Kikunoyu

Kikunoyu Review

This stately hot-spring ryokan was built in the honmune-zukuri or traditional private-house style. There's a characteristic gabled roof, ornamental board above the front gable (suzume-odori), and bow windows. The spacious lobby has cross beams made from the trunk of a zelkova tree. There are two hot-spring baths: Kikuburo is made of Italian marble with a large carved chrysanthemum, another is made of granite, and in beniburo there is an open-air bath. Ground-floor guest rooms face the garden, and some have private cypress baths. Artfully arranged meals on lacquer trays arrive in your room. A bowl of cakes called yokoso manju and buckwheat tea welcome the weary traveler upon arrival. It's a 20-minute bus ride from Matsumoto Station to Asama-onsen, which is northeast of the city at the foot of the Utsukushigahara highlands.