Araya Totoan
山代温泉 あらや滔々庵
Area photo — not the ryokan itself · Sōyu public bath, Yamashiro Onsen · 掬茶 / CC BY-SA 4.0
The 18th-generation keepers of the lord's bath, Rosanjin's patrons, with Yamashiro's most generous spring flowing into most rooms — and winter crab that can cost over ¥200,000 for two
Araya Totoan traces its line to 1639, when the Daishoji lord named the first owner keeper of the key to the lord's bath; the current owner is the 18th generation, and the inn sits at Yamashiro's original spring. In the 1910s the young Rosanjin lived in Yamashiro learning pottery, and the 15th-generation owner supported Rosanjin — the inn still holds Rosanjin's calligraphy, screens and what's said to be Rosanjin's first ceramic piece, shown in a tea-room gallery. The water is the other treasure: about 100,000 litres a day, the most in Yamashiro by the inn's account, fills three atmospheric baths (including Karasu-yu, a dim 'meditation bath') that swap between men and women so you can try all three, and 11 of the 17 rooms have their own free-flowing tub. It holds one MICHELIN Key. Japanese guests rate it 4.55 across 67 reviews on one leading site, with baths at 4.72, and 4.91 across 20 on another as of October 2026, and praise the art, tableware, staff warmth and cleanliness. Meals are in private dining rooms, built on fish from nearby Hashidate port and tagged Kano crab in winter. The criticisms concern value at the top end: two guests paying around ¥200,000 a night for two were disappointed — by pre-cut crab they called tasteless, or by hair in the room bath — and others found amenities 'surprisingly ordinary', breakfast on the ordinary side or service rushed. Recent stays point the other way on portions: three 2025–26 bloggers found the courses so generous they asked for less or left food.
Latest updates
What newer Japanese stay reports, posts and official notices have added since this review was written
Rechecked October 2026: the inn holds one MICHELIN Key, and four 2025–26 blogs praise the food, with three finding the courses larger than expected rather than small. The official site opened November 2026 crab-season bookings by phone six months ahead.
Room Selection Guide
What the guests who stayed here actually recommendRecommended
Japanese-Western rooms with a semi-open-air bath (e.g. Wakana, Kutani, Shiramine)
Sukiya-style rooms with a Yoshino-cypress tub of free-flowing spring water; some have a two-level tub with a lie-down bath, popular with small children. A 2021 guest paid ¥60,650 per person (two sharing, two meals) for one.
Gojin (御陣) special room and the Arisugawa villa
Gojin was moved whole from the original building — lacquered pillars, vermilion walls, a two-level semi-open-air bath — and is described as a room Rosanjin loved to stay in. Arisugawa, an early-Meiji building made without nails, became a guest villa in 2023 with its own free-flowing bath; one guest found it closed in winter.
Request To Avoid
Sukiya-style twins, if you want onsen in the room
The inn lists no in-room onsen for these; a 2024 guest in one (Room 402) found the fridge empty and only hangers instead of a closet. The low beds in twin rooms felt like a thick futon and were hard to get up from, one 2026 guest said, and another found the mattress firm.
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Dining Deep Dive
Breakfast Consensus
4.1/5Served in Zen-style nested bowls (oryoki) in a private room; guests call it good but 'on the ordinary side', with slightly strong seasoning
The baths swap between men and women at 21:00 and 9:00, so bathe both evening and morning to try all three — including Karasu-yu. Book the free shuttle from JR Kaga Onsen Station at least a day ahead.
Dinner Insights
4.4/5Kaiseki in a private dining room at table and chairs, with fish from Hashidate port: bloggers describe ainame soup, nodoguro rice, hamo, abalone, kue and matsutake, and wagyu steak. In winter the tagged Kano crab course — kobako crab, charcoal-grilled and boiled crab, crab porridge — is the event, and adds significantly to the price. One December 2024 couple paying over ¥200,000 found the crab pre-cut and not tasty; others mention rushed courses or slow service. 2025–26 blogs praise the food, and a March 2026 blogger called the charcoal-grilled crab perfectly cooked; three of them found the portions more than they could finish, so ask for a lighter course if you eat little. Vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free meals can be arranged.
Onsen & Wellness Realities
A sodium-calcium sulphate-chloride spring at 64°C from Yamashiro's original source, free-flowing at about 100,000 litres a day. The inn says the water won a gold medal at an exhibition in Germany in the early 20th century.
Three baths — Rurikou (a 1950s hinoki tub with hiba walls), Gensenkaku (built over the old garden pond, with an open-air bath) and Karasu-yu, a dim 'meditation bath' with a warm and a hot pool — swap between men and women by time of day. One booking site lists them open 14:00 to 10:30. Eleven rooms have their own free-flowing tub; one 2026 guest found their room's open-air bath and shower ran cold.
No policy found on the official or booking sites — contact the inn. Rooms with their own onsen avoid sharing.
Local Warnings & Nuances
- 01
Getting there: free shuttle from JR Kaga Onsen Station (book a day ahead) or about 10 minutes by taxi. Free parking. Check-in 14:00 (last 19:00), check-out 11:00 — a generous stay.
- 02
Winter crab season sends prices sharply higher — reviewers paid over ¥200,000 a night for two; outside crab season one Japanese travel site estimated about ¥50,000–70,000 per person.
- 03
Crab-season rooms go early: in 2026 the inn opened November bookings on 1 May, by phone only and before the menu and prices were set; in 2025 online booking for November–December opened in late July.
- 04
The entrance has no overhang, so arriving in the rain is a little awkward, one 2025 guest noted.
- 05
Floors are tatami throughout (even the lift), which one guest found easy on bad legs; the inn isn't listed as barrier-free.
- 06
All rooms are non-smoking.
Before your stay
Souvenirs from Kaga Onsen and practical help for your trip.
Kaga Onsen souvenirs on Rakuten
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Sources
The real blog posts and stay reports this article draws on
- あらや滔々庵 宿泊記 (オババのトラベルジャーナル)
- 「あらや滔々庵」(北陸／山代温泉) (いい旅館訪問記)
- あらや滔々庵 宿泊記 (オイラ旅レオ)
- あらや滔々庵 (Ameba Blog, エアロ)
- あらや滔々庵 (4travel.jp)
- 山代温泉４ ～あらや滔々庵・部屋＆温泉～ (呑楽食blog)
- あらや滔々庵 クチコミ (一休.com)
- あらや滔々庵 クチコミ・感想 (楽天トラベル)
- 山代温泉 あらや滔々庵 (公式サイト)
- 山代温泉 あらや滔々庵 (Ameba, 2026年3月)
- 山代温泉 あらや滔々庵 食事編 (Ameba, 2026年3月)
- あらや滔々庵 お正月 (Ameba, 2026年1月)
- あらや滔々庵 秋の会席 (Ameba, 2025年9月)
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Read the guidePhoto credits
- Hōshi — the entrance and garden pines, Awazu Onsen · 663highland / CC BY-SA 4.0
- Kitaichi lacquerware shop, Yamanaka Onsen · Asturio Cantabrio / CC BY-SA 4.0
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べにや無何有
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山中温泉 かがり吉祥亭
A big, cheerful 48-room inn stepped down the Kakusenkei gorge, where dinner comes with free-flowing drinks, all-you-can-eat tempura or pork shabu-shabu, and free coffee, pudding and taiko drumming — but most rooms are dated, only three have their own spring-fed bath, and the baths never swap
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Houshi
粟津温泉 法師
A family inn said to date back 1,300 years, with a registered Meiji entrance hall and a moss garden laid out in the manner of Kobori Enshu — the history is real, but the buildings are tired and the big baths are recirculated
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Area photoKaga OnsenClassic
Yamashiro Onsen, Kaga, Ishikawa — about ten minutes' walk from the Sōyu and Kosōyu public baths and five from sister inn Hatori; 15–20 minutes by the inn's free shuttle from Kaga Onsen Station
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山代温泉 瑠璃光
Yamashiro's big 116-room inn with a nightly taiko show, free round-the-clock lobby drinks, vast 24-hour baths and winter crab kaiseki — but the shared water is recirculated, the baths sit down a long flight of stairs, and the ageing building draws dust and upkeep complaints
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Kayano, Yamanaka Onsen, Kaga, Ishikawa — at the far upstream end of Yamanaka Onsen beside the Shinsenkyō gorge, a 20-minute walk from the Yuge Kaidō street and 25 minutes by free shuttle from Kaga Onsen Station
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Yamanaka Onsen Yubatake no Yado Hanatsubaki
山中温泉 湯畑の宿 花つばき
A 48-room value inn at the far end of Yamanaka Onsen, built around the Yubatake — a terrace of mixed-bathing riverside tubs worn with bathing robes — but 2025–2026 guests found the tubs too cool or too hot, part of it shut for works, and 65 steps to climb
Read the ConsensusPhoto credits: Sōyu public bath, Yamashiro Onsen · 掬茶 / CC BY-SA 4.0 / Hōshi — the entrance and garden pines, Awazu Onsen · 663highland / CC BY-SA 4.0
Araya Totoan
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