Overview

Stay directly beside Lake Suwa at Nunohan, a historic ryokan that has welcomed travellers at its present lakeside location since 1920. The Main Building faces the lake, placing changing water, mountain, and sunset views just beyond your window.

The ryokan’s story is closely connected with the development of Kami-Suwa Onsen. In 1920, Nunohan’s third-generation owner successfully drilled one of Suwa’s first natural hot spring wells. The discovery helped establish the lakeside area as the hot spring district you see today.

Writers, poets, actors, and artists have stayed here over the decades, drawn by the lake, the spring water, and the ryokan’s seasonal cuisine. Nunohan has also remained a regular selection in the cuisine category of the Top 100 Japanese Hotels and Ryokans Selected by Professionals since 2011.

Step outside and you are immediately beside the Lake Suwa promenade. Kami-Suwa Station, local museums, historic sake breweries, sightseeing boats, and lakeside parks are all within easy reach.

Accommodation

You can choose between the lake-facing Main Building and the quieter Annex on the town side. Every room is non-smoking and includes complimentary Wi-Fi.

The Main Building offers traditional Japanese rooms with tatami flooring and futon bedding. The standard room provides ten tatami mats and looks directly across Lake Suwa. Large windows let you watch the colour of the water change through the day, with particularly attractive views around sunset.

For more space, the Main Building also has a two-room Japanese layout with adjoining 11-tatami and six-tatami rooms. Sliding screens allow you to separate the spaces when you want more privacy or open them to create one generous room. These rooms also face Lake Suwa.

Lake-facing rooms are well placed for the summer fireworks. The launch island sits directly in front of Nunohan, although the exact view depends on your room’s floor, position, weather, and the event setup.

The Annex was completely renewed in 2017. Its rooms face the town side rather than Lake Suwa and combine tatami flooring with two permanent beds. Warm wood and gentle lighting create a comfortable space when you prefer beds but still want the atmosphere of a Japanese room.

The Annex ten-tatami room includes twin beds with space for additional futons. The larger two-room layout combines ten-tatami and six-tatami rooms, making it a practical choice when you want separate sleeping and sitting areas.

Rooms include climate control, a television, an empty refrigerator, tea-making equipment, towels, yukata, toiletries, and a private bathroom. Nunohan does not have rooms with private natural hot spring baths.

Dining

Dinner centres on Shinanoji Kaiseki, a seasonal Japanese course shaped by ingredients from Nagano. Around ten dishes take you from small starters and sashimi through warm, grilled, or simmered courses before rice, soup, pickles, and dessert.

Shinshu Premium Beef is one of the main regional ingredients. Depending on your chosen plan, you may enjoy it grilled on a ceramic plate or served as shabu-shabu. Other current courses feature black wagyu beef in soy milk shabu-shabu or sukiyaki scented with Shinshu miso and local sake lees.

A lighter kaiseki option presents smaller portions of carefully selected seasonal dishes. Another course features Ginjo pork in a sake-brewery-inspired hot pot. Shinshu salmon, Nozawana greens, mountain vegetables, and other Nagano flavours may also appear as the menu changes.

Local sake forms an important part of the dining experience. The five historic Kami-Suwa breweries produce labels that pair naturally with the seasonal dishes, and all five stand within walking distance of the ryokan.

Dinner is served according to your confirmed plan. Many kaiseki plans use one of Nunohan’s 18 private dining rooms, while selected plans use a shared dining hall.

Kazehanatei contains eight table-style private rooms overlooking the Japanese garden. Yugetsu-tei offers softly lit rooms with either tables and chairs or sunken kotatsu seating.

Breakfast is a Japanese set meal rather than a buffet. You can begin with homemade hot tofu, rice, soup, and dishes influenced by Suwa’s regional food culture. Breakfast is normally served in a dining hall.

Onsen and Wellness

Nunohan’s natural spring rises at 64.5°C. The water is classified as an alkaline simple hot spring and appears colourless and clear, with almost no scent and a slightly salty taste.

Its gentle texture feels smooth against the skin. Traditional bathing indications include muscle and joint discomfort, stiff shoulders, neuralgia, sensitivity to cold, bruises, sprains, fatigue, and recovery after illness.

The baths use added water, heating, and circulation filtration to maintain comfortable and hygienic conditions. They are not untreated, continuously flowing baths.

Two large bathing areas, Tai no Yu and Hirame no Yu, sit on the first floor. Both include an indoor bath and an outdoor bath, and the men’s and women’s assignments change overnight.

Tai no Yu has an indoor bathing room finished with cypress across the ceiling and walls. Its outdoor bath faces a Japanese garden, where trees and plants bring seasonal colour close to the water.

Hirame no Yu has a softer, more open interior and a rock-built outdoor bath. The large stones and garden setting create a different atmosphere from the timber-lined Tai no Yu.

The baths do not overlook Lake Suwa. Their views focus on the ryokan’s gardens rather than the lakefront scenery.

You can bathe from check-in until midnight and again from 1:00 until check-out. The baths close between midnight and 1:00 for cleaning, and the men’s and women’s sides change when they reopen.

There is no sauna, reservable private bath, or in-room natural onsen.

Guests with Tattoos

If you have tattoos, you cannot use Tai no Yu, Hirame no Yu, or the communal changing areas.

Nunohan does not have a reservable private bath or a room with its own natural hot spring. This means there is no private onsen alternative available inside the ryokan.

Facilities

The lakeside lobby gives you a comfortable place to sit before check-in or after returning from a walk. Large windows keep you connected with Lake Suwa and the changing light across the water.

Garden Café Hagakure faces the Japanese garden. You can pause here with a drink while looking across the plants, flowers, and landscaped grounds.

The souvenir shop offers regional foods, local products, drinks, and small keepsakes from Nagano. Karaoke rooms are also available when you want to continue the evening indoors.

Nunohan has private dining rooms, banquet halls, and event spaces for celebrations and organised gatherings. Complimentary Wi-Fi is available throughout the accommodation areas.

On-site parking is available without an advance reservation. The Main Building and Annex are connected internally, allowing you to move between your room, the dining areas, and the hot spring baths without going outside.

Activities

Walk straight from the entrance to the Lake Suwa promenade. The flat lakeside path is suitable for an easy morning walk, a longer circuit by bicycle, or a quiet evening beside the water.

The Lake Suwa Fireworks Festival takes place each year on August 15. The launch island stands directly in front of Nunohan, making suitable lake-facing rooms excellent places to watch the display. Smaller fireworks are also held on summer evenings during the Lake Suwa Summer Night Fireworks period, subject to the annual schedule and weather.

Kami-Suwa’s five sake breweries stand close together along the old Koshu Kaido route. You can visit Maihime, Reijin, Honkin, Yokobue, and Masumi while discovering how Suwa’s water and cool climate shape the local sake.

Lake Suwa is also known for its concentration of museums. Nearby choices include the Kitazawa Museum of Art, Sanritz Hattori Museum of Arts, Suwa City Museum of Art, and other galleries displaying glass, paintings, sculpture, and regional history.

Tateishi Park sits above the town and looks across the entire lake towards the Japanese Alps. It takes around 15 minutes to reach by car and is especially attractive around sunset.

For a longer outing, follow the Venus Line towards Kirigamine Plateau. Open grasslands and mountain roads reveal wide views across central Nagano, with seasonal flowers in summer and rich colour in autumn.

You can also visit the four shrines of Suwa Taisha. Together, Kamisha Honmiya, Kamisha Maemiya, Shimosha Akimiya, and Shimosha Harumiya form one of Japan’s oldest shrine complexes. The Onbashira Festival takes place once every six years.

Additional Features

Kami-Suwa Station is around eight minutes away on foot, so you can arrive without arranging private transport. Nunohan does not operate a regular station shuttle.

Complimentary parking is available when you arrive by car. The ryokan is also well placed for exploring central Suwa without driving, as the lakefront, museums, sake breweries, parks, and station are all nearby.

Yukata, towels, toiletries, tea-making equipment, and complimentary Wi-Fi are provided during your stay. All accommodation rooms are non-smoking.