Wabizakura
A · 8.9 / 10anchor a leg
A ten-room destination ryokan in the quiet Akita countryside near Kakunodate's samurai district, where the owner drilled 1,000 meters to give a town with no onsen its own hot spring, piped to every room. KI-NRT built an entire trip around it and gave it top honors in Tohoku (by a hair), with kaiseki that produced the best fish dish of his life. Reservations are really difficult to get, and repeat guests keep it that way.
Scores
Food 5 / 5
The kaiseki is built on local wild mountain vegetables, fish and beef, and KI-NRT found the meals divine. The sake-steamed sea bream head was the single best fish dish of his life, plump and juicy and flavored to perfection, in a town nowhere near the ocean; the rice came steamed with snow crab, whitebait and wild parsley, and the wasabi-leaf jelly was phenomenal. He ranks Wabizakura with the very best ryokan meals he has ever had.
Bath 4.5 / 5
Kakunodate is not an onsen town, and Wabizakura has hot-spring water only because the owner kept drilling until, about 1,000 meters down, he hit a high-quality spring. All ten rooms have a bath fed by it, and KI-NRT must have jumped in and out of his about ten times in one chilly afternoon. The one drawback is that the tubs are not open-air: you slide the glass windows open for a semi-open-air feel instead of a soak in the crisp outdoor air.
Service
KI-NRT stayed once and praised the serenity and privacy of the place, and guests in the two royal suites (Naotake and Shozan) can have every meal served in the suite's own dining room, which he counts among the luxuries of life, but nobody in the thread has written about the staff themselves.
Room 4.5 / 5
The rooms are warm and contemporary, bright and airy and very tastefully done, with zen Japanese decor and modern comforts: floor heating, auto climate control and the latest washlet toilets. The common areas, by contrast, are very traditional and dimly lit in the Samurai-era manner, but extremely stylish. KI-NRT stayed in Naotake, one of two 81-square-metre royal suites (Shozan is the other) with a dining room for in-suite meals.
Place 4 / 5
Wabizakura is very isolated in the quiet Akita countryside, about ten minutes by car from Kakunodate, the former samurai district that is one of the top cherry-blossom spots in Tohoku (full bloom in 2024 began April 16). The traditional entrance gate and architecture give the property an old-Japan look that is still fresh and modern. There is no garden, though, and the landscaping is not as immaculate as at many other luxury properties.
Getting there
- Tokyo — 3h05, 0 transfers. Akita Shinkansen 'Komachi' direct Tokyo→Kakunodate (~3h, one seat). Snow-prone on the single-track stretch past Morioka.
- Kanazawa — 5h05, 1 transfer. Hokuriku Shinkansen Kanazawa→Ōmiya (~2h01), cross to a through 'Komachi' Ōmiya→Kakunodate (~2h36; Ōmiya→Morioka ~1h51 + Morioka→Kakunodate ~45 min, one train) + ~12-min taxi. Just one change at Ōmiya despite the length. ⚠ Komachi on snow-prone single track past Morioka.
- Kyoto — 6h05, 1 transfer. Reverse of: The price of Akita: 'Komachi' Kakunodate→Tokyo (~3h04), Tōkaidō 'Nozomi'→Kyoto (~2h15) — the longest leg of any route, on the deep-snow Akita branch; a full travel day.
- Sendai — 2h15, 0 transfers. Reverse of: Akita Shinkansen 'Komachi' Kakunodate→Morioka→Sendai as one through train (~2h05, no change), then a ~12-min taxi/inn car at the Kakunodate end (reserve).
Sources
TripAdvisor 5★ (April 2022) · Ikyu 4.66 / 5 · #364 · #510 (thread mentions)