ryokan, Lake Akan
Hinanoza
Hinanoza is a ryokan of twenty-five rooms on the shore of Lake Akan in eastern Hokkaido, each room with its own open-air onsen, five minutes on foot from the Ainu village of Akanko, and the Akan nights of The Wild North Tour of Hokkaido.
Why stay at Hinanoza
An onsen to every room
Each of the twenty-five rooms carries its own open-air onsen.
The lake below
The house stands on the shore of Lake Akan, the forest and the volcano of Oakan across the water.
The Ainu village on foot
Akanko Ainu Kotan, with its carvers and its theatre, is five minutes away.
the setting
A caldera lake, from an onsen above the water.
Lake Akan lies in a caldera of the Akan-Mashu National Park, ringed by forest and the cones of two volcanoes; it is the home of the marimo, the round green weed that grows nowhere else so large. The ryokan stands on the shore at the edge of the onsen town.
At the door: the lakeshore, the boats for the marimo island, and the carved workshops of the Ainu village.
the house
Hinanoza in photographs
A room over the lake The hall onto the forest
Photographs: Hinanoza
the rooms
The rooms and suites
The rooms are large and light, in tatami and pale wood with Western beds, every one with an open-air onsen of its own; the suites look straight down the lake through walls of glass.
to unwind
The onsen
Besides the onsen in every room, the ryokan keeps shared baths high above the lake, among them an open-air bath set before the water, with the forest of the far shore filling the view.
the table
Dining
Dinner is a kaiseki of eastern Hokkaido and its sea; on our tours both evenings are at the ryokan.
our tours here
The tours that stay at Hinanoza
the region
Hokkaido
Hokkaido is the northernmost of Japan's four main islands, a country of caldera lakes, volcanoes and hot springs. Four of our six tours spend their nights here, most of them at ryokan with their own onsen, and Pure Hokkaido gives the island nine days of its own.
questions
Questions about Hinanoza
Where is Hinanoza?
On the shore of Lake Akan in eastern Hokkaido, about an hour by car from Kushiro Airport.
Which of your tours stay at Hinanoza?
The Wild North Tour of Hokkaido stays here. Each tour page sets out the nights, the price and what is included.
Do the rooms at Hinanoza have their own onsen?
Yes. All twenty-five rooms carry an open-air onsen of their own, and the ryokan keeps shared baths above the lake.
Can Hinanoza be part of a private journey?
Yes. The Custom Tour of Japan is created around your party alone, on your dates, and Hinanoza can be any night of it. If you would rather travel independently, the Expert Japan Itinerary plans every day for you.
Hinanoza, on your dates.
The Custom Tour of Japan is created around your party alone, and Hinanoza can be any night of it. If you would rather travel independently, the Expert Japan Itinerary plans every day for you.