Overview
Minoya Taiheikaku is a traditional ryokan in Awara Onsen, Fukui. You stay at Awara City, in a pure Japanese-style inn with a strong ryokan atmosphere, a garden, hot spring baths, seasonal kaiseki dining, and a quiet lobby that looks out toward the greenery.
You enter through the ryokan’s solid traditional gate, called Hyomon, and leave the outside noise behind. Inside, you find tatami spaces, warm wood details, a garden-facing lounge, and the calm rhythm of an old-style onsen stay. This is a good choice when you want classic Awara hospitality, gentle hot spring water, and Fukui food in a setting that feels simple, warm, and unhurried.
Accommodation
You choose from Japanese-style rooms and Japanese rooms with beds, depending on how you like to rest. The ryokan keeps the feeling of an older hot spring inn, while offering practical room features such as air-conditioning and heating, TV, empty refrigerator, safe, kettle, tea set, washlet toilet, and Wi-Fi in many room types.
Taihei Japanese Modern Twin gives you a fresh Japanese-style space with two high-resilience urethane futon mattresses set on flooring, plus a Ryukyu tatami area where you can sit back and relax. The room looks toward the garden and has a shower booth, washlet toilet, powder corner, Wi-Fi, TV, air-conditioning and heating, refrigerator, safe, kettle, and tea set.
Taihei Japanese Twin gives you a 10-tatami Japanese room with two single beds. You can stretch out on tatami during the day and sleep in beds at night. This room also looks toward the garden and includes a shower booth, washlet toilet, powder corner, Wi-Fi, TV, air-conditioning and heating, refrigerator, safe, kettle, and tea set.
Taihei Japanese Room 10 Tatami gives you a more nostalgic ryokan stay. It has a 10-tatami main room with a wide veranda space. This room keeps the feel of an older Japanese inn, with simple equipment and a more traditional atmosphere. It includes a bath, washlet toilet, powder corner, TV, air-conditioning and heating, refrigerator, safe, kettle, and tea set.
Horaku Japanese Room 13.5 Tatami gives you more space in a quiet Japanese-style room. It has a 13.5-tatami main room with a wide veranda, making it a comfortable choice when you want more room to sit, rest, and spend time indoors. It includes a bath, washlet toilet, powder corner, Wi-Fi, TV, air-conditioning and heating, refrigerator, safe, kettle, and tea set.
Horaku Japanese Room 17.5 Tatami works well when you travel with family or friends. It has a 17.5-tatami main room plus an 8-tatami adjoining room, giving you a spacious layout for spending time together. Depending on the room, it includes either a shower booth or bath, along with a washlet toilet, powder corner, Wi-Fi, TV, air-conditioning and heating, refrigerator, safe, kettle, and tea set.
Room amenities include yukata, hand towel, bath towel, body soap, rinse-in shampoo, toothbrush set, and other basic items. Some amenities are prepared in the first-floor lobby.
Dining
Dinner at Minoya Taiheikaku focuses on kaiseki cuisine using the flavors of Echizen, Wakasa, and Fukui. You can enjoy seafood, mountain ingredients, local produce, and seasonal dishes prepared by the chef.
Meal plans may include value kaiseki, Wakasa beef cube steak kaiseki, Wakasa beef sukiyaki kaiseki, a two-highlight kaiseki with Wakasa beef grilled on a ceramic plate and whole grilled nodoguro, a three-highlight kaiseki with abalone, Wakasa beef, and boiled snow crab, or a crab-focused kaiseki with boiled snow crab, crab sashimi, grilled crab, crab hot pot, crab tempura, and warm crab dishes. Menus may change depending on the season and ingredient supply.
You eat in one of the ryokan’s dining spaces. Kinhyo is a hall-style dining room with wooden lattice partitions between tables. Fukuhyo has softer lighting and a relaxed meal setting.
Dinner is served from 18:00 to 21:00, with final meal start at 19:00. Breakfast is a Japanese set meal served from 7:00 to 9:00, with final meal start at 8:00.
You can also enjoy the local sake “Okami,” created through a project involving the Awara Onsen proprietress association, local breweries, and agricultural producers.
Onsen and Wellness
Hot spring bathing is one of the main reasons to stay here. Minoya Taiheikaku uses its own source within the grounds, with about 58 liters of hot spring water flowing per minute. The water has a gentle feel and can be enjoyed in the large indoor baths and open-air baths facing the garden.
The men’s bath is Hanautayu, and the women’s bath is Koutayu. Each side has an indoor bath, open-air bath, changing room, and wash area. The indoor baths use a circulation system, while the open-air baths use a discharge-style system. Both indoor and open-air baths use added water and heating.
The spring source is Awara Onsen Izui No. 58. The water is a sodium-calcium chloride spring, described as hypotonic, weakly alkaline, and low temperature. The source temperature is 28.0°C, with pH 8.0.
The listed bathing benefits include chronic muscle and joint pain or stiffness, neuralgia, lower back pain, frozen shoulder, bruises, sprains, cold sensitivity, poor circulation, mild high blood pressure, mild asthma or emphysema, hemorrhoid pain, stress-related symptoms, sleep concerns, fatigue recovery, recovery after illness, general health support, cuts, and dry skin.
Guests with Tattoos
If you have tattoos, you can ask the staff about private bathing options. A private soak gives you the freedom to enjoy the hot spring without concern, and the staff will explain the available choices.
Facilities
Minoya Taiheikaku has 35 rooms and a pure Japanese-style atmosphere throughout the building. Facilities include the lobby, tatami rest corner, free drink corner, shop, dining rooms, banquet hall, meeting room, vending machines, large public baths, and open-air baths.
The lobby lounge Kocho looks toward the garden and gives you a quiet place to sit after arrival or after bathing. The free drink corner in Kocho offers coffee from 15:00 to 21:00 and from 7:00 to 10:30. Tea, juice, and light snacks are available from 15:00 to 18:00 and from 7:00 to 10:30.
The rest space Harukaze no Ma is a tatami corner where you can look out toward the garden. The shop Hanakoma sells Fukui sweets, souvenirs, and local items, including the Awara Onsen “Okami” sake.
Dining facilities include Kinhyo, Fukuhyo, Sora, and Rin. Sora and Rin opened in summer 2024 and offer private-style dining spaces suited to smaller groups and relaxed meals.
Wi-Fi is available for free in the lobby and rooms. Outdoor parking is available for about 100 cars and does not require advance reservation.
Activities
You can spend your stay slowly inside the ryokan, moving between your room, the garden-facing lounge, the hot spring baths, the dining room, and the shop. Start with a bath after check-in, enjoy coffee or tea in the lounge, settle into your room, then return to the baths before dinner.
You can also explore Awara Onsen town. Awara-Yunomachi Station is about 7 minutes away on foot, so you can walk around the local area, visit nearby shops, or continue sightseeing around Fukui.
From Awara, you can also plan trips to coastal areas, temples, local food spots, and other parts of northern Fukui. The ryokan’s shuttle from Awara Onsen Station makes arrival easier when you travel by train.
Additional Features
Check-in starts at 15:00, and checkout is at 10:00. If you arrive by car, the ryokan is about 15 minutes from Kanazu IC. Parking is free for overnight stays, with about 30 spaces near the entrance and about 50 spaces behind the building, used in arrival order.
If you arrive by train, the ryokan offers a reservation-based shuttle from JR Awara Onsen Station. Pick-up times from the station are 14:30, 15:00, 15:30, 16:00, 17:00, and 18:00. The return shuttle from the ryokan runs at 9:00, 9:30, 10:00, and 10:30. Seats are limited because the shuttle uses an 8-seat wagon.
Minoya Taiheikaku suits you when you want a classic Awara Onsen ryokan with Japanese-style rooms, a garden-facing lounge, Fukui kaiseki dining, self-sourced hot spring water, open-air baths, and an easy base for exploring the onsen town.
