Overview

Stay at Hishino Onsen Tokiwakan in the hills above Komoro, close to the western slopes of Mount Asama. This mountain ryokan is best known for Kumonosuke, its panoramic hot spring facility reached by a private cable car.

The cable car travels 130 metres up the hillside in around 90 seconds. At the top, you can soak at an elevation of approximately 1,050 metres while looking across Sakudaira toward Mount Tateshina and the Yatsugatake range. On a clear day, you may also see the upper part of Mt. Fuji.

The experience combines scenic bathing with Japanese and Western rooms, family accommodation, local cooking, and easy access to Komoro, Takamine Kogen, and Karuizawa. You can spend the day exploring eastern Nagano, then return for dinner, an evening bath, and a drink above the forest.

Accommodation

Choose from ten room types across the Main Building and Saiuntei wing. The selection includes Japanese rooms with futon bedding, Japanese-Western rooms with beds and tatami, Western rooms, family rooms, maisonette rooms with semi-open-air baths, and compartment-style accommodation for groups.

The Main Building Japanese-Western rooms include two Simmons semi-double beds and a raised four-tatami sitting area. Futons can also be prepared on the tatami when needed. Each room has a private shower booth and gives you the comfort of beds without losing the atmosphere of a Japanese room.

The 40.7-square-metre Western rooms have two Simmons semi-double beds and a sofa that can be converted into an additional bed. The step-free layout allows easier movement between the sleeping area, bathroom, and toilet, making this one of the most accessible room choices.

Renovated Japanese rooms provide ten tatami mats, a window-side sitting area, and an updated bathroom and washbasin. Japanese rooms with beds replace the futon layout with two low beds and a sofa bed, while keeping the tatami flooring and traditional character.

In Saiuntei, the maisonette rooms place the main living and sleeping space on the upper level and a private semi-open-air bath on the floor below. The upper floor combines tatami, twin beds, and a window-side sitting area. Beside the bathing space, you also have a waterproof television, refrigerator, changing area, and massage chair.

The semi-open-air bath in the maisonette room uses regular heated water rather than natural hot spring water. To bathe in Hishino Onsen water, you need to use Kumonosuke or the public bath in the Main Building.

Saiuntei also has spacious Japanese and Japanese-Western family rooms. These 17.5-tatami layouts give you more room to sit together, and the Japanese-Western version includes two beds. Both have wide entrances and generous washbasin areas, although neither includes a private bath. The view from the Japanese-Western family room is partly blocked by the Main Building.

The compartment rooms take a different approach to group accommodation. You share a living and dining space while sleeping in separate lockable compartments. You can choose a room with six individual bed spaces, four bed and loft compartments, or two beds with two loft spaces. Each sleeping compartment includes personal storage and a desk, while selected types also have an individual television or small refrigerator.

The loft ladders are steep, so the loft-style compartment rooms are not suitable for young children or anyone who finds stairs difficult. Compartment rooms also have steps at the entrance and do not include private bathing facilities.

Every room is non-smoking and includes air conditioning, a television, empty refrigerator, safe, electric kettle, tea set, hair dryer, yukata, towels, toothbrushes, and Wi-Fi. Bathroom and shower facilities differ between room categories.

Dining

Dinner centres on local ingredients, seasonal produce, and dishes associated with eastern Nagano. Meals are served at Kamado Dining Momi, where rice cooks in traditional kamado stoves and local vegetables are fried as tempura while they are still hot.

One of Tokiwakan’s signature dishes is Saku carp simmered slowly in a rich house sauce. The clear water and cold climate of Shinshu help produce carp with a clean taste and firm texture. When you do not eat carp, it can be replaced with roast beef when arranged in advance.

Your dinner may combine individually served dishes with an obanzai-style buffet. Seasonal appetisers, sashimi, and simmered Saku carp are brought to your table, while the buffet lets you choose from seafood cooked on the grill, salads, simmered dishes, fried food, soup, rice, and desserts.

Seasonal dinner arrangements add ingredients at their best time of year. Depending on your stay, these may include grilled bamboo shoots, salt-grilled ayu, Shinshu salmon shabu-shabu, or matsutake mushroom steamed in a teapot.

You can also choose a dinner focused on Shinshu Japanese black beef. The steak uses lean fillet for a softer texture and lighter finish, accompanied by seasonal dishes and access to the buffet.

Breakfast is served as a buffet, allowing you to choose Japanese and Western dishes before another soak or a day of sightseeing. When you stay for more than one night, the dinner menu changes, with separate seasonal arrangements available for up to three nights.

Food allergies can be accommodated where the kitchen and preparation facilities allow. Details should be provided when booking so suitable changes can be discussed in advance.

Onsen and Wellness

The highlight of your stay is Kumonosuke, reached from the lobby by Tokiwakan’s private cable car. You open the cable-car door manually, step inside, and press the departure button yourself. Two small cars pass each other midway along the 130-metre track before reaching the upper station.

Kumonosuke reopened after renovation in August 2024. From the bathing area, you can look across Sakudaira toward Mount Tateshina and the Yatsugatake mountains, with the tip of Mt. Fuji sometimes visible in clear weather.

Sorafuro is an infinity-style open-air bath made from Japanese koyamaki wood. Its raised position creates a wide view across the sky, forest, and distant mountains.

Ishifuro is the largest bath at Kumonosuke. This covered stone bath protects you from rain, snow, and strong sunlight while still allowing you to enjoy the elevated setting.

Mizufuro uses cool water from the Mount Asama water system and stays at around 20°C. An outdoor deck known as Totonoi gives you space to sit in the fresh mountain air between baths.

Kumonosuke also has changing rooms, washbasins, and a small washing area. Because the number of showers is limited, it is more convenient to wash in the Main Building bath before travelling up to Kumonosuke.

The bathing area normally opens from 06:30 to 09:00 and again from 11:00 to 22:30. Services may pause for maintenance, bad weather, or cable-car inspections.

Beside the baths, the café and bar Tokihyou no Nai Machiaishitsu gives you somewhere to sit after your soak. You can relax inside or on the terrace and choose from local beer, draft beer, apple juice, shiso juice, coffee, and seasonal refreshments.

The Main Building public bath sits beside the first-floor lobby and remains available from 11:00 until 09:00 the following morning. It only closes between 09:00 and 11:00 for cleaning, giving you access late at night and early in the morning.

Hishino Onsen is a clear, colourless alkaline simple spring. The source lies within the grounds of nearby Yakushikan. Because the natural source temperature is low, the water is heated before use. The bathing system combines incoming spring water with circulation and filtration to maintain the temperature and support hygiene.

Guests with Tattoos

You can use Tokiwakan’s communal hot spring baths when you have tattoos. This includes the Main Building bath and the Kumonosuke bathing areas reached by cable car.

The maisonette rooms also provide a private semi-open-air bath when you prefer to bathe in your room, although this bath uses regular heated water rather than natural onsen water.

Facilities

The lobby provides a warm place to sit beside a pellet stove, with a café corner close to reception. The boarding point for the cable car is at the far end of the lobby, making the journey to Kumonosuke part of your stay from the moment you enter the lower station.

At the shop, you can browse products from Komoro and other parts of Shinshu. Drinks are also available from vending machines, and the empty refrigerator in your room gives you space to store anything you purchase.

The café and bar at Kumonosuke includes an indoor lounge, outdoor terrace, and gallery space. You can stop here after bathing, enjoy the mountain setting, or have a drink before taking the cable car back to the Main Building.

The public bathing floor includes changing rooms, grooming spaces, and massage chairs for use after your soak. Towels are placed near the entrances to the Main Building bath and Kumonosuke.

A laundry corner provides washing machines and dryers, making longer stays easier. Wi-Fi is available throughout the building, and all rooms are non-smoking. A designated smoking area is provided separately.

You can borrow selected items from reception, including a simple bed for easier sleeping, a curling hair dryer, DVD or VHS player, shogi, and Go. Mahjong sets are also available.

Activities

Ride the private cable car to Kumonosuke at different times of day and watch the view change across Sakudaira. Morning often brings clearer mountain outlines, while the evening light gives the surrounding hills a softer appearance.

In Komoro, you can visit Kaikoen, the park built around the ruins of Komoro Castle. The grounds include stone walls, historic gates, museums, seasonal gardens, and viewpoints over the Chikuma River valley. The surrounding castle town also has traditional buildings, cafés, shops, and streets suited to an unhurried walk.

Takamine Kogen places you higher on the slopes of Mount Asama, with mountain walks, alpine scenery, and winter sports available according to the season. Karuizawa is also within driving distance when you want to visit shops, museums, restaurants, and forest attractions.

After returning to Tokiwakan, you can soak in the Main Building bath, take the cable car up to Kumonosuke, relax with a drink at the café and bar, or spend the evening in your room with a board game.

Additional Features

Free outdoor parking is available for up to 80 cars. From Komoro Interchange, the drive to Tokiwakan takes around 12 minutes under normal road conditions.

A complimentary shuttle connects the ryokan with Komoro Station and Sakudaira Station. The service operates by advance reservation and should be arranged at least three days before arrival. Pick-up and return times follow a fixed schedule.

Tokiwakan gives you an onsen experience built around its hillside setting. The short cable-car journey, elevated open-air baths, local Saku carp, kamado-cooked rice, and flexible room selection make it suitable for couples, families, and groups travelling together.

Choose this ryokan when the bathing experience matters most. The rooms are comfortable and practical, but the main reason to stay is the journey up the hillside and the wide mountain view from Kumonosuke.