Meigetsuso
unscored · Ikyu 4.8 / 5no first-hand write-up in the thread
Meigetsuso is twenty detached sukiya villas on a wooded hillside above Kaminoyama Onsen, fifteen of them with their own open-air rotenburo, and it runs as an in-room Yamagata kaiseki retreat with hiba-cypress communal baths. Ikyu regulars rate it 4.77 across 39 reviews and call the food some of the best of all their stays. Winter access over the Itaya pass is prone to snow delays.
Scores
Food
Dinner is seasonal Yamagata kaiseki from local ingredients, served in the room, and the course guests talk about is the beef comparison that puts Yonezawa beef next to Yamagata beef. Breakfast rice is kettle-cooked in two local varieties, and the cellar lets you pick from three labels of Juyondai sake. Ikyu guests put the food at 4.84 and several rank it among the best of all their stays.
Bath
Fifteen of the twenty villas have their own open-air rotenburo, and there are also two reservable private baths and communal baths in Aomori hiba cypress with outdoor tubs. Ikyu guests put the baths at 4.79, and it is the private baths, in the room and the reservable ones, that they praise most.
Service
The inn pays the taxi fare from the station, which several guests mention with surprise, and with only 20 detached villas and dinner and breakfast served in the room, contact with staff is low-key and you see little of the other guests. Repeat visits are a theme in the Ikyu reviews, where several writers are back for a second or third stay or end by saying they will return. Ikyu guests put service at 4.85, the highest mark they give the inn.
Room
The twenty rooms are detached sukiya-zukuri villas on a wooded hillside, with a relocated 1920 kura storehouse on the grounds. One room type has a tatami room, a dining room and a twin-bed Western bedroom plus a half-open-air bath and a terrace facing the Zao range. Another is a 55-square-metre main room and living room with a Zao view. Ikyu guests give the rooms 4.67.
Place
Meigetsuso sits on a wooded hillside facing the Zao range at Kaminoyama Onsen, a quiet castle town in Yamagata off the foreign-tourist circuit, and with only twenty rooms the whole place is quiet. From the verandas you look at the Zao peaks, and at night the moon the inn is named for. Late January puts the Zao snow monsters next door, and KI-NRT had planned a stay here around cherry picking in nearby Sagae and Tendo.
Getting there
- Tokyo — 2h45, 0 transfers. Yamagata Shinkansen 'Tsubasa' direct Tokyo→Kaminoyama-Onsen (~2h40), then a ~6-min taxi. ⚠ the Itaya-pass Tsubasa is among Japan's most winter-delay-prone segments.
- Kanazawa — 4h35, 1 transfer. Hokuriku Shinkansen Kanazawa→Ōmiya, then the through 'Tsubasa'→Kaminoyama-Onsen (one ride from Ōmiya) + short taxi. Single change at Ōmiya. ⚠ the Itaya-pass Tsubasa is the fragile leg.
- Sendai — 1h20, 0 transfers. Reverse of: Direct Yamako Kaminoyama–Sendai expressway bus (~1h15, 6–8/day). Chosen over the rail alt (Tōhoku Shinkansen→Fukushima ~13 min + Yamagata 'Tsubasa'→Kaminoyama-Onsen ~50 min + ~6-min taxi, ≈1.25h/1tx): same clock, but no change and it avoids the winter-fragile Itaya-pass 'Tsubasa'.