Overview
Ryokan Gizan gives you a warm Okuhida stay in Shin-Hirayu Onsen, one of the hot spring villages of Okuhida Onsenkyo in Takayama. You stay in a mountain setting known for open-air bathing, Hida beef, deep forests, and easy access to the Northern Alps. Shin-Hirayu Onsen bus stop is only a short walk away, so you can reach the ryokan without needing a car.
This is a relaxed, straightforward ryokan where the main pleasures are clear: soak in natural Shin-Hirayu Onsen water, enjoy A5 Hida beef at dinner, rest in a simple Japanese room, and use the area as a base for Kamikochi, Shinhotaka, Hirayu, Takayama, and Shirakawa-go. The ryokan also renewed several areas in 2025, including its dining space, so you can enjoy a fresher setting while keeping the quiet mountain atmosphere.
You stay close to nature without giving up practical comfort. Every room is non-smoking and includes Wi-Fi, a private bathroom, and a washlet toilet. After travelling through the mountains, you can settle in, choose what you need from the amenity bar, enjoy a drink in the lobby, and begin your onsen routine at your own pace.
Accommodation
You can choose from Japanese-style rooms, low-bed Japanese rooms, and the Sarubobo themed room introduced in 2025. Each room uses a ten-tatami layout with a small entrance area, giving you a simple and useful space for resting after sightseeing or bathing.
The Japanese-style room has tatami flooring and futon bedding. During the day, you can sit around the low table, drink tea, and enjoy the open floor space. At night, futons turn the room into a traditional sleeping area. This room works well when you want a classic ryokan stay with enough space to relax together.
The low-bed Japanese room keeps the tatami atmosphere while adding two low beds in a Hollywood twin layout. If you need another sleeping space, a futon can be added. This room suits you when you like Japanese design but prefer sleeping in a bed rather than directly on futon bedding.
The Sarubobo room also uses the low-bed Japanese layout. Its theme comes from sarubobo, the red Hida folk doll traditionally made with wishes for safe birth, family happiness, and children’s growth. The room adds a local cultural touch, especially when you want something connected to the Hida region.
All rooms include a private bathroom, washlet toilet, television, refrigerator, electric kettle, hairdryer, safe, and Wi-Fi. The ryokan has an amenity bar on the first floor, where you can take the items you need, including toothbrushes, brushes, razors, cotton products, hair ties, shower caps, tabi socks, face wash, cleansing oil, and shaving gel.
Dining
Dinner focuses on A5 Hida beef, one of the best-known ingredients of the Hida region. Ryokan Gizan is a certified Hida beef property, and every dinner course includes A5 Hida beef. The ryokan serves the beef in a net-grilled style, which is still uncommon in the Okuhida area and lets you enjoy the aroma and sweetness of the meat as it cooks.
You eat in Restaurant Kojūan, a renovated old private house that once reflected the region’s silkworm-farming history. The wooden atmosphere gives dinner a stronger sense of place than a standard dining room. The restaurant was renewed so the kitchen can present Hida beef at its best while keeping the character of the older building.
The Standard Kaiseki includes eleven dishes, with A5 Hida beef rib loin steak and grilled river fish as main highlights. The Special Kaiseki also includes eleven dishes and lets you compare three cuts of A5 Hida beef, such as rib loin, rump, and round, together with grilled river fish. The Premium Kaiseki includes several Hida beef dishes, with examples such as sirloin steak, Hida beef sushi, and grilled river fish. The exact beef cuts and dishes may change with ingredient availability.
Breakfast is the Gizan Japanese breakfast. One highlight is homemade hoba miso-yaki, a Hida Takayama speciality cooked on a magnolia leaf, with A5 Hida beef added to the miso. This gives you a warm, regional start before heading out into Okuhida or Takayama.
If you have food allergies, you need to share the details in advance. The kitchen supports the eight major allergens only and cannot guarantee full allergen removal because food is prepared in the same kitchen. Vegetarian and vegan menus are not available, and dislikes cannot be accommodated.
Onsen and Wellness
Ryokan Gizan uses natural Shin-Hirayu Onsen water, classified as a simple hot spring. The ryokan has one shared indoor bath for men and one shared indoor bath for women, as well as four private open-air baths named Hoshi, Tsuki, Hana, and Kaze.
The shared indoor baths give you a place to wash properly before soaking. Shampoo, conditioner, and body soap are provided in the public bathing area. The women’s changing room also includes cleansing products and lotion, while the men’s changing room includes face wash and lotion.
The four private open-air baths are one of the strongest reasons to stay here. You do not need an advance reservation. You check the sign at the door and use a bath when it is available. These baths let you soak with your partner, family, or travel group without sharing the space with anyone else.
The private open-air baths do not have washing areas, so you should wash in the shared indoor bath or your room bathroom before entering. The shared baths are usually available from the afternoon through the following morning, while private-bath instructions are explained at check-in.
The listed bathing qualities include support for neuralgia, muscle discomfort, joint discomfort, frozen shoulder, stiff joints, bruising, sensitivity to cold, fatigue recovery, and general health. In winter, the contrast between cold mountain air and hot water feels especially rewarding. In warmer months, the open-air baths bring you closer to the quiet green surroundings.
Guests with Tattoos
You can use the four private open-air baths if you have tattoos. Use these private baths rather than the shared public baths when your tattoos are visible.
There are no in-room hot spring baths, but every room has its own private bathroom.
Facilities
Ryokan Gizan has a lobby looking toward the seasonal garden, a drink bar, a nostalgic dagashi snack bar, Restaurant Kojūan, an amenity bar, a shop area, shared indoor hot spring baths, four private open-air baths, and coin laundry machines on the second floor. The lobby also provides useful items such as a microwave, chopsticks, and ice, making it easier to settle in after arrival or after a bath.
Wi-Fi is available throughout the building. Every room and the indoor areas are non-smoking, with a smoking area placed outside near the entrance. Parking is available across the road from the ryokan. Pets cannot stay inside the property.
The building has elevator access to the room floors, but there are still steps in some areas. If stairs or uneven movement are difficult, choose your room and bathing plans carefully.
Activities
Ryokan Gizan works well as a base for Okuhida’s mountains and hot spring villages. You can visit Hirayu Onsen, explore the wider Okuhida Onsenkyo area, or continue toward Shinhotaka Ropeway for alpine views. Kamikochi is also within reach when the seasonal access routes are open, making the ryokan a good overnight choice before or after a day of walking in the Northern Alps.
You can also use the ryokan as part of a wider Hida journey. Takayama’s old town, morning markets, sake breweries, and craft shops give you a cultural contrast to Okuhida’s mountain scenery. Shirakawa-go can also be combined with the region when your route allows enough travel time.
Inside the ryokan, your stay can remain simple. You can soak in a private open-air bath, rest in your tatami room, enjoy Hida beef at dinner, try hoba miso at breakfast, and spend quiet time in the lobby between baths.
Additional Features
Check-in begins at 3:00 p.m., and check-out is by 10:00 a.m. If you have dinner included, you need to complete check-in by early evening so you can eat on time. For breakfast, the earliest meal time begins at 7:00 a.m., so choose a no-breakfast or dinner-only plan when you need to leave very early.
The ryokan does not provide a shuttle. Shin-Hirayu Onsen bus stop is around two to three minutes away on foot. From Takayama Station, the bus journey to Shin-Hirayu Onsen takes around 70 minutes, and the final bus timing should be checked before travel.
