Overview

Stay in the centre of Isawa Onsen at Hotel Heian, a traditional Japanese ryokan beside the Irogoi River, a small branch of the Fuefuki River. A landscaped Japanese garden brings greenery, stonework, and flowing water into the heart of the property, creating a restful setting for a hot spring break in Yamanashi.

The ryokan has a nostalgic character rather than a polished contemporary style. Tatami rooms, spacious communal areas, garden views, and Showa-inspired interiors give you a sense of an earlier period of Japanese travel.

You can spend your stay soaking in natural Isawa Onsen water, enjoying a seasonal Yamanashi dinner, or relaxing beside the illuminated garden. Isawa-Onsen Station is around 15 minutes away on foot, and an afternoon shuttle makes arrival easier when you have luggage.

Accommodation

All accommodation follows a Japanese-style design. You can choose from standard tatami rooms, Japanese-modern rooms, individually designed rooms, and a spacious two-room suite with a Showa-retro character.

The Japanese-Modern Room provides 10.5 tatami mats in a brighter setting with updated flooring and decorative details. It keeps the low furniture and Japanese atmosphere of a ryokan room while giving you a slightly more contemporary place to rest.

The traditional Japanese rooms offer tatami flooring, a low table, and futon bedding. These rooms work well when you want a classic stay centred on bathing, tea, and quiet time on the tatami.

Rooms 255 and 256 are 10.5-tatami Design Japanese Rooms. Each uses its own finishes and decorative style, so the atmosphere differs from the standard room collection.

Room 257 combines two 12-tatami spaces. Its dark tones, patterned details, and nostalgic furnishings create a distinctive Showa-retro setting. The two-room arrangement gives you separate areas for conversation, dining, and sleeping.

Every room is non-smoking and has a private bath and toilet. The in-room bath uses regular heated water rather than natural hot spring water, so use the communal bathing area for the onsen experience.

Your room includes a television, refrigerator, telephone, tea set, liquid soap, toothbrush, towels, bath towels, yukata, and slippers. Hairdryers can be borrowed from the front desk, subject to availability. Complimentary Wi-Fi is limited to the lobby rather than provided inside every room.

Dining

Dinner centres on an 11-dish Japanese kaiseki meal prepared with seasonal ingredients and produce from Yamanashi. The contents change throughout the year, allowing the colours, flavours, and cooking methods to follow the local season.

Your meal may include small starters, sashimi, a warm course, grilled or simmered dishes, rice, soup, pickles, and dessert. The exact menu depends on your selected plan and the ingredients available at the time of your stay.

One speciality plan replaces the main course with Japanese black beef cooked on a heated crystal plate. The stone cooks the marbled beef at your table, giving you a rich centrepiece alongside the seasonal kaiseki dishes.

You can also choose a regional dinner built around Yamanashi food. This meal may feature hoto, the prefecture’s well-known flat-noodle hot pot, together with a glass of Koshu white wine.

Dinner takes place either in your room or in a dining hall, depending on your confirmed plan. Larger parties normally dine in a small banquet room.

Breakfast is a Japanese set meal served in the dining hall. You can begin the morning with rice, miso soup, pickles, and several accompanying dishes before heading out to explore Isawa and the surrounding wine region.

Onsen and Wellness

The communal baths use natural Isawa Onsen water. The spring is classified as a simple hot spring, with a smooth texture that feels gentle against the skin.

Traditional bathing indications include muscle and joint discomfort, neuralgia, stiff shoulders, lower-back discomfort, sensitivity to cold, bruises, fatigue, and recovery after illness. The warm water also helps you unwind after travelling or walking around Yamanashi.

Separate indoor baths serve men and women. Both provide large tubs with enough room to stretch out and soak without feeling confined. The indoor water is heated to maintain a comfortable bathing temperature.

The women’s outdoor bath is called Himesama no Yu. Bold rockwork surrounds the tub, creating the appearance of a mountain gorge beneath the open sky.

The men’s Otonosama no Yu sits among trees and large rocks. The garden setting changes with the daylight, from fresh morning air to softer evening light.

The outdoor baths receive water from a source of around 43°C. By the time it reaches the tubs, the temperature may fall to around 30°C, creating a cooler soak than the heated indoor bath. This allows you to move between two different bathing temperatures.

The indoor baths remain accessible throughout the day and night. Outdoor-bath operation can change during winter or when maintenance is required. Both outdoor baths reopened in June 2026 following temporary equipment work.

Rinse-in shampoo, body wash, solid soap, hairdryers, combs, brushes, cotton buds, and bath towels are provided in the bathing areas. There is no sauna, reservable private bath, or private natural onsen inside the rooms.

Guests with Tattoos

If you have tattoos, you cannot use the shared indoor baths, open-air baths, or communal changing areas.

Hotel Heian does not have a reservable private bath or a room with its own natural onsen. This means there is no private hot spring alternative inside the property.

Facilities

The Japanese garden forms the centre of the ryokan’s shared spaces. You can walk beside the plants and stonework during the day, then return after dark when soft lighting changes the atmosphere of the grounds.

The lobby provides a spacious place to sit before check-in or after bathing. The souvenir shop offers Yamanashi foods, local products, drinks, and small keepsakes.

A dedicated performance hall has a raised stage, grand piano, chairs, and tables. Selected accommodation plans include one hour of private use, making the space suitable for a small recital, music practice, family performance, or group session.

Several banquet rooms support celebrations, organised dinners, meetings, and larger gatherings. The biggest hall has a stage, while smaller rooms provide a more private setting.

Activities

Enjoy the garden without leaving the ryokan. The daytime greenery and evening illumination give you two different views, making it worth returning after dinner.

You can also reserve a stay that includes use of the grand piano hall. Bring your own instrument for a practice session or gather around the piano for a small private performance.

Beyond the ryokan, Yamanashi’s wine country is close at hand. Local wineries introduce you to Koshu grapes, regional winemaking, tasting rooms, and bottles produced across the surrounding valleys. A reservation-based wine taxi can help you visit several wineries without driving.

Shosenkyo Gorge is around 30 minutes away by car. Walking paths follow the river beneath granite cliffs and unusual rock formations, with mountain flowers in spring and colourful foliage in autumn.

Yamanashi Fuefukigawa Fruit Park combines gardens, orchards, viewpoints, and open spaces. Seasonal fruit picking is also available at farms around Fuefuki, with peaches and grapes among the area’s best-known crops.

For history and culture, you can visit Takeda Shrine, Kai Zenkoji Temple, the Yamanashi Prefectural Museum, or the Yamanashi Prefectural Museum of Art. Lake Kawaguchi and the Mount Fuji area are also within driving distance for a longer day trip.

Additional Features

Check-in begins at 15:00, and check-out is by 10:00, although your selected plan may set a different final arrival time.

Isawa-Onsen Station is around 15 minutes away on foot or approximately five minutes by car. Complimentary collection operates between 15:00 and 17:00 when arranged in advance.

Complimentary on-site parking is available when you arrive by car. All accommodation rooms are non-smoking, while lobby Wi-Fi allows you to connect in the main shared area.

You can choose a stay with dinner and breakfast, breakfast only, or no meals. Luggage storage and other arrival services can be arranged through the front desk.