Shuhokaku Kogetsu
秀峰閣 湖月
Area photo — not the ryokan itself · Mount Fuji from Lake Kawaguchi, Yamanashi · Suicasmo / CC BY-SA 4.0
A 43-room lakeside inn where every room faces Mt Fuji across Lake Kawaguchi, with kaiseki served in your room and free drinks on a foot-bath terrace — but the baths are recirculated, standard rooms have only a shower, and dinner moves to a dining hall from April 2027
Shuhokaku Kogetsu is a 43-room inn on the quiet north shore of Lake Kawaguchi, laid out so that every room and both shared open-air baths look straight across the water to Mt Fuji. A partial renovation in March 2023 gave every third-floor room its own onsen open-air bath and turned the garden into a foot-bath terrace where coffee, draught beer, highballs and Yamanashi wine are free until 18:30. Japanese guests rate it 4.7 across 686 reviews on one major site (rooms 4.8, breakfast 4.2, the lowest sub-score) and 4.71 across 607 on another (location 4.86, service 4.78). Bloggers who stayed in 2022 and 2024 and a steady stream of 2025–2026 reviewers — most of the recent evidence comes from booking-site reviews — praise the kaiseki served in your room, a late-night snack of chimaki, attentive room attendants and Fuji mirrored in the terrace's shallow water basin. Know before you book: the baths use Kawaguchiko Onsen water that a booking site lists as recirculated and filtered, and the analysis posted in a room bath gives a source temperature of about 31°C, so it is heated; standard rooms have a shower but no tub; and Fuji can hide for days — many summer 2026 guests never saw it. Complaints in 2024–2026 include a thin breakfast buffet (frozen mini omelettes, tempura left to go cold), centrally controlled air conditioning, creaking tatami, an odd smell in the corridors, over-scripted dinner explanations and billing mix-ups at checkout. And from 19 April 2027 most rooms will dine in a renovated dining hall rather than in-room. Two-meal stays run about ¥28,600–42,300 per person.
Room Selection Guide
What the guests who stayed here actually recommendRecommended
Rooms with an onsen open-air bath — the four on the second floor and all the third-floor rooms (renovated March 2023)
Every bath faces Fuji across the lake. The single Special Room (10-tatami room, twin bedroom, 22-tatami living room, dining room, open-air bath and foot bath) slept a family of five in August 2022 and has 14:00 check-in and 11:00 check-out, but a blogger notes it isn't sold on booking sites — book it through the official site or by phone. A blogging couple's open-air-bath room had a dining room, a massage chair and a roofed bath set at 41°C; an August 2024 guest found the earthen-floor (doma) room's semi-open-air bath a little shallow but the balcony wide. Third-floor guests praised large, new rooms (October 2024) and the counter seat facing the lake (May 2026). One September 2026 repeat guest was given an accessible version that felt less luxurious — check the exact room when booking.
Foot-bath rooms on the second floor (12.5-tatami Japanese room, or 8 tatami plus twin beds, each with an indoor bath and an onsen foot bath on the balcony)
The value pick: guests in 2025–2026 describe sitting in the balcony foot bath watching sunrise on Fuji, and a family on a second visit in October 2025 called the view from the room superb. Note that the 10-tatami foot-bath room has no tub, only a shower booth with a massage shower and mist sauna.
Request To Avoid
Standard 12.5-tatami Japanese rooms — and any room if you're sensitive to heat
They face Fuji too, but the standard Japanese rooms have a shower room and no bathtub, so for a soak you'll use the shared baths. Air conditioning is centrally controlled: one October 2024 guest found the room over 26°C with no way to cool it, and a March 2025 reviewer couldn't adjust it either. Other notes: creaking tatami (May 2026), an odd smell in the corridors (September 2025) and fittings that feel a little dated (June 2025).
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Dining Deep Dive
Breakfast Consensus
4.0/5A Japanese-Western buffet in the lake-view restaurant Therme with a live counter frying three kinds of tempura, small rice balls and a much-praised salt-butter roll — liked by most, but it's the inn's lowest sub-score on one major site (4.2), and 2025–2026 critics found it short on dishes, with frozen mini omelettes and smelt tempura left piled up to go cold
Arrive early: the free drinks in the Tsukimisō lounge and on the Suigetsu foot-bath terrace (beer, highballs, Yamanashi wine, soft drinks, nuts) run until 18:30, and the foot bath stays open until 22:30 and from 6:00. Get up at dawn for the best chance of Fuji and its reflection — the terrace's shallow water basin mirrors it even when the lake isn't calm. In autumn the Momiji Corridor is a short walk away; in spring guests walked to the cherry trees before breakfast. If Fuji stays hidden, staff may hand you a Fuji postcard at checkout.
Dinner Insights
4.4/5A seasonal kaiseki served in your room for parties of up to three, or in a private dining room for four or more; the last dinner start is 19:00. The October 2026 menu includes Oshino salmon among the sashimi, a Koshu wine-pork shabu-shabu, simmered beef in a savoury custard and aosa seaweed chazuke. Guests from 2022 to 2026 praise the amount (many couldn't finish), carved-vegetable touches, a sea-bream chazuke to finish and a late-night chimaki or somen; leftover dessert is put in your fridge. Critics found it too much food (June 2026), 'ready-made' and lacking finesse (April 2026), or explained at tedious length (September 2026). From 19 April 2027 most rooms will dine in a renovated dining hall instead of in-room.
Onsen & Wellness Realities
Kawaguchiko Onsen, described by the inn as a colourless, odourless alkaline spring; the analysis posted in a room bath in 2022 lists a calcium-sodium sulphate spring at about 31°C and pH 9.1. A major booking site lists the baths as recirculated and filtered, and a blogger confirms they aren't free-flowing; with a source that cool, the water is heated. The inn says all room open-air baths and foot baths, as well as the shared baths, use onsen water.
Separate men's and women's baths on the ground floor, each with an indoor bath and an open-air bath facing the lake and Fuji (Kuro-Fuji for men, Aka-Fuji for women), with a sauna on the men's side and a steam sauna on the women's; they don't swap, and are open from check-in to 24:00 and 5:00–9:30. Guests found them quiet, often near-empty, and the water soft, though a 2022 blogger found Fuji visible only from certain spots in the tubs, and the women's jacuzzi was off after 19:00 in May 2026. Two private open-air baths, Kōkō and Gekkō, cost ¥3,300 for 50 minutes and are booked on arrival. No day visitors.
No policy found on the official site or Japanese booking sites — contact the inn.
Local Warnings & Nuances
- 01
Check-in 15:00, check-out 10:00 (14:00 and 11:00 for some open-air-bath rooms). The free shuttle collects from Kawaguchiko Station 14:30–18:30 (call on arrival) and returns every 30 minutes 8:00–10:15. Dinner can't be served if you arrive after 19:00.
- 02
Dining-room renovation from 25 January to 7 April 2027: bookings are capped at two or three people (four in the second-floor open-air-bath rooms), no groups, and every dinner is in-room. From 19 April 2027, most rooms eat in the new dining hall, with groups of up to 10.
- 03
Cancellation: 10% from 21 days before, 20% from 14 days, 30% from 7 days, 50% the day before, 100% on the day. The inn warns that some overseas booking sites it hasn't authorised have shown wrong rooms or prices more than double the real rate — check your room type and price against the official site.
- 04
Children are welcome: primary-school children pay 70%, ages 3–6 pay 50% with a children's meal, and under-3s stay free. The kitchen can't change dashi stocks or handle severe allergies or gluten-free diets; give notice 7 days ahead. No pets.
- 05
Fuji is never guaranteed: the clearest views come in the colder months, and in summer and typhoon season many 2026 guests didn't see it at all.
Before your stay
Souvenirs from Lake Kawaguchi and practical help for your trip.
Lake Kawaguchi souvenirs on Rakuten
Rakuten prices as of Oct 18, 2026 — check the shop for current price and stock. Supported by Rakuten Developers Rakuten links are affiliate links: we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
Things to do nearby
Lake Kawaguchi: sights, experiences and seasonal events from Trip Gacha, our sister site.
Fuji Kawaguchiko Autumn Leaves Festival
See on Trip Gacha
Mt. Fuji & Lake Kawaguchi Day Trip
See on Trip Gacha
Fuji-Q Highland Thrill Coasters
See on Trip GachaPhoto credits
- Fuji-Q Highland Thrill Coasters: Olivier Bruchez from Lausanne, Switzerland / CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
Sources
The real blog posts and stay reports this article draws on
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Read the guidePhoto credits
- Mount Fuji from Lake Kawaguchi, Yamanashi · Suicasmo / CC BY-SA 4.0
- Nagasawa Bungu Center stationery shop, Japan (2008) · Masahiko OHKUBO / CC BY 2.0
More Consensus Reports
Area photoLake KawaguchiClassic
Funatsu, Fujikawaguchiko, Yamanashi — on the lakeside road on the south shore of Lake Kawaguchi, opposite a large lakeside car park, about 10 minutes' walk (or a free shuttle) from Kawaguchiko Station
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Fuji-Kawaguchiko Onsen Konanso
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Area photoLake KawaguchiPremium
Kawaguchi, Fujikawaguchiko, Yamanashi — on a steep slope above Lake Kawaguchi facing Mt Fuji, about 15 minutes by taxi from Kawaguchiko Station (no shuttle)
9 sources
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ふふ 河口湖
Thirty-two Mt Fuji-facing suites, each with a lava-stone open-air bath and fireplace, and two MICHELIN Keys — but the Fuji view varies by room, the in-room baths don't appear to be free-flowing, and 2025–2026 guests complain of three-hour dinners and uneven service
- Private Onsen Rooms
Area photoLake KawaguchiClassic
Funatsu, Fujikawaguchiko, Yamanashi — on the lakeside road on the south shore of Lake Kawaguchi, a short walk from the ropeway and boat piers, about 10 minutes' walk (or a free shuttle) from Kawaguchiko Station
10 sources
Kasuitei Ooya
花水庭おおや
A century-old, family-friendly lakeside inn with generous kaiseki dinners (often served in your room) and rooftop baths over Lake Kawaguchi — but Mt Fuji is behind the building, the in-room open-air baths aren't onsen, and the building shows its age
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Area photoLake KawaguchiPremium
Asakawa, Fujikawaguchiko, Yamanashi — on the Ubuyagasaki headland on the north shore of Lake Kawaguchi, facing Mt Fuji across the water, about 10 minutes by taxi or free shuttle from Kawaguchiko Station
10 sources
Kozantei Ubuya
湖山亭うぶや
A big, celebration-themed lakeside inn where every room faces Mt Fuji across Lake Kawaguchi — but the in-room open-air baths aren't onsen, dinner is now a buffet or shabu-shabu, and Fuji often hides in summer
Read the Consensus
Area photoIzuValue
Shuzenji Onsen, Izu, Shizuoka — on the hillside above the Katsura River, a 3-minute walk from the Miyukibashi bus stop and about 10 minutes on foot from Shuzenji temple
9 sources
Shuzenji Onsen Katsuragawa
湯めぐりの宿 修善寺温泉 桂川
A big, family-friendly Kyoritsu Resort inn with seven free, no-booking private onsen baths, buffet meals and free late-night ramen — good value, but the water is recirculated and chlorinated, and at busy times the private baths have queues
- Private Onsen Rooms
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Area photoIzuClassic
Shuzenji 874-1, Izu, Shizuoka — on the Katsura River at the entrance to Shuzenji Onsen, right opposite the Shuzenji Onsen bus terminus (about 8 minutes by bus from Shuzenji Station, which is about 30 minutes from Mishima on the Izu-Hakone Railway) and about 35 minutes by car from Numazu IC
10 sources
Yukairo Kikuya (Kyoritsu Resort)
湯回廊 菊屋（共立リゾート）
The 400-year-old Shuzenji inn where Natsume Sōseki convalesced, now a Kyoritsu Resort of long corridors, four free private baths and an almost all-inclusive drinks list — loved for its atmosphere and beef stew, but the main baths are recirculated, the private baths are often taken and the dinner gets mixed reviews
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Photo credits: Mount Fuji from Lake Kawaguchi, Yamanashi · Suicasmo / CC BY-SA 4.0 / Shuzenji Onsen, Izu · 663highland / CC BY-SA 4.0
Shuhokaku Kogetsu
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