shinkansen), about an hour; Tamagawa’s spring, said to be Japan’s most strongly acidic, free-flowing from the source; a large bath, open-air bath, sauna, family bath and ganbanyoku; buffet breakfast and dinner in the restaurant; barrier-free rooms and wheelchairs to borrow. |
| Trust | ★★★☆☆ | 4.42 across 1,830 reviews (Rakuten Travel 1,830) |
| Only here | ★★★★★ | A therapeutic-bathing inn running Tamagawa’s spring, said to be Japan’s most acidic, straight from the source — and its 1,830 reviews are the most of the inns that qualified. |
A registered cultural property mansion with station pick-up
Reviews: Rakuten Travel 4.50/5 (69) · Agoda 8.3/10 (8) · 77 in total
- The only registered cultural property building among the inns compared
- Strong sodium chloride salt water, which the inn is proud of for its concentration
- Rakuten shows only meal scores, both 4.50
Why it made the five
- A registered tangible cultural property, kept as built; only seven rooms.
- Strong sodium chloride spring: large bath, open-air bath and family bath.
- Free pick-up from JR Minekichikawa station, 14:30–17:00, by reservation.
- About ¥20,000–24,000 per person with two meals on a weeknight.
Getting there: Seven to eight minutes by car from Minekichikawa station on the JR Ou line, with free pick-up between 14:30 and 17:00 if booked in advance. The inn will also collect you from Akita Airport for ¥1,000 per person each way, as a fuel charge. Free parking for 30 cars.
Language and payment: English support and tattoo rules are not published, so ask when you book. Rakuten’s card field reads ‘not accepted’, so ask how to pay. Rooms and the building are non-smoking, with a designated smoking spot. The family bath is for your own party.
-
Right for: A night in a historic Japanese house, collected from the station.
-
Not for: Paying by card, or staying near Lake Tazawa or Nyuto — it is in Daisen, well to the south-west.
-
Worth knowing: Rakuten’s card field reads ‘not accepted’. Pick-up must be booked in advance and runs 14:30–17:00. Curfew is 23:00, and a ¥150 bathing tax per adult is charged on top.
Score breakdown — 74/100
| Criterion | Stars | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Quality | ★★★☆☆ | The categories Rakuten does show (room and others) average 4.50 |
| Value for money | ★★★☆☆ | ¥20,000–24,000 per person on a weeknight (Rakuten, dinner and breakfast) — 100% of the median of everything we compared |
| Easy to stay | ★★★★★ | Free pick-up from JR Minekichikawa station, booked in advance (14:30–17:00); seven to eight minutes by car from Minekichikawa on the JR Ou line; pick-up from Akita Airport for ¥1,000 per person each way; a hot-spring large bath, open-air bath and family bath, with a strong sodium chloride spring; only seven rooms, non-smoking throughout. |
| Trust | ★★★☆☆ | 4.5 across 69 reviews (Rakuten Travel 69) |
| Only here | ★★★★★ | A mansion on Japan’s register of tangible cultural properties, kept as it was built — nothing else like it among the candidates. |
Mizusawa Onsen inn with a private bath you book at check-in
Reviews: Rakuten Travel 4.31/5 (299) · Agoda 8.7/10 (98) · 397 in total
- Bills itself as Japan’s only inn devoted to the Akita Kanto festival
- Guests can use the large hot-spring bath at Cerulean Resort AONI next door
Why it made the five
- Large bath and open-air bath with 100% free-flowing hot-spring water.
- A private bath, booked at check-in in order of arrival (15:00–23:00 and 6:00–9:00).
- Ten rooms, all renovated; free Wi-Fi in every room.
- About ¥21,000 per person with two meals on a weeknight.
Getting there: Bus from JR Tazawako station (Akita Shinkansen) towards Nyuto Onsen, alighting at Mizusawa Onsen-kyo. By car, from the Morioka interchange on the Tohoku Expressway along Route 46 towards Akita. Free parking for 16 cars.
Language and payment: English support and tattoo rules are not published, so ask when you book. Visa, Mastercard, JCB, American Express and many Japanese cards are listed. The private bath is your own party’s alone. Barrier-free rooms and a wheelchair to borrow; some connecting rooms, which must be booked.
-
Right for: Time in the hot water with just your family or partner, at a small inn.
-
Not for: Wanting the private bath secured before you arrive — it can only be booked at check-in.
-
Worth knowing: The private bath goes in order of arrival, so check in early if you want a good slot. A ¥150 bathing tax per adult is charged on top.
Score breakdown — 64/100
| Criterion | Stars | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Quality | ★★☆☆☆ | Room, bath and dinner average 4.31 on Rakuten Travel |
| Value for money | ★★★☆☆ | ¥21,000 per person on a weeknight (Rakuten, dinner and breakfast) — 104% of the median of everything we compared |
| Easy to stay | ★★★★★ | Bus from JR Tazawako station towards Nyuto Onsen, alighting at Mizusawa Onsen-kyo; a large bath and open-air bath with 100% free-flowing hot-spring water; a private bath booked at check-in; free Wi-Fi in every room; some connecting rooms (book ahead). |
| Trust | ★★☆☆☆ | 4.31 across 299 reviews (Rakuten Travel 299) |
| Only here | ★★★★☆ | A ten-room inn, fully renovated, that bills itself as Japan’s only Akita Kanto festival inn — with a private bath you book on arrival. |
Know before you book
- The Akita Shinkansen from Tokyo stops at Tazawako, Kakunodate and Omagari. Tazawako station is the one for Lake Tazawa and for the buses up to Nyuto and Tamagawa; two of these five are on the Omagari side instead, south of Kakunodate.
- Nyuto Onsen-kyo is a handful of small inns scattered through beech forest at the end of the Ugo Kotsu bus line from Tazawako station. Mizusawa Onsen-kyo is on the same bus line, lower down and closer to the lake — about 25 minutes from the station, per the inns’ listings. Tsurunoyu, the best-known Nyuto inn, is not among the 33 Rakuten lists for this district.
- Tamagawa, north of the lake, is a spring said to be Japan’s most strongly acidic, and it is visited for therapeutic bathing as much as for sightseeing. The bus from Tazawako station takes about an hour. Per Shin-Tamagawa’s listing, Route 341 closes at night from early November and to private cars from 1 December until late April, and from 1 December the last bus from Tazawako leaves at 12:30.
- Lake Tazawa is Japan’s deepest lake. Kakunodate, one Shinkansen stop south, keeps a street of samurai houses lined with weeping cherry trees, and makes an easy half-day trip.
- Japanese shared baths are nude, and you wash at the taps before getting in. None of the six inns we compared publishes a tattoo rule, so ask when you book; four of them also have a family (private) bath for your own party. A bathing tax of ¥150 per adult is added at all six, and check-out at all six is 10:00.
- Prices here are per person with dinner and breakfast, for two sharing. One of the five, Shuhoen, does not take credit cards.
How we chose: theme, conditions, scoring
How we chose
- Candidates: every property in Nyuto Onsen and Lake Tazawa listed on Rakuten Travel — 33
- Passed the review filter (counts and averages on Rakuten Travel, the one site that lists every property in the area): 20
- Met every condition below: 5
- Kept: five, each the best at something different
Where the facts come from
- Facts: Rakuten Travel property information (in some articles, each hotel’s own site too)
- Prices: Rakuten Travel live availability, Wednesdays and Saturdays over eight weeks
- Reviews: the count and average on Rakuten Travel, as given in each hotel’s Trust row. Agoda’s reviews are shown under each hotel name for reference only and do not count towards the score
Conditions (all of them, not most of them)
- In Rakuten Travel’s Kakunodate, Omagari and Tazawako district of Akita, with a hot spring
- At least 30 reviews on Rakuten Travel, averaging 4.0 or better
- The cheapest rate falls between ¥10,000 and ¥40,000 per person per night
- An open-air bath filled with hot-spring water — one attached to the shared baths counts; private and in-room open-air baths are mentioned as a bonus
Scoring
Five criteria, one to five stars each, weighted to one hundred points. Every star says where the number came from.
- Quality25 pts
- The average of the scores Rakuten Travel publishes for the room, the bath and the food.
- Value for money20 pts
- The cheapest rate with dinner and breakfast against the median of the inns we compared.
- Easy to stay30 pts
- Bus access or station pick-up, the baths, meals, language and accessibility support, and check-out time.
- Trust20 pts
- Review counts and averages published by Rakuten Travel.
- Only here5 pts
- What this inn has that the other five do not.
What we dropped
| Property | Verdict | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Cerulean Resort AONI | Runner-up (63/100) | 63/100, one point behind its neighbour Aoni Sanso, which costs the same on a weeknight. Its 4.22 average across 340 reviews is the lowest of the six and its bath scores only 4.16, which gave it two stars for quality and trust — and Aoni Sanso’s guests can use its large bath anyway. |
| Natsuse Onsen Miyakowasure | Outside the theme | 4.75 across 70 reviews, an open-air hot-spring bath and free pick-up from Kakunodate station by reservation — but Rakuten’s data gave no cheapest rate, so we could not confirm the price condition. |
| Kashintei Shirahama | Outside the theme | 4.70 across 293 reviews, about 12 minutes by car from Tazawako station, with an open-air bath, a family bath and private dining rooms — but its cheapest rate is under our ¥10,000 floor. |
| Tamagawa Onsen | Outside the theme | 4.46 across 1,187 reviews at the original therapeutic inn on the Tamagawa source, but its cheapest rate is under our floor and its listing shows no open-air bath. |
| Nyuto Onsen-kyo Ogama Onsen | Below the floor | A Nyuto inn at the end of the bus line with separate open-air and indoor baths for men and women, but its 3.75 average across 407 reviews is below our 4.0 floor. |
Questions visitors ask
Which one would you book?
Forest Resort Yamanote Hotel, the top score at 86/100: ten rooms, a 4.65 average with dinner rated 4.85, and about ¥18,000–24,000 per person with two meals on a weeknight. It is on the Omagari side, though. If you want to sleep in the Nyuto forest without a car, Kyukamura Nyuto Onsen-kyo is right at its bus stop, at about ¥17,000–18,000 per person on a weeknight.
Can I reach them without a car?
Yes, all five. Kyukamura is at its own stop on the bus from Tazawako station, and Aoni Sanso is at the Mizusawa Onsen-kyo stop on the same line. Shin-Tamagawa is about an hour by route bus from Tazawako station. Shuhoen collects you free from Minekichikawa station between 14:30 and 17:00 if you book ahead. Yamanote Hotel is about 15 minutes by car from Omagari station; Rakuten lists a shuttle bus but gives no details, so ask, or take a taxi.
I’d rather not bathe with strangers. Is there a private bath?
Aoni Sanso has a private bath you book at check-in, in order of arrival. Shin-Tamagawa and Shuhoen list a family bath, as does the runner-up Cerulean Resort AONI. Kyukamura and Yamanote Hotel list only shared baths. No inn here publishes a tattoo rule, so ask before using the shared ones.
I’m going in winter. Anything to watch?
Shin-Tamagawa above all: per its listing, Route 341 closes to private cars from 1 December until late April, and from 1 December the last bus from Tazawako station leaves at 12:30 — miss it and you cannot get there. At Kyukamura, Rakuten’s notes give a curfew of 18:30, the same as last check-in, so do not plan a late arrival. Kyukamura and Aoni Sanso have ski-drying rooms.
Will they speak English, and can I pay by card?
Only Kyukamura says that a few staff understand a little English; the others publish nothing, so write when you book. Yamanote Hotel, Kyukamura, Shin-Tamagawa and Aoni Sanso list Visa, Mastercard, JCB and American Express. Shuhoen does not take cards — Rakuten’s card field reads ‘not accepted’ — so ask how to pay.
When were these prices checked?
We searched Rakuten Travel availability for Wednesdays and Saturdays between 31 October and 23 December 2026, taking the cheapest room with dinner and breakfast for two adults and showing it per person (checked 24 October 2026). No Saturday rooms came up for Kyukamura in that window. A ¥150 bathing tax per adult comes on top at all of them. Prices move daily — the link on each inn shows today’s.
Changes
- 2026-10-29 First published. Scored from 33 candidates.