Shirakone Onsen Yumoto Saito Ryokan, a famous hot spring in Matsumoto, Nagano, offers free-flowing hot-spring water and the tastes of Shinshu.

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Shirakone Onsen Yumoto Saito Ryokan] Exterior

If you stay in the inn for three days, you will not catch a cold for three years.

Shirakone Onsen is a hot spring resort surrounded by deep mountains, located by train and bus from JR Matsumoto Station. Shirakone Onsen has long been a favorite of hot-spring cure guests, allowing them to forget the hustle and bustle of the city and feel the changing of the four seasons. The Shirakone Onsen is so effective that there is a saying, "If you stay in the hot spring for three days, you will not catch a cold for three years. The milky white water is mildly acidic and gentle to the skin, and its high sulfur and carbonic acid content dilates blood vessels and warms the body.

In fact, the water is clear at first and gradually turns cloudy white. For more information about Shirakone Onsen, including its secret, please read the following article!

Shirakone Onsen Yumoto Saito Ryokan

Shirakone Onsen Yumoto Saito Ryokan is located almost at the deepest point of Shirakone Onsen. A holiday in a secluded hot spring in the midst of magnificent nature will surely relieve your daily fatigue. Relaxing rooms, soothing hot water, and delicious food from Shinshu....
We have actually stayed at Shirakone Onsen Yumoto Saito Ryokan and would like to introduce you to the unique experience of staying here!
Shirakone Onsen Yumoto Saito Ryokan official website

16:00 Check in

From JR Matsumoto Station, we headed up the mountain road to Shirakone Onsen. The deepening mountains make you feel a little anxious, but also excited, and the trip is about to begin. As we proceeded, we saw a sign for Shirakone Onsen. This is in the Chubu-Sangaku National Park. There are many places of interest nearby, such as Kamikochi and Norikura Plateau, so we recommend staying here in addition to sightseeing in the area.

Finally, we arrived at "Shirakone Onsen Yumoto Saito Ryokan". The magnificent appearance of the Ryokan is a sight to behold. When you pass through the door, you will find a modern wooden building with a Japanese feel and an extraordinary atmosphere. The lobby is also built with chic furniture. You will feel comfortable in this adult space where you can relax wherever you are.
The staff will politely introduce you to the spacious building while chatting with you somewhat on the way to your room. You can feel the hospitality of the staff. Finally, you arrive at today's room. I love the elation I feel when I open the door to my room at a ryokan.
A bookkeeping room with a relaxed atmosphere
Shirakone Onsen Yumoto Saito Ryokan has a total of 51 rooms in the Skezanso, Showakan, and Makisuiso inns. Each room has a different atmosphere, and you will be able to spend a comfortable stay in the magnificent nature spreading out beyond the window. The room I will be staying in today is the Sakaisanso. It is said that the room was named "Kaisanso" after Nakazato Kaisan, the author of the novel "Daibosatsu Touge" in which Shirakone Onsen appears, because he stayed there to get ideas for his novel. The standard guest room at Kaisanso, where we actually stayed, is spacious and relaxing with a pure Japanese-style atmosphere. While enjoying the pleasant aroma of the tatami mats, you will be served tea and the prepared arrival sweets. I enjoyed the time passing slowly while relieving my travel fatigue with sweet sweets.

After taking a short rest in the room, we headed for the hot spring, the purpose of this trip.
Rooms with a Japanese feel
Tea and "Shifuku mochi" (rice cake)

17:00 Go to Shirakone-no-yu

Shirakone Onsen Yumoto Saito Ryokan has three types of hot springs in addition to private baths: Ryujin no Yu, Yakushi no Yu, and Onigajo. All are directly drawn from their own hot springs and are free-flowing hot-spring water. Please note that the men and women in the Ryujin no Yu, Yakushi no Yu, and Onigajo baths change according to the time of day, so please be careful if you want to enjoy all of them.

The author will enter Yakushi no Yu first. There is an indoor bath and a covered outdoor bath in the washroom. The smell of sulfur wafted through the air as soon as I entered the bathhouse. After cleaning off the dirt from my body, it was time to bathe in the Hakubone-no-yu. As I entered the milky white water, which was kept at a moderate temperature, my daily fatigue seemed to be washed away at once. The open-air bath is a cozy structure lined with craggy rocks. The spacious bathhouse is nice, but the compact open-air bath is more relaxing. Outside is a small garden-like structure. Unfortunately, it was raining that day, but the atmosphere of the rain drizzling down was uniquely special. I was glad it was raining.

I thought of going back to my room, but it was still a little early for dinner. I remembered the conversation I had with the staff member who guided me to my room.

The author asked, "Is it possible to enter the roofless open-air bath-only Onigajo on rainy days?"
Staff member: "It's not impossible to enter, but I don't recommend it because it will be like training in the rain (laughs).

It is still raining outside. However, this writer felt special about this rain and headed to Onigajo for "training". Of course, there were no other guests. I was even more attracted to the private open-air bath. When I left the changing room, there it was, the open-air bath. We were told that it retained the atmosphere of a spa from a long time ago, with no washing area. The rain was getting heavier, but we had no choice but to enter. We enjoyed the Shirakotsu hot spring while being drenched by the pouring rain. As the staff said, it was like "training," and we couldn't stand it and moved to a place with a roof for a little while. This was another good memory of the trip, but please enjoy bathing at your own risk.
The open-air bath "Onigajo" is clear water.
The water is clear but turns white as time passes. Shirakone Onsen Yumoto Saito Ryokan

19:00 Dinner

It was time for the long-awaited dinner. The venue is Azumino Restaurant. As soon as you take your seats, a delicious-looking meal is in front of you. Today's main course is Shinshu Premium Beef Shabu Shabu. The brightly shining beef looks very delicious. While warming up the shabu-shabu broth, we proceeded to eat our appetizers, and then the sashimi arrived. It consisted of three kinds of fish: Shinshu salmon, Shinano snow trout, and Shinshu giant char. The Shinshu salmon had a delicious non-toxic fatty flesh, the snow trout was protein-rich, and the iwana (rockfish) had a fine fatty taste within its proteininess. I was impressed by the completely different tastes of the same fish. The iwana is also served grilled with salt. The fluffy meat was perfectly salted and was a perfect bite. The shabu-shabu broth was warming up, so I quickly dipped the meat into the broth and took a bite. It was such a luxurious dish that we could almost say the meat melted in our mouths.
Vivid Shinshu premium beef.
From left to right: Shinshu Daio char, Shinshu salmon, and Shinano snow trout.
We had enjoyed the foods of Shinshu up to this point, but looking back, we were surprised by the two dishes we had after this. The first was the Shinshu Herb Chicken and Summer Vegetable Cold Vegetables. What surprised me was the appearance. The menu had so far been consistent with Japanese cuisine, but at first glance it looked like something you would expect to see at a French restaurant, which left me puzzled and saying, "What? I was puzzled. The red sauce was made of plum paste and the jus was made of ponzu. We enjoyed the Shinshu herb chicken and fresh cold greens that went well with both sauces and jellies.

Next came the fried dish. The twisted fish and thin sticks...what is this? It is actually a dish called "tsubura-age," a local delicacy of Azumino, Shinshu, made by frying a rainbow trout (nijimasu) whole after opening its back. The thin sticks around the trout are deep-fried buckwheat. The texture is pleasantly crispy, and the buckwheat flavor is subtle. The yellow ones are deep-fried corn. It was a rare meal with a fluffy and sweet taste. Now, let's take a bite of the main dish, enage. I imagined it to be a salty deep-fried dish like deep-fried fish with a fried fish sauce, but to my surprise, it was sweet and salty. That's because it is seasoned with soy sauce, sake, mirin, and other seasonings to give it a strong sweet taste. It is a local dish of Azumino, Shinshu that can be easily enjoyed not only as a side dish or snack, but also as a snack.

Finally, dinner ends with rice cooked with wild vegetables, pickles, miso soup made with Shinshu black miso, and dessert. There are many inns that use local products, but this level of attention to detail is rare, and it was a very satisfying dinner.
Shinshu herb chicken and summer vegetable cold vegetables. You can strongly feel the original taste of vegetables.
Round fried rainbow trout. It is a local dish of Azumino, Shinshu.

22:00 Dinner again...

The purpose of this trip was a hot-spring cure. If that is the case, we will head to the hot spring once again. It is dangerous to enter the hot spring on a full stomach, so we decided to take a rest in our rooms before heading back. Now that the rain had cleared up, we headed back to Onigajo. The atmosphere at Onigajo was very different from that of the rainy day. The sounds of insects and swaying trees could be heard. The water felt a little warmer than the Yakushi no Yu, and I felt as if I could stay in the bath forever.
My body warmed up and I gradually fell into a trance. I returned to my room and immediately went to bed. Perhaps it was because of the high quality hot water, but I was able to fall into a deeper sleep than usual.

6:30 Morning bath, the best part of a hot spring resort

It would be nice to sleep until just before breakfast time, but the purpose of this trip was a hot-spring cure. I woke up earlier than usual and headed for the hot spring. There was a changeover at midnight, so I went to Ryujin-no-yu in the morning. There were few other visitors, so I felt a little special. It is a good hot spring today, too.

I rubbed my sleepy eyes as I came here, but it gradually awakened me. But I feel a little warm.... This relaxing time is an elegant moment that only those who wake up early and come to the hot spring can enjoy. I wish this time could last forever, but my body is honest. Even though I had a full dinner, I was getting hungry. I regret that I am not able to finish my dinner, but I am going to have breakfast.
Ryujin no Yu [Image provided by] Shirakone Onsen Yumoto Saito Ryokan

8:00 Breakfast

Breakfast was at Azumino, the same place as yesterday's dinner. By the time we get to our seats, we are starving. Breakfast is mainly Japanese. Grilled fish, hot spring eggs, pickles, and other items typical of an onsen ryokan make for a pleasant start to the morning.

There are two main features of the breakfast. The hot tofu heated by the hot spring source and the hot spring rice porridge cooked in hot spring water that can be drunk. The onsen porridge, in particular, is completely free of the sulfuric spring water and each mouthful gives you a unique sensation as it soaks into your body. It is said that the restaurant's origins date back to the old days when porridge was cooked in the medicinal hot spring water and served to guests who could not get enough to eat. White rice and bread are also available, but we hope you will try our signature hot spring porridge, which is good for the stomach and intestines.
Hot tofu heated at the source. It is simple but has a deep taste.
Onsen porridge cooked in hot spring water that can be drunk. It goes into your body without hesitation.

10:00 Check out

The enjoyable hot-spring cure trip ended quickly at check-out time. You will be on your way home, impressed by the courteous staff who took care of you until the very end. The inn was frustrated that it could not provide enough hospitality due to the Corona disaster, and we guests felt lonely at times, but we are very happy that new "hospitality" has returned again. We will return to our daily routines again, with our hair pulled back by the hospitality of Shirakone Onsen Yumoto Saito Ryokan, which has been devised. And I promised to return to seek healing.

A special moment with nothing special to do

How was it? This trip was all about soaking in hot spring water, eating Shinshu cuisine, and relaxing. We did not do anything special, but we made our stay a little more luxurious and made it a special moment. This is a trip that consists of the hospitality that 【Shirakone Onsen Yumoto Saito Ryokan】 values. Why not heal the fatigue of daily life by spending a holiday in a secluded hot spring at the Shirakone Onsen Yumoto Saito Ryokan?
We recommend that you book your stay at Shirakone Onsen Yumoto Saito Ryokan with the " JR East View Dynamic Rail Package "!
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