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Shima Onsen ryokan with a private bath: 5 picks from 37
Approximate, at the rate on 2026-10-02. You pay in yen.
- Five Shima Onsen ryokan; Rakuten calls Sekizenkan Honkan Japan’s oldest hot-spring inn building
- Hinatamikan averages 4.89 over 406 reviews; Nakazawa has five rooms and a cottage
- Tsuruya gives rooms their own spring-fed bath; Honkan is cheapest on a weeknight
The five
| Best for | Where to book | Score | Weeknight (per person) | Saturday |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Top-rated inn here: 4.89 from 406 reviews — if you can’t decide | Hinatamikan Check price |
95/100 | ¥19,000–28,000 | ¥30,000–45,000 |
| Five rooms and one detached cottage on a hillside | Shunmokutei Nakazawa Ryokan Check price |
94/100 | — | ¥17,000–18,000 |
| Dinner in your room, in Sekizenkan’s quieter wings | Sekizenkan Kashotei & Sanso Check price |
82/100 | ¥25,000 | ¥28,000 |
| Sleep in Japan’s oldest hot-spring inn building | Sekizenkan Honkan Check price |
77/100 | ¥13,000 | — |
| Rooms with their own spring-fed bath, at the end of Shima | Shikanozoki-no-yu Tsuruya Check price |
73/100 | ¥35,000–55,000 | ¥39,000–75,000 |
Prices are the cheapest per person found on Rakuten Travel for Wednesdays and Saturdays between 2026-11-04 – 2026-12-26, for 2 adults in one room (checked 2026-10-25). 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.
Top-rated inn here: 4.89 from 406 reviews
Reviews: Rakuten Travel 4.89/5 (406) · Agoda 9.4/10 (18) · 424 in total
- Ten rooms; founded in 1906
- Breakfast 4.90 and dinner 4.88 on Rakuten
- 95/100, the top score of the five
Why it made the five
- 4.89 across 406 reviews — the highest of the eight; service 4.92.
- Open-air and family baths.
- Dinner in your room or the dining room; check-out 12:00.
- Free pick-up from the Shima Onsen bus stop, 15:00–18:00.
Getting there: About 40 minutes by bus from JR Nakanojo station (Agatsuma line) to the Shima Onsen terminus; the inn is about 2 km further on. A free pick-up runs from that bus stop between 15:00 and 18:00 — it cannot be booked ahead, so phone the inn when you arrive. By car, about an hour from the Shibukawa interchange; parking for 12 cars is free.
Language and payment: English support and tattoo rules are not published, so ask when you book. Rakuten lists Visa, JCB, American Express and Mastercard. With a family bath, you need not share one with strangers.
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Right for: Couples and adults who want the best-reviewed inn and a quiet riverside stay.
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Not for: Families with children aged 12 or under who want to book online, or anyone who wants to walk out into the centre of town.
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Worth knowing: Children aged 12 and under can only be booked by phone; a Rakuten booking that includes them will be cancelled. Check-in is 15:00–18:00, and after 18:00 without a call the booking is treated as cancelled.
Score breakdown — 95/100
| Criterion | Stars | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Quality | ★★★★★ | Room, bath and dinner average 4.83 on Rakuten Travel |
| Value for money | ★★★★☆ | ¥19,000–28,000 per person on a weeknight (Rakuten, dinner and breakfast) — 84% of the median of everything we compared |
| Easy to stay | ★★★★★ | Check-out 12:00; a free pick-up from the Shima Onsen bus stop (15:00–18:00, phone the inn on arrival); dinner in your room or the dining room, breakfast in the dining room; meals away from other guests; founded in 1906, a ten-room inn by the river at the far end of Shima Onsen; open-air and family baths; allergies can be discussed in advance, though some ingredients cannot be avoided. |
| Trust | ★★★★★ | 4.89 across 406 reviews (Rakuten Travel 406) |
| Only here | ★★★★☆ | Its 4.89 review average is the highest of the inns we compared, and every category is high — service 4.92, breakfast 4.90. |
Five rooms and one detached cottage on a hillside
Reviews: Rakuten Travel 4.85/5 (713) · Agoda 8.8/10 (12) · 725 in total
- On a rise looking out over the mountains
- The listing calls it a modern hatago, an old-style travellers’ inn
- Service 4.90; 94/100, one point behind the top
Why it made the five
- Five Japanese rooms and one detached cottage.
- Bath rated 4.88; 4.85 across 713 reviews.
- Open-air and family baths; meals in a private room or the dining area.
- Two minutes on foot from the Kirinokidaira bus stop.
Getting there: By bus from JR Nakanojo station (Agatsuma line) to the Kirinokidaira stop, then two minutes on foot. By car, about 50 minutes from the Shibukawa-Ikaho interchange via routes 17 and 353; free parking for eight cars, first come first served, just past the inn up the slope in front of the Shima Onsen Association.
Language and payment: English support and tattoo rules are not published, so ask when you book. Rakuten lists Visa, NICOS, Mastercard and Saison, single payment only. With a family bath, you need not share one with strangers.
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Right for: A very small, quiet inn with private-room meals and a family bath.
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Not for: Anyone who needs allergy or food-preference changes — the inn cannot make them.
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Worth knowing: Dinner starts at 18:00. If you have not called by 19:00, the booking is treated as cancelled and the meal discarded. No allergy or preference changes. A ¥150 bathing tax per adult is extra.
Score breakdown — 94/100
| Criterion | Stars | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Quality | ★★★★☆ | Room, bath and dinner average 4.79 on Rakuten Travel |
| Value for money | ★★★★★ | No weeknight room was free in our search window (Rakuten, dinner and breakfast) — 76% of the median of everything we compared |
| Easy to stay | ★★★★★ | Meals away from other guests; five Japanese rooms and one detached cottage on a rise above the valley; two minutes on foot from the Kirinokidaira bus stop; open-air and family baths; breakfast and dinner in a private room or the dining area; green tea in your room and a change of yukata. |
| Trust | ★★★★★ | 4.85 across 713 reviews (Rakuten Travel 713) |
| Only here | ★★★★☆ | A six-room inn where one room is a detached cottage, with 713 reviews averaging 4.85 and the bath rated 4.88. |
Dinner in your room, in Sekizenkan’s quieter wings
Reviews: Rakuten Travel 4.64/5 (1,232)
- Kashotei is the lavishly finished wing
- Open-air and family baths; check-out 11:00
Why it made the five
- Sekizenkan’s Sanso and Kashotei wings; the Sanso has a national Important Cultural Property, per the listing.
- Dinner in your room or the dining area; breakfast in the dining area.
- 1,232 reviews — the most of the eight — averaging 4.64.
- Wheelchairs to borrow; assisted bathing in the large bath.
Getting there: About 40 minutes by bus from JR Nakanojo station to the Shima Onsen terminus, or 25 minutes by car. From the Shibukawa-Ikaho interchange, about 39 km (60 minutes) via routes 17 and 353. Free parking for 50 cars — not the same car park as the Honkan by the red bridge.
Language and payment: Per Rakuten, a few staff understand a little English, Chinese and Korean. Rakuten lists Visa, JCB, American Express, Diners Club, UC, DC, NICOS, Mastercard and Saison. Tattoo rules are not published, so ask when you book — or use the family bath.
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Right for: Sekizenkan’s history, with dinner served quietly in your own room.
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Not for: Wanting to sleep in the old Honkan building itself.
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Worth knowing: Parking is not at the Honkan with the red bridge. Call if you will arrive after 17:00. Children aged 3 and over pay a facility fee even without bedding or meals.
Score breakdown — 82/100
| Criterion | Stars | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Quality | ★★★★☆ | Room, bath and dinner average 4.66 on Rakuten Travel |
| Value for money | ★★★☆☆ | ¥25,000 per person on a weeknight (Rakuten, dinner and breakfast) — 110% of the median of everything we compared |
| Easy to stay | ★★★★★ | Check-out 11:00; dinner in your room or the dining area, breakfast in the dining area; meals away from other guests; Sekizenkan’s ryokan wings, the Sanso (with a national Important Cultural Property) and the Kashotei; open-air and family baths; a few staff understand a little Chinese, English and Korean; wheelchairs to borrow and assisted bathing in the large bath; meals adapted for allergies. |
| Trust | ★★★★☆ | 4.64 across 1,232 reviews (Rakuten Travel 1,232) |
| Only here | ★★★★☆ | Sekizenkan’s ryokan wings: you can stay in the Sanso, with its national Important Cultural Property, and have dinner in your room. |
Sleep in Japan’s oldest hot-spring inn building
Reviews: Rakuten Travel 4.54/5 (1,187) · Agoda 8.6/10 (9) · 1,196 in total
- Beside Sekizenkan’s red bridge
- Suits a slow toji-style stay, soaking for the water’s benefits
- Rooms score 4.35 on Rakuten, lower than the bath
Why it made the five
- Called Japan’s oldest hot-spring inn building in Rakuten’s listing.
- Large, open-air and family baths; bath rated 4.70.
- Breakfast and dinner in your room or a hall.
- About ¥13,000 per person on a weeknight with two meals — the cheapest of the five.
Getting there: About 40 minutes by bus from JR Nakanojo station (Agatsuma line) to the Shima Onsen terminus, or 25 minutes by car. From the Shibukawa-Ikaho interchange, about 39 km (60 minutes) via routes 17 and 353. Free parking for 17 cars beyond the red bridge in front of the building: stop at the entrance first and tell the staff.
Language and payment: Per Rakuten, a few staff understand a little English, Chinese and Korean. Rakuten lists Visa, JCB, American Express, Diners Club and Mastercard. The large bath is shared and nude in the Japanese way; tattoo rules are not published, so ask when you book — or use the family bath.
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Right for: Sleeping in a historic wooden hot-spring inn at the lowest weeknight price here.
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Not for: Arriving late in the afternoon, or wanting to choose your own dinner time.
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Worth knowing: Check-in by 17:00. Dinner runs 18:00–19:30, with no meals outside those times. Food allergies must be declared three days before. Children aged 3 and over pay a facility fee even without bedding or meals.
Score breakdown — 77/100
| Criterion | Stars | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Quality | ★★☆☆☆ | Room, bath and dinner average 4.48 on Rakuten Travel |
| Value for money | ★★★★★ | ¥13,000 per person on a weeknight (Rakuten, dinner and breakfast) — 57% of the median of everything we compared |
| Easy to stay | ★★★★★ | Breakfast and dinner in your room or a hall; meals away from other guests; a toji-style stay in what the listing calls Japan’s oldest hot-spring inn building; large, open-air and family baths; a few staff understand a little Chinese, English and Korean; wheelchairs to borrow; parking beyond the red bridge — stop at the entrance first and tell the staff. |
| Trust | ★★★☆☆ | 4.54 across 1,187 reviews (Rakuten Travel 1,187) |
| Only here | ★★★★★ | You sleep in the building Rakuten’s listing calls Japan’s oldest hot-spring inn, backed by 1,187 reviews and a bath rated 4.70. |
Rooms with their own spring-fed bath, at the end of Shima
Reviews: Rakuten Travel 4.62/5 (303) · Agoda 8.6/10 (18) · 321 in total
- Ten rooms at the far end of Shima Onsen
- Wheelchairs to borrow
Why it made the five
- Rooms with their own free-flowing hot-spring bath.
- Family bath, sauna, cold plunge and bedrock bath.
- Breakfast and dinner in your room or the dining area.
- A room for wheelchair users; free pick-up from the bus stop.
Getting there: About 40 minutes by bus from JR Nakanojo station to the Shima Onsen terminus, then 25 minutes on foot — or a free pick-up at 14:50 or 15:50 if you call by the day before. In a hurry, the inn suggests a taxi from Nakanojo station. Free parking for 17 cars.
Language and payment: English support and tattoo rules are not published, so ask when you book. Rakuten lists Visa, JCB, American Express, Diners Club, Mastercard and Discover. In a room with its own bath, you need not share one.
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Right for: Staying in with your own bath and meals in your room, or travelling with a wheelchair user.
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Not for: Wanting to walk around the centre of town, or keeping the cost down.
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Worth knowing: Last check-in 17:00. Bringing your own alcohol is charged. Children’s meals are a children’s set.
Score breakdown — 73/100
| Criterion | Stars | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Quality | ★★★★☆ | Room, bath and dinner average 4.66 on Rakuten Travel |
| Value for money | ★☆☆☆☆ | ¥35,000–55,000 per person on a weeknight (Rakuten, dinner and breakfast) — 156% of the median of everything we compared |
| Easy to stay | ★★★★★ | A free pick-up from the Shima Onsen bus stop (14:50 or 15:50, call by the day before); breakfast and dinner in your room or the dining area; meals away from other guests; rooms with their own free-flowing hot-spring bath; a ten-room inn at the far end of Shima Onsen; family bath, sauna, cold plunge and bedrock bath; a room for wheelchair users and wheelchairs to borrow. |
| Trust | ★★★★☆ | 4.62 across 303 reviews (Rakuten Travel 303) |
| Only here | ★★★☆☆ | Rooms with their own free-flowing hot-spring bath, plus a family bath, sauna and bedrock bath, and a room for wheelchair users. |
Know before you book
- Shima Onsen is in Nakanojo, Gunma. The nearest station is Nakanojo on the JR Agatsuma line, which the Kusatsu-Shima limited express serves from Ueno; you can also take the Joetsu Shinkansen to Takasaki and change. The inns put the bus from Nakanojo to the Shima Onsen terminus at about 40 minutes. One inn’s listing also mentions a direct Kan-etsu Kotsu bus from Tokyo Station.
- The town is strung out along the valley, and the inns name different bus stops: Yamaguchi for Shojukan (one minute), Kirinokidaira for Nakazawa Ryokan (two minutes), Seiryu-no-yu Iriguchi for Kashiwaya, and the terminus for both Sekizenkan listings. Hinatamikan (about 2 km), Tsuruya (25 minutes on foot) and KANOUYA (15 minutes) are a way from the terminus and will collect you from it — check how, because each works differently.
- Sekizenkan is two separate listings. The Honkan is the old main building by the red bridge; Kashotei & Sanso are its ryokan wings, with their own car park. They differ in price, meal arrangements and check-out time, so book the one you mean.
- The name is written with the characters for ‘forty thousand’: the water is said to cure forty thousand ills. Most of these inns list calcium-sodium sulphate springs, and Shojukan has a fountain for drinking the water. The river and Lake Okushima are known for their vivid colour, ‘Shima Blue’.
- Every inn here gives you a way to bathe without strangers, in different forms: an open-air bath in every room at KANOUYA, rooms with their own free-flowing bath at Tsuruya, three free private open-air baths at Kashiwaya, a free private bath at Shojukan, and a family bath (kazoku-buro) at the others. Ask how to reserve it when you book.
- Ryokan run to fixed times. Last check-in is 17:00 at Sekizenkan Honkan and Tsuruya (and at Kashiwaya and KANOUYA with dinner), 17:30 at Shojukan and 18:00 at Hinatamikan; check-out is 12:00 at Hinatamikan and Kashiwaya, 11:00 at Kashotei & Sanso, and 10:00 at the rest. Prices here are per person with dinner and breakfast, for two sharing; several inns add a ¥150 bathing tax per adult.
How we chose: theme, conditions, scoring
How we chose
- Candidates: every property in Shima Onsen listed on Rakuten Travel — 37
- Passed the review filter (counts and averages on Rakuten Travel, the one site that lists every property in the area): 27
- Met every condition below: 3
- 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 Shima Onsen district of Gunma, Sawatari Onsen included, 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
- A room with its own open-air bath, or a private or family bath you can use without other guests
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
- A pick-up from the bus stop or minutes on foot, private baths, meals in your room or a private room, language support, and check-in and check-out times.
- Trust20 pts
- Review counts and averages published by Rakuten Travel.
- Only here5 pts
- What this inn has that the other seven do not.
What we dropped
| Property | Verdict | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Kashiwaya Ryokan | Runner-up (73/100) | 73/100, level with Tsuruya; ties go to the higher review average, and Tsuruya’s 4.62 is just ahead of Kashiwaya’s 4.59. Kashiwaya is the better value, but Tsuruya’s room, bath and dinner average of 4.66 against 4.54 makes up the difference. |
| KANOUYA | Runner-up (71/100) | 71/100, two points behind the fifth place. Its 42 reviews are the thinnest record of the eight, and at about ¥31,000–45,000 on a weeknight it sits well above the median, so trust and value decided it. |
| Shojukan | Runner-up (67/100) | 67/100, six points behind the fifth place. Its room, bath and dinner average of 4.46 and review average of 4.32 are the lowest of the eight, with rooms at 4.13, and that decided it. |
| Shima Blue | Outside the theme | 4.44 across 65 reviews, a private cottage stay with an open-air bath and a sauna, but its listing names no family or private bath and no in-room open-air bath we could confirm, so it does not meet our bath condition. |
| Shima Yamaguchikan | Outside the theme | 4.42 across 2,186 reviews, right by the Yamaguchi bus stop with a riverside open-air bath, but its cheapest rate is under our ¥10,000 floor. |
| Ayameya Ryokan | Outside the theme | 4.62 across 449 reviews with a family bath, but its cheapest rate is under our ¥10,000 floor. |
| Shima Grand Hotel | Below the floor | An 80-room hotel with a family bath and 2,613 reviews, but its average of 3.88 is under our 4.0 floor. |
Questions visitors ask
Which one would you book?
Hinatamikan, the top of the five at 95/100. Its 4.89 across 406 reviews is the best of the eight, it has open-air and family baths, dinner can come to your room, and check-out is at noon. It costs about ¥19,000–28,000 per person on a weeknight and ¥30,000–45,000 on a Saturday with two meals. Shunmokutei Nakazawa Ryokan is one point behind at 94/100 — six rooms, a family bath, and about ¥17,000–18,000 per person on a Saturday.
Which is the cheapest?
On a weeknight, Sekizenkan Honkan, from about ¥13,000 per person with two meals; no Saturday rooms came up in our search window. On a Saturday, Shunmokutei Nakazawa Ryokan is the lowest of the five, from about ¥17,000, though no Wednesday rooms came up there. Tsuruya is the dearest on both days.
How do I get to Shima Onsen without a car?
Take the train to Nakanojo on the JR Agatsuma line — the Kusatsu-Shima limited express runs there from Ueno, or change at Takasaki from the Joetsu Shinkansen — then the bus to Shima Onsen, about 40 minutes to the terminus, per the inns. Shojukan is a minute from the Yamaguchi stop and Nakazawa Ryokan two minutes from Kirinokidaira. Hinatamikan collects you from the terminus between 15:00 and 18:00 if you phone on arrival; Tsuruya and KANOUYA collect you at 14:50 or 15:50 if you call by the day before.
Sekizenkan Honkan or Kashotei & Sanso?
They are two listings of the same inn. The Honkan is the old building by the red bridge that Rakuten’s listing calls Japan’s oldest hot-spring inn building: about ¥13,000 per person on a weeknight with two meals, meals in your room or a hall, check-in by 17:00 and check-out at 10:00. Kashotei & Sanso are the ryokan wings, with dinner in your room or the dining area and check-out at 11:00, at about ¥25,000 on a weeknight and ¥28,000 on a Saturday. They use different car parks.
Can I bathe privately, or with a tattoo?
None of the eight publishes a tattoo rule, so ask before you count on a shared bath — Japanese shared baths are nude, and visible tattoos are often refused. Bathing privately is easy here, which is the point of this list: Tsuruya has rooms with their own free-flowing bath, Hinatamikan, Nakazawa Ryokan and both Sekizenkan listings have a family bath, Kashiwaya has three free private open-air baths, KANOUYA has an open-air bath in every room and Shojukan’s private bath is free. Ask how to book it.
When were these prices checked?
We searched Rakuten Travel availability for Wednesdays and Saturdays between 4 November and 26 December 2026, taking the cheapest plan with dinner and breakfast for two adults and showing it per person (checked 25 October 2026). Nakazawa Ryokan, Tsuruya, KANOUYA and Shojukan add a ¥150 bathing tax per adult. Prices move with the date — the link on each inn shows today’s.
Changes
- 2026-10-29 First published. Scored from 37 candidates.