{
 "slug": "chikusenso-mt-zao-onsen-resort-spa",
 "name": "Chikusenso Mt.Zao Onsen Resort & Spa",
 "url": "https://ryokancatalog.com/inn/chikusenso-mt-zao-onsen-resort-spa",
 "location": "Zao Machi",
 "prefecture": "Miyagi",
 "region": "Tohoku",
 "geo": {
  "lat": 38.1181,
  "lng": 140.5967
 },
 "tier": "C",
 "score": 6.7,
 "score_scale": "1-10",
 "unscored": false,
 "confidence": "low",
 "evidence": {
  "units": 2,
  "op_stays": 1,
  "member_stays": 0
 },
 "kinrt_rank_claim": null,
 "rooms": 32,
 "property_type": "Modern ryokan",
 "style": "Kaiseki (varied)",
 "features": {
  "in_room_onsen": "Detached (inconvenient)",
  "meals_in_room": "—"
 },
 "summary": "A midsize, 30-room contemporary resort in Togatta Onsen on the flank of Mt. Zao, its design blending Japanese and local elements into the surrounding landscape. KI-NRT's one detailed account calls it one of the jewels of the Tohoku region, with Chef Naoi's cooking he ranked not far off his all-time favorites. The huge Presidential Suite's outdoor bath, though, sits down a locked hallway and stairs, and he places the property among Japan's pricier stays without ranking it among the true elite.",
 "aspect_scale": "1-5",
 "aspects": {
  "cuisine": {
   "label": "Food",
   "score": 4.5,
   "text": "Executive Chef Kiyokazu Naoi cooks with real skill and does not water the food down for foreign tastes. One dinner was a mostly-fugu course, and another a run of just-made tempura that Naoi-san prepared personally, which KI-NRT found innovative and delightful. He would not put the dining in his all-time top five, though it is not far off. The one drawback is that dinner cannot be served in your room, as the finer ryokans offer."
  },
  "onsen": {
   "label": "Bath",
   "score": 3,
   "text": "The Presidential Suite's open-air onsen bath is a hassle to reach: you leave by the room's front door, go down a hallway and a flight of stairs, and unlock a door (KI-NRT's party held the only key) into a small garden. He would rather step straight from the veranda into the water. The second-highest room category avoids the problem, with its open-air bath on the balcony of an upper floor. Nobody in the thread has described the communal baths."
  },
  "service": {
   "label": "Service",
   "score": 3.5,
   "text": "Service was courteous, friendly and attentive, but KI-NRT would not say the staff went above and beyond. When he asked them to call once the morning road report for the Zao Echo Line came through, they suggested a website, and although they asked about his plans on arrival, nobody flagged that Miyagi Fox Village would be closed the Wednesday he meant to visit. On the plus side, Chikusenso does laundry and pressing, which very few ryokans offer."
  },
  "room": {
   "label": "Room",
   "score": 3.5,
   "text": "The Presidential Suite, the top room of the 30, is an enormous 116 square metres with absolute privacy in all directions, so you can leave the shades open all day and night, and it has just about every modern convenience and piece of technology you could hope for. KI-NRT found the decor and furniture a bit strange and not to his taste, though it was a comfortable place to relax."
  },
  "setting": {
   "label": "Place",
   "score": 3.5,
   "text": "Chikusenso is a relatively new build in Togatta Onsen on the flank of Mt. Zao, and it combines contemporary design with traditional Japanese and local elements in a way that blends nicely with the serene natural surroundings. The Zao Echo Line scenic road is nearby (it closes at the slightest hint of bad weather), as is Miyagi Fox Village, and KI-NRT slots the stop into his Tohoku driving routes between Matsushima and Iizaka Onsen."
  }
 },
 "transit": {
  "cities": [
   {
    "city": "Sendai",
    "hours": 1,
    "time": "~1h",
    "transfers": 1,
    "estimated": true,
    "text": "Chikusenso is roughly 1h by car from Sendai, or shinkansen to Shiroishi-Zao (~15 min) plus about 40 min by car."
   },
   {
    "city": "Tokyo",
    "hours": 2.7,
    "time": "~2h40",
    "transfers": 1,
    "estimated": true,
    "text": "Tohoku Shinkansen Yamabiko from Tokyo to Shiroishi-Zao is about 2h, then roughly 40 min by car up to Zao Onsen."
   }
  ],
  "note": ""
 },
 "photos": [
  {
   "url": "/img/nc_chikusensomtzaoonsenresortspa-0-b5deed96.jpg",
   "tag": "bath",
   "width": 400,
   "height": 300
  },
  {
   "url": "/img/nc_chikusensomtzaoonsenresortspa-1-d00927c3.jpg",
   "tag": "room",
   "width": 400,
   "height": 266
  },
  {
   "url": "/img/nc_chikusensomtzaoonsenresortspa-2-7291b402.jpg",
   "tag": "setting",
   "width": 400,
   "height": 263
  },
  {
   "url": "/img/nc_chikusensomtzaoonsenresortspa-3-b28bda56.jpg",
   "tag": "interior",
   "width": 400,
   "height": 225
  },
  {
   "url": "/img/nc_chikusensomtzaoonsenresortspa-4-0c29f37f.jpg",
   "tag": "food",
   "width": 400,
   "height": 265
  }
 ],
 "links": {
  "website": "https://www.mtzaoresort.com/en/",
  "map": "https://www.google.com/maps?cid=1382124628300674549",
  "jp_site": null,
  "flyertalk_reviews": [],
  "flyertalk_discussion": [
   {
    "post": 10,
    "author": "KI-NRT",
    "url": "https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/34619989-post10.html"
   },
   {
    "post": 634,
    "author": "KI-NRT",
    "url": "https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/37294049-post634.html"
   }
  ],
  "tripadvisor": [
   {
    "rating": 4,
    "stay": "October 2020",
    "url": "https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g1104107-d1875562-r781872087-Chikusenso_Onsen-Zao_machi_Katta_gun_Miyagi_Prefecture_Tohoku.html"
   }
  ]
 },
 "as_of": "2026-09-07"
}