ryokan, Yamashiro Onsen, Kaga, Yamashiro Onsen
Araya Totoan
Araya Totoan is a ryokan of seventeen rooms at Yamashiro Onsen in Kaga, kept by the same family since 1639, with three bathhouses on its own spring, and the two ryokan nights of The Autumn Leaves Tour of Japan.
- Region
- Honshu
- Our tours
- One stays here
Why stay at Araya Totoan
A house since 1639
The family once kept the bath for the Maeda lords, and the inn has stood by the spring ever since.
Seventeen rooms
So few that the house is quiet at every hour.
Three bathhouses
Each with its own character: a tub of fragrant hinoki, a bath where a garden pond once lay, a darker room of mist and stone.
the setting
Eighteen generations of one family, and one spring.
Yamashiro is one of the four onsen towns of Kaga, in the hills south of Kanazawa, gathered round a public bathhouse at its centre. The ryokan stands a few steps from it, and the gorge of Kakusenkei, with its walk along the river, is a short drive away.
At the door: the old bathhouse square, the potters of Kutani ware, and the lanes of the town in yukata.
the house
Araya Totoan in photographs
A garden room
Photographs: Araya Totoan
the rooms
The rooms and suites
The rooms are Japanese, in tatami, pale wood and paper, some with low beds; the garden rooms open onto the mountainside and carry an open-air onsen of their own in cypress, set among the trees.
to unwind
The onsen
Three bathhouses share the ryokan's spring. One surrounds a hinoki tub with hiba timber, so the room smells of wood; one sits where a garden pond once lay; and the third is darker and more secluded, the steam softening the light. The garden rooms add an onsen of their own in the open air.
the table
Dining
Dinner is a kaiseki of the Kaga coast and hills, served course by course on Yamanaka lacquer and Kutani porcelain; on our tours both nights' dinners are at the ryokan, each a different menu.
our tours here
The tours that stay at Araya Totoan
the region
Honshu
Honshu is Japan's main island, home to Tokyo, Kyoto and Mount Fuji, and to most of the places a first journey to Japan is made of. The Classic Cherry Blossom Tour of Japan, the Autumn Leaves Tour of Japan and three journeys of The Private Collection spend their nights here.
questions
Questions about Araya Totoan
Where is Araya Totoan?
At Yamashiro Onsen in Kaga, Ishikawa, about forty minutes south of Kanazawa. Kaga Onsen Station, on the Hokuriku Shinkansen, is fifteen minutes by car.
Which of your tours stay at Araya Totoan?
The Autumn Leaves Tour of Japan stays here. Each tour page sets out the nights, the price and what is included.
Do the rooms at Araya Totoan have their own onsen?
The garden rooms carry an open-air onsen of their own, and every guest has the ryokan's three bathhouses, all on its own spring.
Can Araya Totoan be part of a private journey?
Yes. The Custom Tour of Japan is created around your party alone, on your dates, and Araya Totoan can be any night of it. If you would rather travel independently, the Expert Japan Itinerary plans every day for you.
Araya Totoan, on your dates.
The Custom Tour of Japan is created around your party alone, and Araya Totoan can be any night of it. If you would rather travel independently, the Expert Japan Itinerary plans every day for you.