Kotohira Kadan

A pilgrims' inn since 1627 where Mori Ōgai stayed, with three historic detached villas, newer rooms with private open-air baths and Olive-beef kaiseki at the foot of Konpira-san — a hilly, maze-like site, and service that's uneven

Kotohira Kadan began in 1627 as an inn on the approach to Kotohira-gū and took its current name in 1905, when it reopened as a garden of detached villas; Mori Ōgai stayed three days in 1908 and wrote it into a story, and Yosano Akiko, Kitahara Hakushū and Ibuse Masuji followed. Today it's a 40-room inn run by the Hotel New Awaji group, spread across three sukiya villas and three newer buildings on a slope, with a back path through the garden to the shrine's stairway. Japanese guests rate it 4.6 across more than 1,000 reviews on one major site and 4.2 across 1,645 on another, with dinner the top-scored category on both: kaiseki built on Kagawa's Olive beef and pork, Sanuki Cochin chicken, Seto Inland Sea fish and, of course, Sanuki udon. The rooms to aim for are the villas (Ōgai's Enjukaku, the 152㎡ Chōseiden, the intimate Sentei) and the rooms with private open-air baths added in 2019 and 2023. The bath is a heated cold mineral spring — nothing special, guests say — and the inn doesn't say whether it's free-flowing. The recurring complaints in 2025–2026: a confusing layout with many stairs and a car park below the entrance, communication slips with a largely international staff (others praise the same staff warmly), some worn tatami and poor shower drainage, and dinners that a few found merely average. Two-meal stays run roughly ¥20,000–30,000 per person.