Overview

Kutsurogijuku gives you two Aizu Higashiyama Onsen ryokan experiences in one stay: Chiyotaki and Shintaki. Chiyotaki sits higher in the hot spring town, with views toward the Aizu Basin from its top-floor open-air bath. Shintaki sits closer to the stream in the center of Higashiyama Onsen, with a long, riverside layout and source-flowing baths. You can walk between the two buildings in about 3 to 4 minutes, so your stay includes both bath-hopping and lounge-hopping.

This is a good choice when you want Aizu food, local sake, hot spring bathing, and a ryokan stay shaped by history. Chiyotaki focuses on views, creative Aizu buffet dining, and its sake bar. Shintaki focuses on riverside atmosphere, four source-flowing bath areas, and a deeper connection to the older hot spring culture of Higashiyama.

Accommodation

At Chiyotaki, you can choose from renovated bed-style rooms, Japanese-Western rooms, suites, and larger layouts for families or small groups. The 2025 renovated corner twin gives you a bedroom, living room, sofa bed option, spacious bathroom, warm-water washing toilet, cooling and heating, safe, TV, refrigerator, kettle, hair dryer, yukata, and Wi-Fi. Its room bath is not hot spring water. Chiyotaki has also renewed all rooms into bed-style rooms, and the rooms are non-smoking.

Chiyotaki also offers room types such as a modern suite with a 12.5-tatami Japanese room and twin beds, a semi-suite with two beds in a Japanese-style setting, and wide twin rooms. These work well when you want the atmosphere of a ryokan but prefer sleeping in a bed.

At Shintaki, you can choose from Japanese rooms, Japanese-Western rooms, wide twin rooms, semi-open-air bath rooms along the stream, and newer rooms with private source-fed baths. Six streamside semi-open-air bath rooms opened in 2022, a source-fed indoor bath room opened in 2024, and a one-room mountain-side semi-suite with a source-fed open-air bath opened in 2026. Shintaki rooms are also non-smoking.

The newer Shintaki bath rooms are especially strong if you want private onsen time. The 2024 source-fed indoor bath room has a twin bedroom, Japanese living area, and enough space for a family stay. The 2026 mountain-side semi-suite has a wide terrace, source-fed open-air bath, twin beds, sofa space, and a separate shower room.

Dining

Both inns serve creative Aizu-style meals made with fresh, local ingredients. At Chiyotaki, you can enjoy a buffet dinner filled with seasonal mountain vegetables, mushrooms, and rice grown in Aizu. The chefs design each dish to help you fall in love with Aizu through taste.

Shintaki offers a plated kaiseki-style dinner served in the dining room. You can also choose a room delivery option for private in-room dining. Every meal includes access to over 30 types of Aizu sake, carefully selected to pair with each course.

Breakfast is a homemade Japanese buffet featuring local dishes prepared from scratch. You’ll start your day with warm rice, fresh pickles, and hearty miso soup—all centered on ingredients grown and produced in the region.

Onsen and Wellness

The two-inn setup gives you a wide bathing experience. The spring quality is calcium-sodium sulfate hot spring water, known for a light, gentle feel. You can enjoy the baths at your own inn and, when available, visit the sister inn for yumeguri bath-hopping.

At Chiyotaki, the main bath is Yuzuki no Yu on the top floor. It includes a large observation bath and an open-air bath with views toward the hot spring town and Aizu Basin. You can also use Fumoto Yu, a semi-open-air bath near the lower part of the building. Fumoto Yu can also be reserved as a private bath.

At Shintaki, all baths use source-flowing water without added water, heating, circulation, or filtration. Bath areas include Watariyu, Saru no Yu, and Sennen no Yu, with rock, marble, open-air, and cypress-style bathing spaces. In the evening, selected Sennen no Yu baths can be reserved for private use. Some of these reservable baths are soak-only spaces without showers or shampoo, so it is best to wash before using them.

Guests with Tattoos

If you have tattoos, you cannot use the shared public baths at Chiyotaki or Shintaki. The bath rules do not allow use of the large public baths by people with tattoos. Reserve one of the private bath options such as Chiyotaki’s Fumoto Yu or the evening private-use baths at Shintaki, and confirm the current details before arrival.

Facilities

Kutsurogijuku gives you more than the usual single-ryokan stay because you can enjoy the facilities at both Chiyotaki and Shintaki. Each inn has its own lobby lounge, and you can use the lounges by showing your room key or wearing the ryokan yukata. Chiyotaki’s lounge was expanded in 2022, with wood interiors, counter seats with views, table seating, sofa seating, drinks, and books connected to Aizu and travel. Shintaki’s lounge has a Taisho-retro mood, a large central bookshelf, irori-style seating, and sofa spaces with a more private feel.

The lounge service includes coffee and herbal tea, with sake, shochu, and plum wine available during the evening service period. You can also spend time with the library, board games, card games, shogi, Othello, and quiet conversation after your bath. Chiyotaki adds the Jizake no Yakata sake bar beside the lobby, while Shintaki adds the Takehisa Yumeji Gallery, a small display connected to the poet-painter who stayed in Higashiyama Onsen.

Practical features include Wi-Fi, parking, and access by taxi or local sightseeing bus from Aizuwakamatsu Station. There is no shuttle from Aizuwakamatsu Station itself. Chiyotaki can provide pickup from the Aizu Bukeyashiki bus stop after arrival contact, while Shintaki is usually reached on foot from the Higashiyama Onsen bus stop, with flexible support in poor weather or when you have heavy luggage.

Activities

You can build a full stay without leaving Higashiyama Onsen. Start with Chiyotaki’s view bath, walk to Shintaki for source-flowing bath time, relax in both lounges, taste Aizu sake, and return to dinner with a better feel for the two different atmospheres. The short walk between the inns also gives you a simple way to enjoy the hot spring town in yukata.

For sightseeing, you can explore Aizuwakamatsu’s history through Tsuruga Castle, Aizu Bukeyashiki, Sazaedo, Nanukamachi-dori, and local sake breweries. Sazaedo is known for its rare double-helix wooden structure and is designated as an Important Cultural Property, while Tsuruga Castle remains one of Aizu’s key historic landmarks.

Additional Features

Kutsurogijuku Chiyotaki and Shintaki give you two ryokan atmospheres in one Aizu stay: hillside views at Chiyotaki and riverside history at Shintaki. You can enjoy source-flowing baths at Shintaki, top-floor open-air views at Chiyotaki, reservable private baths, creative Aizu dining, handmade breakfast buffets, more than 30 kinds of local sake, two lounges, library spaces, board games, Shintaki’s Yumeji gallery, Chiyotaki’s sake bar, Wi-Fi, parking, and easy access to Aizuwakamatsu sightseeing.