Tokachigawa Onsen Sanyoan
B · 7.4 / 10right inn, right place
An 11-room traditional ryokan in sleepy Tokachigawa Onsen near Obihiro, built around its water: Japan's only Moor onsen (plant-derived, reddish-brown once it meets the air, and silky on the skin) feeds an en-suite bath in every room, two of them open-air. The kitchen over-delivers for such a rural address and the room under-delivers (KI-NRT later summed the stay up as 'while not super luxurious, a place we enjoyed'), and the town is asleep. He recommends it as a one-night stay for the water and the cool Hokkaido summer air, and warns not to expect great luxury.
Scores
Food 4 / 5
Dinner does a terrific job with the best of Hokkaido's seafood, produce and beef, and KI-NRT found the flavors and presentation more creative and sophisticated than he expected in such a rural place. The highlights were grated mountain yam with bafun uni under a bonito-dashi jelly (turning the dashi into a jelly he called genius) and a clear soup of uni-stuffed tofu with red snow crab and junsai. Breakfast was equally delightful.
Bath 4.5 / 5
The water is Japan's only Moor onsen, a plant-derived spring that turns reddish brown once it meets the air and is silky smooth on the skin, and it flows free and never recirculated into the bath on the room's deck. All 11 rooms have their own en-suite onsen, though only two are open-air, so the gender-segregated outdoor communal bath was empty when KI-NRT visited. Guests can also use the communal onsen at the sister Daiichi Hotel next door.
Service
Nobody in the thread has written about the service here, beyond KI-NRT noting that the ryokan runs a shuttle from Tokachi-Obihiro Airport and that a private dining room was reserved for them on request.
Room 3.5 / 5
The two-story Haru no Umi special room (97 square metres, one of only two rooms with an open-air bath) is more of a country home than a design piece, which KI-NRT knew going in, but the first floor was drabber than he anticipated: two beds and a small living room with a little yellow sofa that felt constricting. The second floor was far more inviting, with a living room, a tatami room and a big patio holding the onsen bath, and they lived there.
Place 3.5 / 5
The grounds are pretty and peaceful, manicured grass with a smattering of tall cedars (the lawn was a park golf course until recently), and the ryokan sits just off the main strip of Tokachigawa Onsen, a sleepy place with little to do nearby. The nearest establishment is the much larger and less luxurious sister Daiichi Hotel, connected by a covered walkway. KI-NRT went in July, when Hokkaido's cool days make it Japan's best region for onsen.
Getting there
- Obihiro — ~0h20, 0 transfers (estimated). ~20 min by car from JR Obihiro Station / Tokachi-Obihiro Airport to Tokachigawa Onsen.
- Sapporo — ~2h30, 0 transfers (estimated). ~2.5 hr by car (or limited express to Obihiro) from Sapporo across the Tokachi plain.
Sources
FlyerTalk review #145 · TripAdvisor 5★ (July 2023) · #602 (thread mentions)