Overview

At Aishinkan, you stay in the heart of Morioka’s Tsunagi Onsen, close to Lake Gosho and the mountain landscapes of Iwate. The setting gives you easy access to Morioka while surrounding you with fresh air, seasonal scenery, and one of northern Japan’s historic hot spring areas.

Tsunagi Onsen traces its story to the eleventh century. According to local tradition, the warrior Minamoto no Yoshiie discovered the spring after using its water to treat his horse. He tied the horse to a stone beside the spring, giving Tsunagi Onsen its name.

Bathing is the centre of your stay. You can move between Jomon-inspired garden baths, deep standing water, cypress tubs, ceramic baths, bubble baths, and saunas. Seasonal Iwate food, lake-facing rooms, inclusive drinks, and easy access to nearby attractions complete your time in Morioka.

Accommodation

You can choose from rooms in the Annex and Main Building. The Annex includes lake-facing rooms on the upper floors, while the Main Building provides traditional Japanese rooms on the mountain side.

The Japanese Modern Twin Rooms were renewed in 2022 and occupy the eighth to tenth floors of the Annex. Ryukyu-style tatami flooring creates a Japanese atmosphere, while Simmons beds give you a familiar sleeping arrangement. These rooms face Lake Gosho from the upper floors and include a private unit bathroom.

The Japanese Modern Rooms were renewed in 2023 and sit on the sixth and seventh floors. Each room has a 10-tatami layout with Ryukyu-style mats and views toward the lake. Futons are prepared before arrival for smaller parties, allowing you to begin relaxing as soon as you enter.

Traditional Annex Japanese Rooms occupy the fourth and fifth floors on the lake side. The 10-tatami layout gives you an open space for tea, conversation, and futon bedding.

The Special Room occupies the top floor of the Annex. Its spacious layout combines a 12.5-tatami Japanese room, twin beds, an additional 7.5-tatami area, and a connecting twin room. Simmons beds and Ryukyu-style tatami create a comfortable setting when you want separate areas for sleeping and relaxing.

Main Building Japanese Rooms measure between eight and 12 tatami mats. These rooms face the mountain side and do not offer the same views as the Annex, but they give you a simple and traditional base close to the baths and dining facilities.

Your room includes air conditioning, a unit bathroom, a toilet with bidet functions, a television with satellite channels, a refrigerator, a safe, towels, toiletries, and a tea jacket. You can select a yukata in your preferred size from the elevator hall on each room floor. Free Wi-Fi is available in the rooms.

Dining

Your main dinner choices are the seasonal buffet at Sansa ’33 and a grilled-meat dinner with Morioka reimen at Kurohige, depending on the accommodation plan you select.

Sansa ’33 takes its name from Iwate’s 33 municipalities. The buffet introduces you to regional dishes, local ingredients, sake, and seasonal flavours from across the prefecture. The live kitchen serves food soon after preparation, including freshly fried tempura and other changing dishes. Meat, seafood, vegetables, noodles, rice, fruit, and desserts allow you to build your dinner at your own pace.

At Kurohige, you can enjoy a dinner produced by Hige, a long-established Morioka yakiniku and reimen restaurant. Your course includes appetisers, locally raised black wagyu short rib, domestic beef loin, skirt steak, pork belly, kimchi, salad, and dessert. You can finish with half-size Morioka reimen or a small bibimbap. This dinner is available through dedicated accommodation plans.

Breakfast is served as a Japanese and Western buffet. You can start the morning with Morioka dishes, Iwate-grown rice, local ingredients, and Koiwai milk. The live kitchen prepares hot food such as rolled Japanese omelette and agedashi tofu. The selection changes with the season and daily availability.

During your stay, you can also enjoy the drink-inclusive service in the lobby area. Iwate sake, beer, shochu, highballs, coffee, soft drinks, and water are available during set service hours.

Onsen and Wellness

The natural water at Aishinkan is a simple sulphur hot spring classified as hypotonic, alkaline, and high temperature. The source temperature is approximately 65.3°C, and the water has a pH level of 9.1. Its high alkalinity gives it a smooth texture and can leave your skin feeling soft after bathing.

Traditional bathing indications include fatigue, sensitivity to cold, neuralgia, muscle and joint discomfort, stiff shoulders, bruises, minor cuts, and some chronic skin conditions. The water may not suit highly sensitive skin, so begin with a shorter soak when needed.

The Garden Jomon Bath was created in 2001 and takes inspiration from the nearby Shidanai archaeological remains. Its timber structures, stone features, and outdoor setting evoke the atmosphere of ancient Jomon culture.

Shidanai-no-Yu includes the terraced Stone Circle Open-Air Bath, which takes its design from stone circles found at Jomon sites. Komorebi-no-Yu allows you to bathe beneath sunlight filtering through the trees during the day or under the stars at night. A high-ceilinged indoor bath connects directly with the outdoor area.

Nurisawa-no-Yu includes Tateana-no-Yu, a 120-centimetre-deep standing bath inspired by a Jomon pit dwelling. Yumemakura-no-Yu has wooden supports that allow you to rest your head while soaking and appeared in the television drama Dondo Hare. The timber-built indoor bath uses large pillars and beams to create a warm, rustic atmosphere.

The Garden Jomon bathing areas normally open from 05:00 to 22:00, with a daytime cleaning closure. Shidanai-no-Yu and Nurisawa-no-Yu rotate between men and women each day.

The main bathing area contains Magokoro-no-Yu and Ai-no-Yu. Each side includes five bathing and sauna experiences, and the sides rotate daily.

At Magokoro-no-Yu, you can soak in the spacious main bath, listen to the flow of source water in the Saezuri cypress bath, try a ceramic tub inspired by Nanbu ironware, relax in a bubble bath, and warm up in the dry sauna.

Ai-no-Yu includes individual panda and kappa ceramic tubs, a tourmaline bath, a large central bath, a fragrant cypress bath supplied with source water, and a sauna containing charcoal from Ninohe in Iwate.

The main baths normally open from 05:00 until 01:00, with a daytime cleaning closure. The saunas operate from 07:00 to 21:00.

You can also arrange a full-body or foot massage in advance. Massage chairs provide another place to rest after bathing.

Guests with Tattoos

Unfortunately, those with tattoos cannot use the public baths.

Facilities

Inside Aishinkan, you can use the renewed lobby and relaxation area, where table seating and semi-private spaces give you a comfortable place to enjoy inclusive drinks. The rest area also provides soft drinks, alcoholic drinks, and popcorn during your stay.

Dining facilities include Buffet Restaurant Sansa ’33 and Morioka Reimen and Yakiniku Kurohige. The shop carries Morioka reimen, Nanbu rice crackers, Iwate sake, wine, and regional souvenirs.

Karaoke Humming is available during the afternoon and evening and normally operates as a shared, self-service karaoke space. The property also includes banquet and meeting rooms, a massage room, vending facilities, baby items, and a colourful Japanese-umbrella photography area.

Wheelchairs, buffet carts, and bathing chairs are available to borrow. Slopes support access at the entrance and public-bath changing areas, while partitioned shower booths provide additional privacy in the bathing facilities.

Activities

Morioka Handi-Works Square is only a short drive away. You can watch local craftspeople, join hands-on workshops, and explore a traditional Nanbu Magariya farmhouse.

Koiwai Farm gives you open views of pastureland beneath Mt. Iwate, along with seasonal activities, farm food, and animal experiences. Lake Gosho Park also provides walking areas, gardens, recreational spaces, and waterside scenery close to Tsunagi Onsen.

You can build a food-focused visit around Morioka’s three famous noodle dishes. Try wanko soba in the city, enjoy Morioka reimen at Kurohige, and finish with jajamen during another meal.

For a longer day out, you can explore Morioka’s museums and historic streets or travel farther to Kakunodate, Ryusendo Cave, Tono, and the Sanriku Coast.

Additional Features

Aishinkan has 98 rooms. Check-in begins at 15:00, and check-out is at 10:00. Parking and free Wi-Fi are available.

A reserved Tsunagi Onsen Liner connects Morioka Station with Aishinkan each day. Advance booking is required, and seating is limited. You can also take a local bus from Morioka Station to Tsunagi Onsen and walk to the ryokan.