Overview

Stay at Hodakaso Yamano Hotel in Shinhotaka Onsen, part of Okuhida Onsen Village in the Northern Alps. The Scandinavian-inspired mountain design combines a fireplace lounge, dark timber details, natural hot spring water, and wide views towards Mount Yari and the surrounding peaks.

You can spend the day riding the Shinhotaka Ropeway, walking through the highlands, or exploring Kamikochi before returning for Hida cuisine and an evening soak. The hotel stands beside the Gamada River, and its largest outdoor baths sit lower in the valley, reached by a private slope car.

With 86 rooms, several bathing areas, seasonal dining, summer pool access, and large event spaces, the hotel suits a couple’s break, a family holiday, or a group stay in the mountains.

Accommodation

Choose from five main room styles across a total of 50 Western rooms and 36 Japanese rooms. Every room includes a private bathroom and toilet, although only selected toilets have a warm-water washing function.

Standard Japanese Rooms offer nine or ten tatami mats, an enclosed veranda, and futon bedding. They accommodate up to four or five people, depending on the size. The tatami area gives you space to enjoy tea and rest after walking or bathing.

Standard Twin Rooms measure approximately 25 square metres and accommodate one or two people. Selected East Wing rooms face Mount Yari, while others look towards the hotel grounds or surrounding forest.

Shikitei Rooms provide 12.5 tatami mats, a smaller two-tatami space, and an enclosed veranda. They accommodate up to six people and offer a more spacious traditional layout. Selected plans allow you to enjoy dinner inside this room category.

Deluxe Twin Rooms measure approximately 32 to 35 square metres and accommodate up to three people. These South Wing rooms give you more floor space than the Standard Twin and include a sitting area for relaxing between meals and baths.

The largest Special Japanese Rooms combine a ten-tatami main room, a six-tatami adjoining room, and an enclosed veranda. They accommodate up to six people. Selected rooms face Mount Yari and the Northern Alps.

Every room includes heating and air conditioning, a television, empty refrigerator, hair dryer, kettle, tea supplies, towels, yukata, slippers, toothbrushes, and toiletries. Trouser presses are available through the hotel’s lending service. The private room baths use regular water rather than natural onsen water.

Dining

Dinner introduces you to Okuhida through a seasonal Japanese set menu rather than a buffet. The kitchen uses vegetables, river fish, meat, and other ingredients chosen to reflect the time of year.

You can select how your main beef dish is prepared. Choices include shabu-shabu, sukiyaki, or hoba steak cooked on a magnolia leaf. Selected accommodation plans feature A5-grade Hida beef, while other plans allow you to change the standard domestic beef to Hida beef.

When you do not eat beef, you can replace the main course with seafood shabu-shabu or pork shabu-shabu. Dietary changes need to be arranged before arrival.

Additional dishes available by advance request include Hida beef roast beef, lightly grilled Hida beef, iwana river-fish sashimi, fruit platters, and celebration cakes. Availability can change with the season and your accommodation plan.

Breakfast is a Japanese set meal with rice, soup, grilled items, vegetables, pickles, and small local dishes. Both dinner and breakfast are individually prepared rather than served as buffets.

Meals take place in a restaurant, dedicated dining space, or one of the banquet rooms, depending on the number of people staying. Shikitei plans may include dinner inside your room.

Onsen and Wellness

Hodakaso Yamano Hotel draws abundant natural water from its own Shinhotaka Onsen sources. Current spring records list simple spring, bicarbonate spring, and chloride spring characteristics across the water supply.

Every hot spring pool uses free-flowing water without recirculating used bathwater. Because the source emerges at a very high temperature, the bathing temperature can change slightly according to the weather and condition of the spring.

The first-floor bathing areas provide separate facilities for men and women. Each side includes a large indoor bath, an attached forest-facing open-air bath, and a sauna. These baths are available from 15:00 until 9:30 the following morning.

The hotel’s most distinctive bathing area sits beside the Gamada River in a detached section of the grounds. You reach it by riding the private slope car down the hillside.

The large mixed-gender outdoor bath covers an area compared with around 300 tatami mats. From the water, you can listen to the river and look towards Mount Yari and the Northern Alps when the sky is clear. Women can rent designated bathing wear for use in this bath.

A spacious women-only open-air bath stands in the same detached area. It gives you the river and mountain setting without using the mixed-gender pool.

You can also reserve a private detached open-air bath for a 30-minute session. Reservations open at check-in, and times are assigned according to availability. The bath uses natural free-flowing spring water and looks towards the surrounding mountain scenery.

The mixed-gender, women-only, and private baths are normally available from 15:00 until 9:30 the following morning, apart from cleaning periods. The slope car currently runs daily from 5:00 to 23:00. Steps connect the hotel with the detached bathing area outside its operating hours.

Indoor and outdoor footbaths provide another way to enjoy the spring without taking a full bath. The hotel also has one footbath inside the building and another outside.

The spring has traditionally been associated with easing fatigue, muscle discomfort, stiff shoulders, nerve discomfort, and tiredness after walking or skiing. Bath amenities include shampoo, conditioner, body soap, hair dryers, cotton swabs, tissues, and drinking water. Skin lotion and moisturiser are available in the women’s bathing area.

Guests with Tattoos

You cannot use the shared indoor baths, gender-separated open-air baths, mixed-gender outdoor bath, women-only outdoor bath, saunas, or shared footbaths if you have tattoos.

You can use the reservable private open-air hot spring bath. It gives you a fully private 30-minute session with natural free-flowing water. Reserve your time after check-in.

Facilities

The Bize fire lounge gives you a warm place to sit beside the fireplace after bathing or returning from the mountains. Large windows and classic furniture support the hotel’s Scandinavian mountain-lodge character.

From 18:00 to 22:00, candles illuminate the lobby and terrace. The softer evening light creates a relaxing setting for conversation or a drink after dinner.

The seasonal outdoor pool normally opens during summer. Its water is temperature-controlled to around 30°C to 32°C, and you need to bring swimwear. Operating dates depend on the weather and annual schedule.

Two large banquet halls can each be divided into three smaller rooms. One dining and event space accommodates around 130 people, while another accommodates up to approximately 200. You can use these areas for meals, meetings, celebrations, and organised group stays.

The shop sells Hida souvenirs, regional food, sweets, local sake, and small gifts. The hotel also includes a lounge, game corner, billiards, vending machines, massage arrangements, elevators, and indoor and outdoor footbaths.

Complimentary bicycle rental is available through the Hodakaso group. You can apply at reception and use a bicycle to explore the roads and scenery around Okuhida when conditions allow.

Free Wi-Fi is available in the accommodation and shared areas. Complimentary parking is provided on the grounds.

Activities

Visit the Shinhotaka Ropeway, around five minutes away by car. Its double-decker gondola carries you to an elevation of approximately 2,156 metres, where observation areas open towards the Northern Alps. Seasonal walking paths, mountain scenery, autumn colour, and winter snow make the trip worthwhile throughout much of the year.

Kamikochi is around 50 minutes away using road and bus connections. Travel through Hirayu Onsen and continue by authorised public transport into the protected valley. Once there, you can walk beside the Azusa River, visit Kappa Bridge, or follow trails towards Taisho Pond and Myojin.

The Norikura highlands are around 90 minutes away by road and seasonal mountain transport. Summer brings alpine scenery and high-elevation walking, while autumn colours the slopes before the mountain roads close for winter.

Central Takayama is around one hour away by car. You can walk through the old merchant streets, visit the morning markets, see traditional wooden buildings, and explore shops selling local crafts and food.

Around Okuhida, you can enjoy hiking, cycling, skiing, snowboarding, snowshoeing, and seasonal mountain events. Conditions and access change quickly at high elevation, so routes depend on the weather and time of year.

You can also spend the day at the hotel by moving between the indoor bath, riverside outdoor baths, footbaths, fireplace lounge, summer pool, and candle-lit terrace.

Additional Features

Check-in begins at 15:00, and check-out is by 10:00. When dinner forms part of your plan, arrive by the time stated in your reservation so the kitchen can serve each course correctly.

A Nohi Bus service connects JR Takayama Station with Shinhotaka Onsen. Leave the bus at the Yamano Hotel-mae stop, located directly beside the property. The journey from Takayama normally takes around 75 minutes.

By car, you can approach from Takayama through National Route 158 or from Matsumoto through the Abo Tunnel and Hirayu Onsen. Snow and ice are common during winter, so you need winter tyres or suitable chains.

Current accommodation plans use non-smoking room categories. Pets cannot stay inside the hotel.

Your stay includes access to natural free-flowing hot spring baths, the private slope car, separate indoor and outdoor baths, a large mixed-gender outdoor bath, a women-only outdoor bath, saunas, footbaths, free Wi-Fi, and complimentary parking.