As much as I adore living in the heart of Central Tokyo, mere mins by train from the popular, bustling hubs of Shinjuku & Shibuya with all of it’s conveniences and modernity, sometimes I miss the ease & soothingness of being able to escape into nature quickly that was accessible growing up in Melbourne, Australia.

Then I discovered the city of Okutama, located at the western fringes of Tokyo’s borders (yeap Okutama technically is still part of central Tokyo) an easy 90min train ride from Shinjuku. Lush mountains, vivid greenery and crystalline waters await you, perfect to escape that summer heat. Easily a wonderful day trip from Tokyo or if you wish spend a couple nights to fully recharge. If you’re looking where to stay, this lovely local onsen ryokan was the perfect choice.

This sweet onsen ryokan is located only 4minutes walk from Okutama station. It is utterly perfect for a couple nights stay exploring Okutama’s beautiful nature, to have yourself get lost in some shinrinyoku, go on slow hikes and leisurely swims in Okutama river.

Simple Japanese style rooms (of varying tatami mat sizes) await you, and they have one room that is a Western-Japanese style. The toilets & onsen bath are communal (ie. none of the rooms have their own private toilet/bathroom), so its truly harking back to the more old ways of the onsen ryokan.  We choose their simplest room, being a 6 tatami size and were pleased to have a corner room with views ands of Okutama river as soon as we opened our shoji sliding doors to a little balcony. 

Two indoor onsen are available to guests; one for men and one for women; with the onsen water being drawn from a simple alkaline sulfur spring. The baths may switch the next day depending on the number of guests staying.

As its a small onsen ryokan, breakfast is set at 8am and dinner at 6pm. Simple, hearty, family home cooking awaits you for your meals, with a focus on Japanese konnyaku of which Okutama is renown for, specifically as well sashimi konnyaku.

MY PERSONAL THOUGHTS

FOOD

We greatly enjoyed the loveliness of Okutama Onsen Ryokan home cooking, and had no idea there were so many types/ways to do sashimi konyaku, from having it infused with yuzu, goma (sesame) and other flavours. The portions were generous in combination with all the little side dishes, we were both rather stuffed and we really enjoyed how every miso soup we were given was chock full of ingredients. *TOP 3 photos were our breakfast, BOTTOM 3 were our dinners

*I’m going to tell you a little story of our experience booking our stay here which is just so quintessentially Japan/lost in translation moment (lol still makes hubby & I laugh). We decided to book this ryokan via email and wished to stay 3 nights, 4 days to really have more a relaxing stay exploring Okutama. So we sent them our dates eg. 21st - 24th July (3N/4D) and received an email back saying they could only do either 21st - 23rd July or 22nd - 24th July ( a 2N/3D combo) which confused us a quite a bit as obviously there was a room available for all 3 nights, so why did we only get an option of 2 nights?? Did they not want to earn more money from us staying more nights? Especially when small, local businesses had been suffering with borders closed?

It took NUMEROUS emails back & forth to discover that the majority of guests only stay 2nights max, so the onsen ryokan only does two different types of breakfast/meals on rotation and they thought it would be rude & bad practice of omotenashi to serve us the same thing on the 3rd night!  hahah poor hubby & I were like OMG IT’S FINE - we replied that we would be totally fine eating the same thing, or if they couldn’t prepare anything for us, we would happily go eat at a local restaurant, since our goal for the trip was more to explore the area.

Yet in the end, even though they had said “ok it will be the same meal” lol when we actually stayed there, the 3rd night they served us something different, even though we would have been fine with the same meal. Truly a classic Japan moment of where doing something outside the norm (staying longer than 2 nights in this case) threw them for a loop!

ONSEN

Though there is no outdoor onsen, the indoor onsen of their ryokan was perfect for this type of trip as we were too busy being outside, exploring and discovering. So it was wonderful after all our adventures to come back and quickly bathe, soak in the natural hot spring waters before dinner.

ROOM AMBIANCE

Simple, clean traditional style Japanese rooms, exactly what was needed for this trip. Having the little balcony with views of Okutama river was particularly lovely.

VENUE AMBIANCE

Cozy, warm & welcoming, the little lobby and sitting area is tastefully decorated and it’s location really makes you feel like a local and is the best base to discover all of Okutama’s charms.

SURROUNDING AREA

I can’t go on enough about how truly stunning Okutama natural beauty is, especially with it actually being IN Tokyo - you really feel like you’ve entered another world. It’s lush, its divine and just a great escape from the hustle and bustle of skyscrapers and the concrete jungle. Besides the natural scenery and amazing waters, the area has some great little eateries and is home to a very good craft brewery. On the way back or from Tokyo one can also stop at Sawanoi Sake brewery in Ome.

OKUTAMA ONSENKYO FACTS (at time of stay)

• COST: starting from ~10,450JPY per person per night

• MEALS INCLUDED: Breakfast (8AM) & Dinner (6PM)

• CHECK IN/CHECK OUT TIME: 1500 / 1000

• PAYMENT: CASH ONLY

• ROOMS: 10 (9 Japanese style, 1 Japanese & Western Style)

• ENGLISH SPEAKING STAFF: No

• WEBSITE: OKUTAMA ONSENKYO RYOKAN

• IG: n/a