tohoku38.57° N, 140.53° E
Ginzan Onsen
Ginzan Onsen is a hot-spring town at the end of a narrow valley in Yamagata, built in the 1920s on an old silver mine, its wooden inns rising three and four storeys on either bank of the river.
Ginzan Onsen at dusk
- Region
- Tohoku
- Our journeys
- One stay here
- Where we stay
- Fujiya
Our tours stayA day on tourA Custom Tour of Japan
the place
Gas lamps along the river, and wooden inns rising on either bank.
There are no cars and no modern signs, only the river running through the centre, the gas lamps along both banks and the timber facades of the inns, and after dark, when the lamps are lit, the steam off the water catches their light. At the head of the valley, the Shirogane waterfall drops into a pool beneath the forest.
We stay at Fujiya, a ryokan of eight rooms behind a preserved facade, its interior rebuilt by the architect Kengo Kuma. The Autumn Leaves Tour of Northern Japan closes here with two nights, and a private wooden boat carries you down the Mogami River, Basho's river, through its canyon.
what we do here
Ginzan Onsen, as we show it
The lamps
The street of wooden inns over the river, lit after dark.
Fujiya
Eight rooms behind a preserved facade, the interior rebuilt in bamboo and light by Kengo Kuma.
The river street, Ginzan Onsen The Mogami River
A private wooden boat through the canyon the poet Basho passed.
The table
Obanazawa soba and Yonezawa beef in the kaiseki.
where we stay
Fujiya
A ryokan of eight rooms behind a preserved Taisho facade, its interior rebuilt in bamboo lattice and glass onto the river.
On The Autumn Leaves Tour of Northern Japan
our journeys here
The journeys that stay in Ginzan Onsen
nearby
Near Ginzan Onsen
questions
Questions about Ginzan Onsen
Which of your tours stay at Ginzan Onsen?
The Autumn Leaves Tour of Northern Japan closes with two nights here, at Fujiya, before the Yamagata Shinkansen carries you to Tokyo.
How do you reach Ginzan Onsen?
By the Yamagata Shinkansen from Tokyo to Oishida, about three and a half hours, then about forty minutes by private car.
Can Ginzan Onsen be part of a private journey?
Yes. The Custom Tour of Japan can give Ginzan Onsen as many nights as you wish, alongside anywhere else in Japan. If you would rather travel independently, the Expert Japan Itinerary plans the days for you.
Ginzan Onsen, created for you alone.
The Custom Tour of Japan is created around your party alone, on your dates, and Ginzan Onsen can be any part of it. If you would rather travel independently, the Expert Japan Itinerary plans every day for you.