{
 "slug": "yamado",
 "name": "Yamado",
 "url": "https://ryokancatalog.com/inn/yamado",
 "location": "Hottoyuda Onsen",
 "prefecture": "Iwate",
 "region": "Tohoku",
 "geo": {
  "lat": 39.4333,
  "lng": 141.1167
 },
 "tier": "A",
 "score": 8.2,
 "score_scale": "1-10",
 "unscored": false,
 "confidence": "low",
 "evidence": {
  "units": 2,
  "op_stays": 1,
  "member_stays": 0
 },
 "kinrt_rank_claim": null,
 "rooms": null,
 "property_type": "Onsen ryokan",
 "style": "Secluded ryokan",
 "features": {
  "in_room_onsen": null,
  "meals_in_room": null
 },
 "summary": "A 12-room hot-spring retreat in the Iwate mountains with free-flowing source onsen in every room, a private bath suspended over the stream that is worth the trip on its own, and Iwate-proud staff whose hospitality stood out most for KI-NRT. The kitchen does regional fusion led by chicken and pork, which he admires without calling it destination dining. He has stayed once, and calls it well worth the journey for a quiet retreat with authentic hot springs.",
 "aspect_scale": "1-5",
 "aspects": {
  "cuisine": {
   "label": "Food",
   "score": 4,
   "text": "Dinner is a Japanese-European fusion built on Iwate ingredients, led by Ginsetsu chicken, a breed Yamado developed (as shabu-shabu and Sichuan-style sweet and sour), and Hakkinton pork as a fusilli and a low-temperature chop, with foraged plants in most dishes and an inventive shidoke cheesecake. KI-NRT admires the commitment to Iwate's larder even though chicken and pork are not his picks for fine dining, and homemade breakfast toast is superb."
  },
  "onsen": {
   "label": "Bath",
   "score": 4.5,
   "text": "The onsen is gensen kakenagashi, straight from the source and never recirculated, and every one of the 12 rooms has its own (Katsura's sits on an outdoor terrace nearer the river). The best soak is Yu-ba Issun, a private rental bath suspended over the stream and hugged by foliage, booked ahead in 30-minute slots. The water is tuned to the season, KI-NRT watched a yamame trout glide below, and they came back at night to soak under starlight."
  },
  "service": {
   "label": "Service",
   "score": 5,
   "text": "Service is what stood out most for KI-NRT. Most staff are Iwate locals with visible pride in the region, and his room attendant Hitomi Kamata was exceptional: noticing his wife's cast, and knowing she usually writes furigana over difficult kanji so he can study each dish later, Hitomi handwrote furigana over every kanji on the menu. Brandt, the one English speaker, was just as gracious and caring, and he is confident you will be in good hands."
  },
  "room": {
   "label": "Room",
   "score": 4,
   "text": "KI-NRT's Luxury Suite Buna was 52 square metres with a separate living area, a bedroom and an indoor onsen that becomes semi-open-air when the large sliding windows are pushed back, done in subdued, calming colors; the view was so good they spent hours gazing at it. It has no desk. Buna is the second-best room, so book Katsura if you can: the same layout, closer to the river, with an outdoor terrace onsen (it was already taken on his dates)."
  },
  "setting": {
   "label": "Place",
   "score": 4.5,
   "text": "Yamado sits beside a forested hill and a stream in western Iwate, and instead of a manicured garden it embraces its remote location, with all 12 rooms facing the hillside and river. The main building holds reception, a cozy lounge and the restaurant Fukuzenbo, hung with photos and paintings made by the staff. There is little to explore on site, and what is there is deeply peaceful; KI-NRT calls it a quiet retreat far off the tourist trail."
  }
 },
 "transit": {
  "cities": [
   {
    "city": "Tokyo",
    "hours": 4,
    "time": "4h",
    "transfers": 1,
    "estimated": false,
    "text": "Tōhoku Shinkansen Tokyo→Kitakami (~2h50), change to the JR Kitakami line→Hottoyuda (~50 min, sparse), then a ~6-min inn taxi. ⚠ deep-snow branch line off the main spine — build in a connection buffer."
   },
   {
    "city": "Kanazawa",
    "hours": 6,
    "time": "6h",
    "transfers": 2,
    "estimated": false,
    "text": "Hokuriku Shinkansen Kanazawa→Ōmiya, cross to a 'Hayabusa'→Kitakami, then the Kitakami-line local→Hottoyuda + shuttle. ⚠ long, ending on a deep-snow single-track branch."
   },
   {
    "city": "Sendai",
    "hours": 2,
    "time": "2h",
    "transfers": 1,
    "estimated": false,
    "text": "Tōhoku Shinkansen Sendai→Kitakami (~40 min), change to the JR Kitakami line→Hottoyuda (~50 min, sparse), then a ~6-min inn taxi — the region-hub leg."
   }
  ],
  "note": ""
 },
 "photos": [
  {
   "url": "/img/yamado-0-9ae04d2d.jpg",
   "tag": "bath",
   "width": 400,
   "height": 300
  },
  {
   "url": "/img/yamado-1-51e6be94.jpg",
   "tag": "setting",
   "width": 400,
   "height": 300
  },
  {
   "url": "/img/yamado-2-c062e08e.jpg",
   "tag": "room",
   "width": 400,
   "height": 300
  },
  {
   "url": "/img/yamado-3-71491f39.jpg",
   "tag": "food",
   "width": 400,
   "height": 300
  }
 ],
 "links": {
  "website": "https://yamado.co.jp/",
  "map": "https://www.google.com/maps?cid=14398881118139389170",
  "jp_site": {
   "source": "Ikyu",
   "score": 4.81,
   "reviews": 103,
   "url": "https://www.ikyu.com/00001634/review/",
   "as_of": "2026-07-10"
  },
  "flyertalk_reviews": [
   {
    "post": 596,
    "author": "KI-NRT",
    "url": "https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/37201425-post596.html"
   }
  ],
  "flyertalk_discussion": [
   {
    "post": 401,
    "author": "KI-NRT",
    "url": "https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/36509798-post401.html"
   }
  ],
  "tripadvisor": [
   {
    "rating": 5,
    "stay": "July 2025",
    "url": "https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g1120934-d1924052-r1020885829-Yamado-Nishiwaga_machi_Waga_gun_Iwate_Prefecture_Tohoku.html"
   }
  ]
 },
 "as_of": "2026-09-07"
}