Honke Bankyu Hot Spring Ryokan

The stay at Honke Bankyu ryokan was a special and intimate experience. The staff was very friendly and polite. Given that we did not speak Japanese, it wasn't a problem. They have printed out guides and check-in papers in English, and even found a young staff who spoke a bit of English, to explain a few things, and that was enough. I mean, body language works more than you know, and having a friendly attitude and the willingness to offer hospitality, made it a wonderful stay. The older lady was the nicest to us and was more than happy to speak with us, asking us if we were happy with random things. I appreciated that so much. The location is not a popular one for foreigners. We were there particularly for the Yunishigawa Kamakura Festival (snow lantern festival). It was a side trip from Nikko. It was wonderful and super cute. The ryokan itself is also a highlight, as it is over 300 years old but well-maintained and very clean. The place looks amazing, inside and outside. You get to see the charming details in every corner. I love the bridge that hangs over the river, connecting the guest rooms to the dinning room. When it snows, the scene is beautiful, with lights over the bridge and snow, guests in yukata and holding red umbrellas. The yukata and the outer warm robes provided look beautiful as well. There are 3 private outdoor onsen decorated in rocks, that you can reserve and use for 45 minutes, free of charge. I prefer ryokan with such facility, better than the ones with only public onsen, and better than bath in your room as they are usually small and not particularly pretty. They are also two public onsen for men and women. The women's onsen was outdoor with the view of the river. It was decorated with rocks and was absolutely amazing. The dinner was also a wonderful experience. The guests were seated over a fire pit and cook over the hot sandy pit. Alcohol is extra. The whole meal was extensive and took a long time to enjoy. It was a special and relaxing meal. Overall, it was one of the best experience at a ryokan that we've had.

I stayed overnight with my family during the autumn colors. The building itself does not seem to be very old architecture, but it is a very quaint and stately inn with old trees throughout. As stated on the website, there are many steps in the building, and it is better for the elderly and disabled to fully understand this and choose a lodging. We stayed in a guest room with an open-air bath, but you can't get down to the open-air bath without going up or down about 10 flights of stairs. I don't think this guide was on the website. For the most part, the hardware was great, but as others have written, the software was disappointing. All of them must be short-staffed and difficult to find people, but I would like to ask you to provide a service that matches the price. I guess it will be a thin form of hospitality because we are passing it around with young staff overall. Half an hour after breakfast, I've started messing around with cleaning up the tables around me, as if to ask me to leave as soon as possible. I left early because it was too loud to talk. It seems that the breakfast venue divides the guests in the higher-grade rooms, but I wanted them to at least order drinks at the table rather than at the self. It was just a pity that I had always wanted to stay at the inn. The only woman at the kiosk was friendly and impressed.

Foliage hunting tracing legends of Heike fugitives. Samurai Heike tribe was defeated by Genji tribe at Dannoura, Yamaguchi pref. 1185 AD, and ran away from Kyoto to mountainside of East Japan. Yunishikawa, Tochigi pref. is one of Heike fugitive village, including many legends of Heike fugitives after their defeat and ran away. Honke Bankyu is full of ancient taste and life style maintained for more than 800 years. We can attain the time slip into ancient world of Heike fugitive with delicious local cuisine. Feel the beauty of traditional Japanese mountain life with locally harvested vegetables and hunted meats, fishes. You can see the Samurai spirits, synchronized with Mother Nature.