Overview

Step into more than 1,000 years of hot spring tradition at Hotel Sakan in Akiu Onsen, around 30 minutes by car from central Sendai. Akiu Onsen dates back about 1,500 years and is counted among Japan’s three historic imperial hot springs. Hotel Sakan began when Kanzaburo Satoh opened a small inn here, and you can still experience that heritage under the care of the 34th generation.

During the Edo period, this site became closely connected with Date Masamune, the powerful lord of the Sendai domain, who used the hot spring as a private bathing retreat. Inside the main house, you can see historical displays, items linked to the Date family, and a sacred flame brought from Mount Koya that has continued to burn for around 400 years.

Your stay brings together Japanese rooms, seasonal dining, a four-bath hot spring circuit, riverside views, and spaces where centuries of history remain part of the experience.

Accommodation

You can choose between Hiten Tower, Sansui Tower, and Kagetsu Tower. Each tower has a distinct character, from spacious suites and rooms overlooking the Natori River to simple tatami rooms with convenient access to the main baths.

Choose Hiten Tower for the highest-grade accommodation. Traditional rooms have 10 or 12.5 tatami mats, carefully selected furnishings, and views towards the Akiu mountains. Japanese-Western rooms combine a 10-tatami living area with twin beds and face the Natori River. Coffee makers and humidifiers are provided throughout Hiten Tower.

For a special stay, the Hiten Tower room with an open-air bath combines a 10-tatami Japanese room with twin beds and a wooden outdoor bath overlooking greenery. The outdoor bath in this room does not use hot spring water. HITEN ROOM 738 gives you a private rooftop garden and terrace, twin beds with layered mattresses, a cypress view bath, a massage chair, and a Nanoe air treatment system.

The 12th-floor Hiten suites combine a 10-to-14-tatami Japanese room with a Western sitting room. You can enjoy Natori River views, a marble bathroom, and generous living space. On the top floor, Heian-no-Ma combines Japanese and Western rooms with a wooden bath, while Hiten-no-Ma has two Japanese rooms, a Japanese-style sitting area, and elevated views over the river valley.

Choose Sansui Tower for a more compact Japanese stay. Tatami rooms have 10 to 12.5 mats and face either the inner courtyard or Akiu Onsen town rather than the mountains or river. You can also select a room with twin beds placed directly on the tatami. Single rooms with a unit bath, air purifier, and trouser press provide a practical option when you are travelling alone. Small art displays on the third to fifth floors add another point of interest as you move through the tower.

Choose Kagetsu Tower for easy access to the large public baths through a direct elevator. Traditional rooms have at least 10 tatami mats and a wide window-side seating area. Rooms with beds use Serta semi-double mattresses and include a second television in the sleeping area. You can also select a compact renovated room with a unit bath or a twin room with supportive Mizuno mattresses. Kagetsu Tower gives you a comfortable base when the onsen is the main focus of your stay.

Room features depend on the category, but you can expect a refrigerator, television, safe, yukata, towels, hairdryer, and a private bath or unit bathroom in most room types.

Dining

Dinner celebrates seasonal produce from Miyagi, Tohoku, and other parts of Japan. Depending on your plan, you can enjoy a Japanese multi-course meal in a private dining room or choose the half-buffet experience at Dining Miyagino, where you select your main dish and add freshly prepared items from the buffet.

Menus change with the seasons and highlight seafood, mountain ingredients, Sendai black wagyu beef, vegetables, and Akiu rice grown with clear water flowing down from the surrounding mountains. Thick-cut Sendai beef tongue may also be ordered as an additional dish.

Breakfast is served as the Premium Morning buffet at Miyagino. You can watch the kitchen team prepare food in front of you, then enjoy freshly made dishes such as soft Japanese omelette and sandwiches filled with ingredients of your choice. Breakfast is normally served buffet-style, although a Japanese set meal may be provided on selected dates.

After dinner, Hagi-tei serves soba, ramen, small dishes, and sake from Miyagi. Wine Bar Kura Kura focuses on carefully selected wines, including bottles made from grapes grown through natural farming methods. For a drink-free evening, the café called “God Is in the Details” gives you a quiet hideaway-style space without an alcohol-focused menu.

Onsen and Wellness

Akiu’s sodium chloride spring water is traditionally known as an “atatamari-no-yu,” or warming bath. You can explore four main bathing areas, each with a different design and connection to the Natori River. The large bath areas operate on scheduled men’s and women’s bathing times, allowing you to experience more than one setting during your stay.

The first-floor Kagetsu public bath reopened after renovation in 2023. Large windows and an open-air bath bring you close to the river and the changing seasons. Inside, you can soak in the main bath, stand comfortably in a 100-centimetre-deep bath, or try the silk bath, where fine bubbles gently surround your body. A dry sauna and a lower-temperature steam sauna complete the bathing area.

The basement public bath has a deeper, softly lit layout with a spacious washing and powder-room area. You can move between the indoor bath and a stone-built open-air bath while listening to the nearby water. High-quality hairdryers and a choice of bath products are provided in the dressing area.

Natori-no-Miyu fills a light-filled space overlooking the Natori River. The bath combines cypress and granite, and the scent of cypress adds to the atmosphere. Wooden latticework around the bathing area recreates the protective screens once used when Date Masamune bathed here, connecting your soak with Akiu’s samurai-era history.

Kawara-no-Yu gives you the most direct riverside experience. This small, free-flowing open-air bath sits above the Natori River beneath a thatched roof. You can listen to the current and leaves while looking out over fresh summer greenery, autumn colour, or winter snow. Men and women use Kawara-no-Yu at different scheduled times.

For more privacy, you can reserve the barrier-free private bath beside Natori-no-Miyu. The bath uses free-flowing source water and has a Western-style design, an accessible layout, a private changing area, and a sound system that lets you listen to your own music while bathing. Advance reservation is required.

The women-only relaxation salon, 1/f no Yuragi, provides treatments in private rooms when you want to add further rest to your onsen stay.

Guests with tattoos

You can use the shared public baths when your tattoos are completely concealed. When you cannot or prefer not to cover them, reserve the private bath so you can enjoy the hot spring in privacy.

Facilities

Spend a quiet afternoon in the lounge, where you can look out over the inner garden while enjoying a drink. After your bath, stop at Yuagari-tei for a cold refreshment and a comfortable place to cool down.

In the evening, you can visit Hagi-tei for Japanese dishes, noodles, and local sake, or enjoy carefully selected wines at Wine Bar Kura Kura. The alcohol-free café “God Is in the Details” offers a calm alternative, while private karaoke rooms give you a more lively way to end the day.

For deeper relaxation, the women-only 1/f no Yuragi salon offers treatments in private rooms. You can also browse the Shopping Plaza for Hotel Sakan products and specialities from Miyagi and Tohoku.

The main house and gallery introduce you to the long history of Hotel Sakan through preserved objects and displays. One of the most memorable features is the sacred flame, which has continued to burn for around 400 years. During summer, you can also enjoy the outdoor garden pool, depending on the weather and seasonal opening dates.

For meetings and celebrations, the conference centre can accommodate business meetings, international and academic conferences, seminars, symposiums, exhibitions, poster sessions, parties, and other organised events.

Activities

Begin with the four-bath onsen circuit, moving between the spacious Kagetsu baths, historic Natori-no-Miyu, and riverside Kawara-no-Yu. Between baths, you can enjoy tea beside the courtyard garden, explore the historical gallery, browse regional crafts and food products, book a private treatment, or spend the evening over local sake, wine, noodles, or karaoke.

During summer, you can cool down in the garden pool. You can also use Hotel Sakan as your base for discovering Akiu Onsen and the surrounding mountain and river scenery.

Additional Features

You can reach Hotel Sakan by car from central Sendai or use the complimentary shuttle between Sendai Station and the ryokan with an advance reservation. Parking is available, and Wi-Fi is provided in public areas. Wheelchairs and low chairs can be borrowed when needed, while the barrier-free private bath provides an easier bathing option when mobility is limited. Selected room categories are completely non-smoking.