Yugawara Onsen Itoya
湯河原温泉 島崎藤村ゆかりの宿 伊藤屋
Area photo — not the ryokan itself · The Fujiki river through Yugawara Onsen, Kanagawa · Quercus acuta / CC BY-SA 4.0
A 13-room inn from 1888 where Shimazaki Tōson came to write, with Taishō-era rooms listed as cultural property, two free private baths and seafood dinners that reviewers love — but the spring water is recirculated, there's no lift, and the old wing runs cold in winter
Itoya was founded in 1888 to host government officials and still stands at the centre of Yugawara's hot-spring town, opposite the entrance to Man'yō Park. Two of its three old main-building wings — one built around 1915 for Emperor Meiji's grand chamberlain, the other in 1926 — plus the stone gateposts and wall were registered as national tangible cultural property in 2014. From 1928 the novelist Shimazaki Tōson spent a week here several times a year for more than a decade while preparing 'Before the Dawn'; Tōson's guest-register entry and account ledger are displayed in the lobby. The inn's annex was also the one site outside Tokyo attacked in the 1936 February 26 Incident. Japanese guests rate it 4.5 across 1,010 reviews on Jalan (service and cleanliness 4.7, baths 4.4) and 4.80 on Rakuten Travel. Bloggers who stayed in 2022 and 2025 praised spotless, finely joinered Taishō rooms with wavy hand-made glass, two private baths that are free and need no booking, and seafood dinners of about ten dishes with unexpected extras. The catches: the inn's own bath data shows the spring water is recirculated and cooled with added water; the private baths close at 22:30 and are often taken at busy times; there's no lift and the stairs are steep; and a 2025 blogger found the old rooms cold at night and neighbours loud in the semi-private dining room. In 2026, one guest found the food ordinary and the baths cramped, and another found the indoor bath water dirty. Two-meal stays run about ¥28,000–42,000 per person.
Room Selection Guide
What the guests who stayed here actually recommendRecommended
Main building rooms 17 and 19 (1926, registered cultural property)
Two-room suites on the second floor facing the garden, with carved transoms, latticed glass doors and a wraparound veranda. A March 2022 blogger stayed in 17 and a June 2022 blogger in 19 (a wing also linked to the 1936 February 26 Incident); the latter found the room 'free of mould and dust' and kept almost as built, with the plumbing modernised. Not open to children; Jalan listed two-meal stays from about ¥62,700–67,500 for two.
Room 52 (c.1915 shoin-style special room) or Room 53 for anyone wary of stairs
Room 52 was built for Emperor Meiji's grand chamberlain, with shoin-style alcoves and original hand-made glass (about ¥69,000–83,500 for two on Jalan; no children). Room 53, on the ground floor, is a step-free 10-mat room with a twin-bed room off it — the inn recommends it because there's no lift, though wheelchairs can't be used inside. The new-wing room 13 (2023) adds semi-double beds and a carpeted living room.
Request To Avoid
'Room not specified' plans, and main-building rooms in winter
Cheaper plans assign the room: a February 2025 solo blogger got room 18, in a listed wing but with no listed features of its own, while other guests were put in the new wing. The main building has no in-room baths (washbasin and toilet only), steep stairs, and less soundproofing than the new wing, as the inn admits. In February 2025 the big windows let in cold air at night ('this inn is cold', another guest said). New-wing unit baths are not onsen.
Know which room you want?
Check live rates and availability for Yugawara Onsen Itoya.
Rakuten Travel, one of Japan's biggest booking sites, lists plans and prices in Japanese — your browser's translate button works on it.
We may earn a commission if you book through these links, at no extra cost to you. Affiliate disclosure
Dining Deep Dive
Breakfast Consensus
4.4/5A traditional Japanese breakfast at 8:00 or 8:30, best known for piping-hot dried fish (plump aji horse mackerel in a September 2026 review) — consistently praised for its range of dishes
The two private baths are first come, first served: try them right after the 15:00 check-in or at 7:00, and hang the 'in use' sign. Ask for a main-building room by number if you want the Taishō architecture. Outside food and drink aren't allowed, but the room fridge has beer and Itoya's own sake. Free parking is 30 m away (one car per room), next to the police box.
Dinner Insights
4.4/5A monthly menu of about ten mostly seafood dishes at 18:00 or 18:30, served in the semi-private Tenma dining room (2023), a private dining room or your own room — the inn decides. In June 2022 a blogger had carefully aged sashimi, Sōshū beef and sakura-shrimp dumplings, plus free extras (a simmered fish and green-tea soba); others got a free kinmedai. Add-ons include simmered kinmedai (¥4,500 for half a fish), Ise lobster (about ¥7,000) and A5 Sōshū wagyu (¥3,400). In 2025 a neighbour's loud talk carried through the Tenma partitions; a 2026 solo guest found the food just ordinary.
Onsen & Wellness Realities
Yugawara Onsen sodium-calcium chloride-sulphate spring (65.5°C at source), soft and lightly alkaline. The inn states that every bath uses Yugawara spring water, recirculated in part and with water added to lower the temperature; a 2022 blogger also noted filtration and disinfection. Not fully free-flowing.
Two private baths, free and with no booking: a garden-style rock open-air bath (shower only, nowhere to wash) and a step-free semi-open-air bath with washing spaces and handrails, both open 15:00–22:30 and 7:00–9:30 for 30 minutes at a time. Separate men's (Manazuru red rock) and women's indoor baths are open 15:00–9:30. Guests praise the gentle, not-too-hot water, but there's no view, the open-air bath is boxed in by board fences, the semi-open-air bath is hard to get at busy times, and changing rooms have only a fan in summer.
No policy found on the official site or Japanese booking sites — contact the inn. The two private baths can be used without other guests.
Local Warnings & Nuances
- 01
Check-in 15:00–18:00, check-out 10:00. Since April 2026 Yugawara adds an accommodation tax of ¥300 per adult per night on top of the ¥150 bathing tax.
- 02
No lift in the three-storey building, and the old stairs are steep; the inn suggests ground-floor room 53 for anyone unsure on stairs.
- 03
Rooms 52, 17, 19 and 13 don't take children; other rooms do. Reviewers describe a quiet, adult atmosphere.
- 04
The whole inn, including the garden, is non-smoking; there's a smoking room on the ground floor.
- 05
Only 13 rooms and a small staff: on a busy June 2022 evening only two staff were serving dinner, and the menu explanations were skipped.
Before your stay
Souvenirs from Yugawara and practical help for your trip.
Yugawara 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.
Sources
The real blog posts and stay reports this article draws on
- 「文化財に泊まりたい。」No.3-1 湯河原温泉「伊藤屋」宿泊と寄りみち雑記 2025.2.19-20 (note)
- 「文化財に泊まりたい。」No.3-2 湯河原温泉「伊藤屋」宿泊と寄りみち雑記 2025.2.19-20 (note)
- 旅情あふれる街、湯河原で大人の夏休みを満喫した初夏の記録 伊藤屋 宿泊記《前編》 (東京で暮らす女のとりとめのない日記)
- 旅情あふれる街、湯河原で大人の夏休みを満喫した初夏の記録 伊藤屋 宿泊記《中編》 (東京で暮らす女のとりとめのない日記)
- 【温泉】湯河原温泉 伊藤屋・お見送りが嬉しい登録有形文化財の老舗旅館 (ぽん太のみちくさ精神科)
- 木の温もりと貸切露天風呂のある宿 伊藤屋 クチコミ (じゃらんnet)
- 木の温もりと貸切露天風呂のある宿 伊藤屋 料金・宿泊プラン (じゃらんnet)
- 湯河原温泉 島崎藤村ゆかりの宿 伊藤屋 クチコミ・感想 (楽天トラベル)
- 伊藤屋 温泉 (公式サイト)
- 伊藤屋 よくあるご質問 (公式サイト)
- 島崎藤村と伊藤屋 (公式サイト)
Featured in our guides
Side-by-side comparisons that include this ryokan.
Photo credits
- The Fujiki river through Yugawara Onsen, Kanagawa · Quercus acuta / CC BY-SA 4.0
More Consensus Reports
Area photoYugawaraPremium
Miyakami, Yugawara, Kanagawa — at the top of a steep lane above the hot-spring town, about 3 km and 8 minutes by taxi from JR Yugawara Station
9 sources
Fukiya
ふきや
A 20-room sukiya inn above Yugawara with three free private open-air baths, vintage Scandinavian chairs in every room and old-style in-room dining — but only half the rooms have spring water in their hinoki tubs, and the food under a newer chef divides repeat guests
- Private Onsen Rooms
- Design-Led
Area photoYugawaraClassic
Oku-Yugawara, Yugawara, Kanagawa — at the end of the bus line about 20 minutes from JR Yugawara station, in a ravine below the Hakone outer rim
10 sources
Oku-Yugawara Tsubaki
奥湯河原 海石榴
A sukiya-style inn at the end of the Oku-Yugawara bus line, with in-room meals, a prize-winning five-room guest house and a much-praised breakfast — but its onsen is recirculated and the standard rooms' baths aren't onsen at all
- Private Onsen Rooms
- Design-Led
Area photoYugawaraClassic
Miyakami, Yugawara, Kanagawa — in the old hot-spring quarter, 50 m from the Onsenba-chūō bus stop, about 12 minutes by bus or 10 minutes by taxi from JR Yugawara Station
9 sources
Yugawara Onsen Gensen Uenoya
湯河原温泉 源泉 上野屋
Yugawara's oldest inn: three registered-heritage wooden buildings, its own 82°C spring poured unrecirculated into every bath and two free private open-air tubs — but no lift, steep stairs, thin walls and modest dinners
- Historic Ryokan
- Private Onsen Rooms
Area photoIbusukiClassic
Yunohama, Ibusuki, Kagoshima — a few minutes' walk from the public sand baths, about 5 minutes by the inn's shuttle from JR Ibusuki Station
9 sources
Ibusuki Shusuien
いぶすき秀水園
The ryokan that topped Japan's professional cuisine ranking for 40 straight years — miso-grilled abalone, Kagoshima black pork and a devoted room attendant — though the streak ended in 2024, and the baths and building lag behind the food
- Destination Dining
Area photoIkaho OnsenClassic
Ikaho Onsen, Shibukawa, Gunma — at the very top of the Ishidan stone steps, with a back entrance on the Senjukan's 19th floor that opens straight onto the steps, a short climb below Ikaho Shrine
9 sources
Ikaho Onsen Fukuichi
伊香保温泉 福一
A big, friendly inn at the very top of Ikaho's stone steps, with its own door onto the steps and both of Ikaho's springs in the large baths — but the water is heated, partly recirculated and disinfected, the one free-flowing private bath has been shut since a June 2026 earthquake, and dinner divides opinion
- Historic Ryokan
Area photoIkaho OnsenClassic
Ikaho Onsen, Shibukawa, Gunma — in its own 15,000-tsubo garden on the lower side of the spa town, about 1 km (all uphill) below the Ishidan stone steps and 5–10 minutes' walk from the Miharashi-shita bus stop
10 sources
Ikaho Onsen Nyoshin-no-sato Hibikino
伊香保温泉 如心の里 ひびき野
A large, well-run Ikaho inn in a 15,000-tsubo garden with both of the town's springs — a free-flowing 'golden' outdoor bath and a recirculated 'silver' indoor one — plus sauna and in-room-bath rooms; the outdoor tub is small and the building is ageing
Read the ConsensusPhoto credits: The Fujiki river through Yugawara Onsen, Kanagawa · Quercus acuta / CC BY-SA 4.0 / Sand bathing on the beach at Ibusuki, Kagoshima · NY066 / CC BY-SA 3.0 / The Ishidan stone steps, Ikaho Onsen, Gunma · Abasaa / Public domain
Yugawara Onsen Itoya
Compare rates across trusted booking partners · Affiliate disclosure