{
 "slug": "iwaso",
 "name": "Iwaso",
 "url": "https://ryokancatalog.com/inn/iwaso",
 "location": "Miyajima",
 "prefecture": "Hiroshima",
 "region": "Chugoku",
 "geo": {
  "lat": 34.2969,
  "lng": 132.3197
 },
 "tier": "C",
 "score": 6.2,
 "score_scale": "1-10",
 "unscored": false,
 "confidence": "med",
 "evidence": {
  "units": 4,
  "op_stays": 3,
  "member_stays": 0
 },
 "kinrt_rank_claim": null,
 "rooms": 38,
 "property_type": "Traditional ryokan",
 "style": "Kaiseki",
 "features": {
  "in_room_onsen": "No (communal only)",
  "meals_in_room": "Yes (Honkan/Hanare)"
 },
 "summary": "A celebrated 1854 institution in the single best spot on Miyajima, beside Itsukushima Shrine and the floating torii, and that location is most of what it has going for it. There are no onsen baths on the property, the rooms run from dated to tiny, and KI-NRT came away 'very underwhelmed,' switching rooms mid-stay and still finding little comfort. The food was decent but unexceptional, service was friendly, and a member in the newer rooms enjoyed her stay. You stay for the shrine at night and put up with the rooms.",
 "aspect_scale": "1-5",
 "aspects": {
  "cuisine": {
   "label": "Food",
   "score": 3,
   "text": "The kitchen leans on local Hiroshima ingredients, and the farmed Hiroshima oysters were the dish KI-NRT loved. The anago (conger eel) was tough and chewy and their presentation of it was not done well, and the local beef pales next to Tajima, Hida or Kobe. He called the food decent but not exceptional, some great dishes and some only so-so. Meals come to the room in the Hanare cottages, but guests in the newer wing eat in the main dining room."
  },
  "onsen": {
   "label": "Bath",
   "score": 1.5,
   "text": "There are no onsen baths anywhere on the property, and KI-NRT lists that among the things the historic setting fails to deliver. In the Senshin Tei cottage the wash basin sits by the veranda across from the bathroom and shower, and because heating is limited to the main living area, a winter visit to the bathroom or shower is even colder than the room itself."
  },
  "service": {
   "label": "Service",
   "score": 4,
   "text": "Service from the friendly staff was the one part of the stay KI-NRT praised without reservation, and when he asked to leave the freezing cottage after the first night they found him a room in the Annex the same day, even though only standard rooms were free."
  },
  "room": {
   "label": "Room",
   "score": 2.5,
   "text": "Honkan rooms are dated and small, the Shinkan run down and tight even in the Suites, and KI-NRT's cottage Senshin Tei was 'wonderfully Japanese, and tremendously uncomfortable': one room under 30 square metres, no closet, no insulation (freezing in November), no WiFi and curtains shut against hikers on the path opposite. After a night he took a 26 square metre Annex room, warmer but smaller, without in-room dining. peachy3 liked the newer rooms."
  },
  "setting": {
   "label": "Place",
   "score": 4.5,
   "text": "Iwaso has the absolute best location on Miyajima, minutes from Itsukushima Shrine and the floating torii and next to Momiji-dani park and the Mount Misen ropeway. The 1854 Honkan is as gorgeous and traditional as they come, and swarms of day-trippers come to photograph it and the maples around it, which is why the cottages lack privacy. Once the crowds have gone you have the island to yourselves, and peachy3 loved exploring Miyajima at night."
  }
 },
 "transit": {
  "cities": [
   {
    "city": "Hiroshima",
    "hours": 1,
    "time": "1h",
    "transfers": 1,
    "estimated": false,
    "text": "Hiroshima Stn ~1h to Miyajima via JR + ferry, then ~3 min walk."
   },
   {
    "city": "Kyoto",
    "hours": 2.7,
    "time": "2h40",
    "transfers": 2,
    "estimated": false,
    "text": "Kyoto to Hiroshima ~1h40 Shinkansen, then JR + ferry to Miyajima."
   }
  ],
  "note": ""
 },
 "photos": [
  {
   "url": "/img/nc_iwaso-0-b236aaa2.jpg",
   "tag": "bath",
   "width": 400,
   "height": 266
  },
  {
   "url": "/img/nc_iwaso-1-e1b2993c.jpg",
   "tag": "setting",
   "width": 400,
   "height": 266
  },
  {
   "url": "/img/nc_iwaso-2-c152d5a4.jpg",
   "tag": "room",
   "width": 400,
   "height": 266
  },
  {
   "url": "/img/nc_iwaso-3-69c2dcfc.jpg",
   "tag": "interior",
   "width": 400,
   "height": 266
  },
  {
   "url": "/img/nc_iwaso-4-1610749e.jpg",
   "tag": "food",
   "width": 400,
   "height": 300
  }
 ],
 "links": {
  "website": "https://www.iwaso.com/english",
  "map": "https://www.google.com/maps?cid=14375829955224491741",
  "jp_site": null,
  "flyertalk_reviews": [
   {
    "post": 1,
    "author": "KI-NRT",
    "url": "https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/34617783-post1.html"
   }
  ],
  "flyertalk_discussion": [
   {
    "post": 31,
    "author": "peachy3",
    "url": "https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/34635307-post31.html"
   },
   {
    "post": 35,
    "author": "KI-NRT",
    "url": "https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/34647617-post35.html"
   },
   {
    "post": 55,
    "author": "KI-NRT",
    "url": "https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/34884511-post55.html"
   },
   {
    "post": 64,
    "author": "peachy3",
    "url": "https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/34948894-post64.html"
   },
   {
    "post": 319,
    "author": "KI-NRT",
    "url": "https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/36234019-post319.html"
   },
   {
    "post": 380,
    "author": "SeamasterLux",
    "url": "https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/36437649-post380.html"
   }
  ],
  "tripadvisor": [
   {
    "rating": 2,
    "stay": "November 2020",
    "url": "https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g1022438-d325033-r783111018-Iwaso-Hatsukaichi_Hiroshima_Prefecture_Chugoku.html"
   }
  ]
 },
 "as_of": "2026-09-07"
}