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Obihiro and Tokachigawa Onsen hotels: 5 picked from 38
Approximate, at the rate on 2026-10-02. You pay in yen.
- Tokachigawa onsen ryokan: five Tokachi inns with open-air baths, ¥8,000–40,000 per person
- Daiichi and Kangetsuen are 20 minutes from Obihiro station; Kanno Onsen, 80 by car
- Only Kangetsuen is reachable without a car; Higashi Taisetsu-so is in Daisetsuzan National Park
The five
| Best for | Where to book | Score | Weeknight (per person) | Saturday |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Top-rated of the nine, with free pick-up from Shihoro town — if you can’t decide | Shihoro Onsen Plaza Ryokufu Check price |
82/100 | ¥15,000–17,000 | ¥19,000–24,000 |
| Free-flowing gorge spring with the best-rated baths | Shikaribetsukyo Kanno Onsen Check price |
78/100 | — | ¥13,000–15,000 |
| In Daisetsuzan National Park, at the foot of Mt Tomuraushi | Tomuraushi Onsen Higashi Taisetsu-so Check price |
72/100 | ¥14,000 | ¥17,000–18,000 |
| Tokachigawa’s heritage moor onsen, 20 min from Obihiro | Tokachigawa Onsen Daiichi Hotel Check price |
69/100 | ¥17,000–32,000 | ¥20,000–46,000 |
| Reachable without a car: free guest bus from Obihiro station | Tokachigawa Onsen Kangetsuen Check price |
68/100 | ¥18,000–19,000 | ¥22,000–32,000 |
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 of the nine, with free pick-up from Shihoro town
Reviews: Rakuten Travel 4.68/5 (326) · Agoda 8.8/10 (3) · 329 in total
- In the hills of Shihoro, north of Obihiro
- Room scored 4.75 and cleanliness 4.74
Why it made the five
- 4.68 across 326 reviews — the highest average of the nine.
- Reopened after renovation on 18 April 2025; only 15 rooms.
- Natural hot-spring open-air bath, family bath, sauna and jacuzzi; a barrier-free private bath by reservation.
- Free pick-up from Shihoro town bus terminal, booked ahead; about ¥15,000–17,000 per person with two meals on a weeknight.
Getting there: About 50 minutes by car from JR Obihiro station and 65 from Tokachi-Obihiro airport; 15 minutes by car from Shihoro town bus terminal, with free pick-up if you book it in advance. Free parking for 114 cars.
Language and payment: Per Rakuten, a few staff understand a little English, Chinese and Korean. Visa, Mastercard, JCB, American Express and Diners Club are listed. Tattoo rules are not published, so ask before using the shared baths. Barrier-free rooms, rooms for wheelchair users and assisted bathing in the large bath are listed.
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Right for: Couples and families who want the surest reviews and a freshly renovated inn.
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Not for: Staying in Obihiro itself — it is about 50 minutes away by car.
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Worth knowing: If you arrive after your stated time without calling, dinner cannot be served. The front door is locked from 22:00 to 05:00. A ¥150 bathing tax per adult, and from November to March a ¥500 heating charge per room, come on top.
Score breakdown — 82/100
| Criterion | Stars | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Quality | ★★★★☆ | Room, bath and dinner average 4.66 on Rakuten Travel |
| Value for money | ★★★☆☆ | ¥15,000–17,000 per person on a weeknight (Rakuten, dinner and breakfast) — 100% of the median of everything we compared |
| Easy to stay | ★★★★★ | Free pick-up from Shihoro town bus terminal (book ahead); about 50 minutes by car from JR Obihiro station and 65 from Tokachi-Obihiro airport; reopened after renovation on 18 April 2025; natural hot-spring large bath, open-air bath, family bath, sauna and jacuzzi; a barrier-free private bath by reservation; a few staff understand a little English, Chinese and Korean. |
| Trust | ★★★★☆ | 4.68 across 326 reviews (Rakuten Travel 326) |
| Only here | ★★★★☆ | Its 4.68 average is the highest of the nine that qualified, and its category scores are evenly high — room 4.75, cleanliness 4.74, service 4.71. |
Free-flowing gorge spring with the best-rated baths
Reviews: Rakuten Travel 4.54/5 (193) · Agoda 9.1/10 (6) · 199 in total
- Deep in the Shikaribetsu gorge
- 14 rooms, some with a microwave and a mini-kitchen
Why it made the five
- Bath score 4.87 — the highest of the nine.
- Free-flowing source water, with semi-open-air and private open-air baths.
- A natural wild spring nearby that you can bathe in.
- About ¥13,000–15,000 per person with two meals on a Saturday — the cheapest of the five on a Saturday.
Getting there: About 80 minutes by car from JR Obihiro station and about 90 from Tokachi-Obihiro airport. The listing gives no bus or pick-up. Free parking.
Language and payment: Per Rakuten, a few staff understand a little English. Visa, Mastercard and JCB are listed, but card payment runs over a satellite link that can fail in bad weather, so bring cash as well. Tattoo rules are not published, so ask before using the shared baths.
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Right for: Onsen lovers who want the water itself, far from anywhere.
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Not for: Travelling without a car — the listing gives only drive times.
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Worth knowing: Card payment runs over a satellite link and can fail in bad weather — bring cash. Check-in closes at 20:00. The ¥150 bathing tax is paid at the inn.
Score breakdown — 78/100
| Criterion | Stars | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Quality | ★★★☆☆ | Room, bath and dinner average 4.52 on Rakuten Travel |
| Value for money | ★★★★☆ | No weeknight room was free in our search window (Rakuten, dinner and breakfast) — 87% of the median of everything we compared |
| Easy to stay | ★★★★★ | A free-flowing hidden spring in the wilds of the Shikaribetsu gorge; semi-open-air and private open-air baths; a natural wild spring nearby that you can bathe in; a microwave and mini-kitchen in some rooms; about 80 minutes by car from JR Obihiro station and 90 from Tokachi-Obihiro airport; a few staff understand a little English. |
| Trust | ★★★☆☆ | 4.54 across 193 reviews (Rakuten Travel 193) |
| Only here | ★★★★★ | Its bath score of 4.87 is the highest of the nine, with free-flowing water, private open-air baths and a wild spring nearby. |
In Daisetsuzan National Park, at the foot of Mt Tomuraushi
Tomuraushi Onsen Higashi Taisetsu-so
Reviews: Rakuten Travel 4.47/5 (213) · Agoda 8.8/10 (49) · 262 in total
- Hot-spring inn inside Daisetsuzan National Park
- Rice balls packed for those leaving before breakfast to climb
Why it made the five
- Inside Daisetsuzan National Park, at the foot of Mt Tomuraushi.
- About ¥14,000 per person with two meals on a weeknight — the cheapest of the five.
- Large bath, open-air bath, sauna and jacuzzi.
- Take-away rice balls for climbers who leave before breakfast; a free shuttle by phone, except in July and August.
Getting there: 1 hour 15 minutes by car from JR Shintoku station. A free shuttle runs if you phone at least three days before your stay (none in July and August, and it can be full); the listing does not say where it picks up, so ask. Free parking for 60 cars.
Language and payment: Per Rakuten, a few staff understand a little English, Chinese and Korean. Visa, Mastercard, JCB, American Express and Diners Club are listed. Tattoo rules are not published, so ask before using the shared baths. Rooms for wheelchair users are listed.
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Right for: Hikers heading up Mt Tomuraushi or into Daisetsuzan.
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Not for: Combining the stay with Obihiro sightseeing — it is 1 hour 15 minutes by car from Shintoku station.
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Worth knowing: Book the shuttle by phone at least three days ahead; it does not run in July and August. Hokkaido and Shintoku town accommodation taxes come on top.
Score breakdown — 72/100
| Criterion | Stars | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Quality | ★★☆☆☆ | Room, bath and dinner average 4.48 on Rakuten Travel |
| Value for money | ★★★★☆ | ¥14,000 per person on a weeknight (Rakuten, dinner and breakfast) — 93% of the median of everything we compared |
| Easy to stay | ★★★★★ | A free shuttle booked by phone at least three days ahead (none in July and August); in Daisetsuzan National Park at the foot of Mt Tomuraushi; take-away rice balls for breakfast if you leave early to climb; large bath, open-air bath, sauna and jacuzzi; 1 hour 15 minutes by car from JR Shintoku station; a few staff understand a little English, Chinese and Korean. |
| Trust | ★★★☆☆ | 4.47 across 213 reviews (Rakuten Travel 213) |
| Only here | ★★★★☆ | Inside Daisetsuzan National Park near the Mt Tomuraushi trailhead, with rice balls for climbers who set off before breakfast. |
Tokachigawa’s heritage moor onsen, 20 min from Obihiro
Tokachigawa Onsen Daiichi Hotel
Reviews: Rakuten Travel 4.56/5 (1,477) · Agoda 8.9/10 (767) · 2,244 in total
- Plant-derived moor water, named a Hokkaido Heritage
- Meals are a buffet in the restaurant or served in a dining room
- Large bath, open-air bath and sauna
Why it made the five
- Hokkaido Heritage moor-water onsen, with an open-air bath and a sauna.
- 1,477 reviews averaging 4.56; the bath scores 4.66.
- 20 minutes by car from JR Obihiro station.
- Buffet or dining-room meals; free Wi-Fi in every room.
Getting there: 20 minutes by car from JR Obihiro station; about three hours by car from Sapporo, leaving the expressway at the Otofuke-Obihiro interchange. Free parking for 200 cars.
Language and payment: Per Rakuten, a few staff understand a little English. Visa, Mastercard, JCB, American Express, Diners Club and debit cards are listed. Tattoo rules are not published, so ask before using the shared baths. Wheelchairs to borrow and handrails in the large bath are listed.
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Right for: Trying Tokachigawa’s moor water at a big, well-reviewed ryokan, with a buffet the whole family can graze.
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Not for: Wanting a small, quiet inn — it has 108 rooms.
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Worth knowing: Call if you will arrive after 18:00. A ¥150 bathing tax and accommodation tax (Hokkaido ¥100–500, Otofuke town ¥200) come on top.
Score breakdown — 69/100
| Criterion | Stars | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Quality | ★★★☆☆ | Room, bath and dinner average 4.57 on Rakuten Travel |
| Value for money | ★★☆☆☆ | ¥17,000–32,000 per person on a weeknight (Rakuten, dinner and breakfast) — 116% of the median of everything we compared |
| Easy to stay | ★★★★★ | A moor-water onsen named a Hokkaido Heritage; 20 minutes by car from JR Obihiro station and about three hours from Sapporo; large bath, open-air bath and sauna, with plant-derived moor water; dinner and breakfast as a restaurant buffet or in a dining room; free Wi-Fi in every room and the lobby; a few staff understand a little English. |
| Trust | ★★★☆☆ | 4.56 across 1,477 reviews (Rakuten Travel 1,477) |
| Only here | ★★★★☆ | Tokachigawa’s Hokkaido Heritage moor water, at a large ryokan with 1,477 reviews and a bath score of 4.66. |
Reachable without a car: free guest bus from Obihiro station
Reviews: Rakuten Travel 4.46/5 (2,049) · Agoda 8.7/10 (1,101) · 3,150 in total
- The only one of the five you can reach without a car
- Route bus leaves from the bus terminal at the north exit of Obihiro station
- Finnish-style sauna rebuilt in May 2020, the first in Tokachigawa Onsen, it says
Why it made the five
- Route bus from Obihiro station in 30 minutes, free for guests until 31 March 2027.
- Moor-water large bath and open-air bath; a Finnish-style sauna since May 2020.
- 2,049 reviews averaging 4.46 — the most of the nine.
- 40 minutes by car from Tokachi-Obihiro airport.
Getting there: 30 minutes by route bus from the bus terminal at JR Obihiro station’s north exit, getting off at Kangetsuen-mae (free for guests until 31 March 2027). By car, 20 minutes from Obihiro station or the Otofuke-Obihiro interchange and 40 from Tokachi-Obihiro airport. Free parking for 100 cars.
Language and payment: Per Rakuten, a few staff understand a little English. Visa, Mastercard, JCB, American Express, Diners Club and debit cards are listed. Tattoo rules are not published, so ask before using the shared baths. Some rooms take dogs.
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Right for: Staying at Tokachigawa without hiring a car, or anyone who travels for a good sauna.
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Not for: Wanting a remote mountain-spring atmosphere — it is a big ryokan in a hot-spring town.
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Worth knowing: Last entry to dinner is 19:30. Call if you will arrive after 18:00. A ¥150 bathing tax and accommodation tax come on top.
Score breakdown — 68/100
| Criterion | Stars | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Quality | ★★★☆☆ | Room, bath and dinner average 4.51 on Rakuten Travel |
| Value for money | ★★☆☆☆ | ¥18,000–19,000 per person on a weeknight (Rakuten, dinner and breakfast) — 122% of the median of everything we compared |
| Easy to stay | ★★★★★ | 30 minutes by bus from JR Obihiro station to the Kangetsuen-mae stop; the route bus from the Obihiro station north-exit terminal to Tokachigawa Onsen is free for guests until 31 March 2027; a Finnish-style sauna since May 2020; large bath and open-air bath with plant-derived moor water; 40 minutes by car from Tokachi-Obihiro airport; a few staff understand a little English. |
| Trust | ★★★☆☆ | 4.46 across 2,049 reviews (Rakuten Travel 2,049) |
| Only here | ★★★☆☆ | A route bus runs from Obihiro station to its door and is free for guests, so it is easy to stay here without a car. |
Know before you book
- Obihiro is the hub: Tokachi-Obihiro airport has flights from Tokyo, and JR limited expresses from Sapporo stop at Obihiro and at Shintoku, the gateway to the mountain side. From there the inns’ own listings give drive times of 20 minutes to Tokachigawa Onsen and up to about 80 minutes to the gorge and forest springs.
- Tokachigawa Onsen, about 20 minutes by car from JR Obihiro station, is the area’s hot-spring town. Its water is moor onsen (mōru), tinted by ancient plant matter rather than minerals, and it has been named a Hokkaido Heritage. Daiichi Hotel and Kangetsuen, two of the five, are there.
- You can manage without a car at a few of these. Kangetsuen is on the route bus from the bus terminal at Obihiro station’s north exit, free for its guests until 31 March 2027. Plaza Ryokufu picks up at Shihoro town bus terminal, and Higashi Taisetsu-so runs a free shuttle if you phone three days ahead. The rest expect you to drive.
- The mountain inns sit on the edge of Daisetsuzan National Park: Kanno Onsen in the Shikaribetsu gorge, Higashi Taisetsu-so below Mt Tomuraushi, and, among the runners-up, Fusui on Lake Shikaribetsu and Meto Onsen in old-growth forest. The roads are long and quiet; from December or so expect snow and ice.
- Obihiro’s own dish is butadon, grilled pork on rice. Kangetsuen’s listing points to the butadon restaurant Panchou and Rokkatei’s main confectionery shop, about 20 minutes by car, and to Tokachi Wine’s wine castle about 30 minutes away.
- Japanese shared baths are nude and you wash at the taps before getting in. None of these eight publishes a tattoo rule, so ask before you go. Check-out is 10:00 at all eight. Prices here are per person with dinner and breakfast, for two sharing; a ¥150 bathing tax comes on top at most inns, and several also add the accommodation tax Hokkaido has charged since April 2026.
How we chose: theme, conditions, scoring
How we chose
- Candidates: every property in Obihiro and Tokachi listed on Rakuten Travel — 38
- Passed the review filter (counts and averages on Rakuten Travel, the one site that lists every property in the area): 28
- Met every condition below: 9
- 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 Obihiro and Tokachi district of Hokkaido, with a hot spring
- At least 30 reviews on Rakuten Travel, averaging 4.0 or better
- The cheapest rate falls between ¥8,000 and ¥40,000 per person per night
- An open-air hot-spring bath, counting the outdoor part of the large bath; private and in-room open-air baths are noted in the text 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
- Drive times, buses and pick-ups, the baths, meals, 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 eight do not.
What we dropped
| Property | Verdict | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Shikaribetsu Kohan Onsen Hotel Fusui | Runner-up (65/100) | 65/100, three points behind Kangetsuen. The lakeside setting and in-room dinner earned full marks for ease and unique, but room, bath and dinner average 4.49 and reviews 4.37 across 376 — two stars each for quality and trust. |
| Meto Onsen Hotel | Runner-up (64/100) | 64/100, four points behind Kangetsuen. Its unheated free-flowing water scores 4.81 for the bath, but room, bath and dinner average 4.46 — two stars for quality — and about ¥17,000–19,000 per person on a weeknight is above the median, two stars for value. |
| Tokachi Makubetsu Onsen Grandvrio Hotel (Route Inn Hotels) | Runner-up (53/100) | 53/100, 15 points behind Kangetsuen. The latest check-in and the shortest drive from Obihiro station of the eight here, but room, bath and dinner average 4.18 and reviews 4.13 across 1,107 — one star each for quality and trust. |
| Tokachigawa Onsen Fuji Hotel | Outside the theme | 4.68 across 922 reviews, level with the best of the nine, and its listing boasts no added water, no reheating and no recirculation — but it also says plainly that there is no open-air bath, so it fails that condition. Its notes add that no staff speak a foreign language. |
| Tokachigawa Onsen Sanyoan | Outside the theme | 4.80 across 92 reviews for an eleven-room moor-water ryokan in Tokachigawa with an open-air bath, but its cheapest rate is over our ¥40,000 ceiling. |
| Mori no Spa Resort Hokkaido Hotel | Outside the theme | 4.63 across 2,716 reviews, with a Hokkaido Heritage moor-water bath and a self-service löyly sauna, five minutes by car from Obihiro station’s south exit — but it is a city hotel whose cheapest rate is under our ¥8,000 floor. |
| Nukabira Onsen Hotel | Outside the theme | A twelve-room free-flowing hot-spring inn, 4.07 across 166 reviews, but its listing shows a large bath and a family bath and no open-air bath, so we could not confirm the condition. |
Questions visitors ask
Which one would you book?
Shihoro Onsen Plaza Ryokufu, the top score of the five at 82/100: 4.68 across 326 reviews, the highest average of the nine, in an inn renovated in April 2025, with free pick-up from Shihoro town. It came up at about ¥15,000–17,000 per person with two meals on a weeknight and ¥19,000–24,000 on a Saturday. If the cost matters most, Higashi Taisetsu-so is the cheapest of the five on a weeknight at about ¥14,000, and Kanno Onsen the cheapest on a Saturday at about ¥13,000–15,000.
Do I need a car?
For most of these, yes. The exception is Tokachigawa Onsen Kangetsuen: the route bus from the bus terminal at Obihiro station’s north exit takes 30 minutes to its door and is free for guests until 31 March 2027. Plaza Ryokufu picks up free at Shihoro town bus terminal if you book, and Higashi Taisetsu-so runs a free shuttle if you phone three days ahead (not in July and August). Kanno Onsen lists only drive times — about 80 minutes from Obihiro station. If you drive in winter, expect snow and ice on the mountain roads.
What is moor onsen?
Moor (mōru) onsen is hot-spring water coloured by ancient plant matter rather than volcanic minerals, and it is what Tokachigawa Onsen is known for; it has been named a Hokkaido Heritage. Daiichi Hotel and Kangetsuen both list plant-derived moor water in their large and open-air baths, and Grandvrio Hotel, a runner-up, has a moor-water viewing bath. The mountain inns — Kanno, Higashi Taisetsu-so, Meto — draw on other kinds of spring.
Which has the best bath?
On Rakuten’s guest scores, Shikaribetsukyo Kanno Onsen: 4.87 for the bath, the highest of the nine, with free-flowing water, semi-open-air and private open-air baths, and a natural wild spring nearby you can bathe in. Meto Onsen Hotel, a runner-up, comes next at 4.81 with water that flows out naturally and is not heated.
Do they speak English, and can I pay by card?
Rakuten lists a few staff who understand a little English at Kanno Onsen, Daiichi Hotel and Kangetsuen, and a little English, Chinese and Korean at Plaza Ryokufu and Higashi Taisetsu-so. All five list Visa, Mastercard and JCB, but at Kanno Onsen card payment goes over a satellite link that can fail in bad weather, so carry cash. Of the runners-up, Meto Onsen Hotel takes no cards, and Grandvrio Hotel also takes UnionPay, QR-code payments and transit IC cards. None publishes a tattoo rule.
When were these prices checked?
We searched Rakuten Travel availability for Wednesdays and Saturdays between 4 November and 26 December 2026, taking the cheapest room with dinner and breakfast for two adults and showing it per person (checked 25 October 2026). Weeknights for the five ran from about ¥14,000 at Higashi Taisetsu-so to ¥32,000 at the top of Daiichi Hotel’s range; Kanno Onsen had no weeknight rooms. A ¥150 bathing tax per adult comes on top at most inns, several add the Hokkaido accommodation tax, and Plaza Ryokufu adds a ¥500 heating charge per room from November to March. Prices move daily — the link on each inn shows today’s.
Changes
- 2026-10-29 First published. Scored from 38 candidates.