Overview

Daichi no Iro Kagetsutei is a traditional hot spring ryokan in Rendaiji Onsen, Shimoda. You stay in a Sukiya-style inn built around a large Japanese garden, with tatami corridors, garden-view rooms, source-flowing hot spring baths, and a quiet mountain-village atmosphere. The ryokan has only 21 rooms across a 1,500-tsubo site, so the stay feels spacious and personal rather than crowded.

The ryokan began in Rendaiji Onsen in 1927 and follows the theme of a “mountain village samurai residence.” A central garden, covered walkways, private dining spaces, and open-air baths shape the stay from arrival to check-out. You can spend your time soaking, watching the garden, enjoying Izu seafood, and slowing down in one of Shimoda’s historic onsen areas.

Accommodation

You stay in Japanese-style and Japanese-Western rooms that look toward the garden and keep a classic ryokan feeling. All rooms are non-smoking and include free Wi-Fi. Room types include A Type Garden View Japanese Room, B Type Japanese Room with an additional room, C Type Room with open-air bath, named open-air bath rooms such as Suzumushi, Kocho, and Ukifune, plus D Type and E Type special rooms with open-air baths.

A Type gives you a 10-tatami Japanese room with an entrance area, tokonoma alcove, wide garden-facing windows, a veranda-style sitting space, and an indoor source-flowing hot spring bath. B Type gives you a larger Japanese layout with a main room, adjoining room, and entrance area, making it easier to separate sleeping and relaxing space. Both room types face the Japanese garden and include an indoor hot spring bath.

For more private bathing, you can choose a room with an open-air bath. Suzumushi has two connected Japanese rooms and a 100% natural source-flowing open-air bath. Kocho combines a 10-tatami Japanese room with a bedroom and a hinoki open-air bath on the garden side. Ukifune has a 12-tatami Japanese room, bedroom, and stone open-air bath facing the garden. C Type has a Japanese room, bedroom, Simmons beds, a large open-air bath, and a wider washbasin space for after-bath care.

The highest room categories are D Type and E Type. D Type gives you a spacious Japanese-Western layout, a bedroom, wood deck, and open-air bath. E Type is the top suite, with a Japanese-Western layout, bedroom, open-air bath, and an irori-style room. Both rooms include LCD TV, DVD player, air purifier, towels, tabi socks, toothbrush set, skincare items, hair dryer, hand soap, face wash, and other bath amenities.

Dining

Dinner highlights the food of the Izu Peninsula. You can enjoy seasonal Japanese cuisine built around seafood from Shimoda Port and nearby Izu waters, with dishes such as kinmedai golden-eye snapper, sashimi, kinmedai shabu-shabu, and fried kasago rockfish. Kinmedai is one of the main signatures here, especially when served simmered with a rich, slightly sweet sauce.

You can also add special dishes before your stay, including kinmedai simmered whole, kinmedai shabu-shabu, abalone sashimi, grilled abalone, spiny lobster sashimi, spiny lobster grilled in oni-gawara style, seafood boat-style sashimi, sazae and shrimp grill, and domestic beef steak. Menus may change depending on ingredient availability, so each stay can reflect the season.

Breakfast is a Japanese set meal made with local ingredients. Aji dried fish from Izu is one of the breakfast highlights, served with the kind of simple, satisfying dishes that suit a ryokan morning. Meals are served at the dining venue Yunohana Koji, and private dining rooms are available by advance reservation depending on your plan.

Onsen and Wellness

The hot spring water comes from Rendaiji Onsen, a historic source linked to the monk Gyoki and said to have around 1,300 years of history. Behind Kagetsutei, the source still produces around 190 liters per minute. The baths use 100% natural source-flowing hot spring water without circulation filtration.

You can soak in large shared baths with indoor and open-air bathing. The open-air bath uses bold rockwork and a deeper tub, with greenery, flowing water sounds, and open sky above. The indoor bath has large windows and a spacious feel. The water is a weakly alkaline simple spring, known for a soft, smooth feel on the skin.

You can also enjoy the footbath beside the first-floor lounge. It faces the Japanese garden, so you can sit with your feet in the source-flowing hot spring while watching the pond, koi, and ducks. It works well before dinner, after breakfast, or any time you want a lighter onsen moment without changing for a full bath.

Guests with Tattoos

Choosing a room with a private open-air bath gives you the easiest way to enjoy the hot spring with more privacy.

Facilities

Kagetsutei is built around its Japanese garden, with covered walkways connecting the rooms, dining areas, and baths. You move through tatami corridors barefoot, with your shoes stored in a dedicated locker. The 300-tsubo garden has a pond, mature trees, koi, and ducks, so the view follows you through much of the ryokan.

You can relax in the lobby lounge Fujiwara-yama, which looks over the garden during the day and becomes a comfortable place for drinks with jazz in the evening. The ryokan also has Yunohana Koji dining room, private dining rooms by advance reservation, a shop selling Kagetsutei sweets and original shochu, and an esthetic room for aromatherapy and facial treatments.

You also have large public baths with hinoki bath, stone bath, and open-air rock bath, a source-flowing footbath, banquet rooms, free Wi-Fi throughout the building, and parking. The ryokan offers some barrier-free support, and the free shuttle from Izukyu-Shimoda Station is available with advance reservation.

Activities

You can spend a slow day inside the ryokan with the garden, footbath, open-air bath, lounge, and esthetic treatments. The setting works especially well for a quiet anniversary stay, a hot spring escape, or a relaxed Izu food trip.

For nearby sightseeing, you can visit Kawazu-zakura in early spring, the Minami no Sakura and Nanohana Festival, Rendaiji mountain cherry blossoms, the Black Ship Festival, Shimoda Kinme Festival, Hydrangea Festival, and the winter Narcissus Festival at Tsumekizaki. Popular year-round spots include Shimoda Aquarium, Roadside Station Kaikoku Shimoda Minato, Ryugu Sea Cave, Perry Road and Shimoda history walks, the Black Ship Susquehanna cruise, Shimoda Kaikoku Museum, and the Shimoda Ropeway to Mt. Nesugata.

Additional Features

Daichi no Iro Kagetsutei gives you a classic Rendaiji Onsen stay with 21 rooms, a 1,500-tsubo site, a 300-tsubo Japanese garden, source-flowing hot spring water, rooms with private open-air baths, shared indoor and open-air baths, a garden-facing footbath, private dining options, and seasonal Izu cuisine centered on local seafood.

You also have all-room free Wi-Fi, an all-room non-smoking policy, a tatami-corridor interior, women’s colored yukata service, a lounge, shop, esthetic room, banquet rooms, parking, and advance-reservation shuttle service from Izukyu-Shimoda Station. This ryokan suits you when you want a traditional hot spring stay with garden views, good food, and private-bath room options in Shimoda.