The Ryokan Guide 2026

Top 100

The definitive ranking of Japan's finest ryokans, scored across eight criteria by our editorial panel. Updated annually.

1

Asaba

Shizuoka·Five centuries of kaiseki and Noh theater above a garden pond on Shuzenji's Katsura River.
2

Beniya Mukayu

Ishikawa·Sixteen rooms where Kenya Hara's design philosophy meets kakenagashi onsen above Yamashiro
3

Hiiragiya Ryokan

Kyoto·A Kyoto ryokan since 1818, where a National Cultural Property building hosts eleven-course kaiseki.
4

River Fish & Mountain Vegetable Cuisine Wada-ya

Ishikawa·At the foot of Hakusan, six irori rooms where the mountain and river have set the table since 1865.
5

Wasure no Sato Gajoen

Kagoshima·Kayabuki farmhouses, kakenagashi spring baths, and a 90% farm-sourced table in volcanic Kirishima.
6

Hidden Retreat Shirakawa Gensen Sanso Takefue

Kumamoto·Thirty kakenagashi baths in a Kumamoto bamboo valley, all fed by a private 68.1°C spring.
7

Sumiya Ryokan

Kyoto·Kyoto's tea ceremony inn since 1916: five tea rooms, Urasenke tradition, and in-room kaiseki.
8

Miyamasou

Kyoto·The four-room Hanase inn where a Michelin-starred chef forages your kaiseki from Kyoto's mountains.
9

Tsumikusa no Yado Komatsu

Kagoshima·Private sulfur spring baths and a mountain forager's table in Kirishima's volcanic highlands.
10

Ryotei Hanzuiryo

Nagasaki·Fourteen sukiya villas in Unzen's volcanic forest: sulfur kakenagashi and Michelin kaiseki.
11

Aizu Higashiyama Onsen Tsuruga Higashiyama Sohonzan

Fukushima·Aizu's sole-occupancy Showa palace: samurai kaiseki, local basashi, and a butler city tour.
12

FUJIISO

Nagano·Sukiya rooms above Matsukawa Gorge, with sulfur-spring waters and nakai service approaching an art.
13

Gora Kadan

Kanagawa·A former Kan'in imperial villa turned kaiseki sanctuary on the terraced slopes of Hakone
14

Shikinosato Shibian

Kagoshima·Eight private hanare deep in the Hokusatsu hills, each fed by the 640-year sacred spring of Shibi.
15

Island Inn of Moromi, "Mari"

Kagawa·Moromi-scented rooms with kakenagashi silica springs in Shodoshima's 400-year soy sauce district.
16

Atami Furuya Ryokan

Shizuoka·Atami ryokan with exclusive Seizaemon spring ownership since 1806, pure kakenagashi to every room.
17

Akiba Nanikyuan

Wakayama·Two ocean-facing sukiya rooms above Susami Bay, serving clay-pot Ise lobster from the waters below.
18

Inami Kokori-an Annex Zuiun

Toyama·Exclusive one-room auberge in Inami's woodcarving quarter, built around Toyama Bay's daily catch.
19

Sekiyo

Kanagawa·Michelin two-star kaiseki, nine sukiya rooms, and kakenagashi springs above Yugawara Onsen.
20

Ito Yukitei Kawana Villa

Shizuoka·Five private villas above Sagami Bay, with own-source kakenagashi onsen and Kansai kaiseki.
21

Shaga no Sato Yume-ya

Niigata·Kakenagashi sulfur spring and monthly kaiseki in an eleven-room sukiya garden at Iwamuro Onsen.
22

Yamanaka Onsen Kocho

Ishikawa·Kaga kaiseki on Kutani ware at the kakenagashi spring above Kakusenkei Gorge
23

SHIGUCHI

Hokkaido·Five kominka villas, private kakenagashi onsen, and rotating gallery art on a Niseko forest ridge.
24

Yufuin Rokka

Oita·Six spring-fed cottages in Yufuin's rice fields, Kyushu's most awarded small inn.
25

Hoshinoya Kyoto

Kyoto·River gorge solitude and Michelin-recognised kaiseki in Arashiyama, reached only by private boat.
26

Ryori no Yado Izu no Hana

Shizuoka·Seven tatami rooms set in bamboo above Sagami Bay, where kaiseki is built on Izu's morning catch.
27

Tsuruko

Ishikawa·Kanazawa's legendary kaiseki house reborn: four private suites with saline onsen and Kaga kaiseki.
28

Yagyu no Sho

Shizuoka·Bamboo satoyama, Kyoto kaiseki roots, and kakenagashi onsen in fifteen sukiya rooms above Shuzenji.
29

Hanaougi Bettei Iiyama

Gifu·Fifteen rooms of ancient cedar and a bijin-no-yu spring in the mountain town of Hida Takayama.
30

Ryotei Ryokan Asadaya

Ishikawa·Three rooms, a Michelin star, and Kaga kaiseki rooted in central Kanazawa since 1867.
31

Kuhe Ryokan

Yamagata·Monthly kaiseki by an eleventh-generation inn in Tsuruoka, Japan's only UNESCO gastronomy city.
32

Rakudo An

Toyama·Three rooms of washi, silk, and earth in a 200-year-old farmhouse on Toyama's Tonami Plain.
33

Yumeguri Yado Fuefukigawa

Yamanashi·Five kakenagashi baths, three generations of yu-mori, and ayu kaiseki from the Fuefuki River valley.
34

Auberge Hanaki

Shizuoka·Thirty years by the Matsukawa: two rooms, hinoki baths, and Izu's most devoted seasonal table.
35

Yado Kanzan

Gunma·Six rooms beneath Tanigawa-dake where a mother cooks and the owner's shakuhachi closes each evening.
36

Mikiya

Hyogo·The inn where Naoya Shiga wrote 'At Kinosaki': seven springs, a 300-year lineage, and winter crab.
37

Bandai Atami Onsen Atami-so

Fukushima·Five sukiya rooms, a gorge-side rotenburo in Aomori cypress, and Aizu kaiseki in Fukushima.
38

Awara Onsen Kofuyuden Beniya

Fukui·Four proprietary kakenagashi springs, Echizen crab kaiseki, and Michelin recognition since 1884.
39

Wasure no Sato Gajoen

Kagoshima·Kirishima thatched hamlet on a volcanic river, birthplace of Japan's in-room open-air bath in 1978.
40

Kansuirou

Niigata·Meiji and Taisho villas deep in cedar forest, with kakenagashi radium water and kaiseki in-room.
41

Monjusou Shourotei

Kyoto·Six tatami rooms on the forested cape of Amanohashidate, kaiseki from a nationally recognized chef.
42

Hoshi Onsen Chojukan

Gunma·One of Japan's fifty foot-source onsen rises through the floor of this 1875 Meiji-era bathhouse.
43

Sakura-yu Sanshuyu

Yamagata·Seven flower-named rooms, each with a private kakenagashi rotenburo, at Akayu Onsen's top-ranked ryokan.
44

Takefue

Kumamoto·Thirty kakenagashi baths fed from a private bore, deep in bamboo above the Shirakawa source.
45

Oyado Nagomino

Nagano·Soft alkaline waters and calibrated omotenashi in a forest retreat at the foot of the Hotaka range.
46

Nishimuraya Honkan

Hyogo·Seven generations at the heart of Kinosaki, where 1,300 years of onsen town life continues.
47

Hirayama Ryokan

Nagasaki·Iki Island's iron-red kakenagashi spring and a table built daily from the okami's morning catch.
48

Ryokan Ohashi

Tottori·Misasa's only thorium spring, housed in five nationally registered heritage buildings since 1932.
49

Tokine no Yado Yumushi Ichijo

Miyagi·Private kaiseki and kakenagashi onsen at a six-century-old National Cultural Property in Shiroishi.
50

Unzen Hanzuiryo

Nagasaki·Fourteen sukiya-zukuri hanare, Michelin-starred kaiseki, and Unzen's volcanic alum spring at pH 2.6.
51

Kanazawa Yuwaku Onsen Kokorian

Ishikawa·Private rotenburo suites and Michelin-noted kaiseki on Kutani porcelain in the hills above Kanazawa.
52

Atami Sekitei Annex Sakuraoka Saryo

Shizuoka·Rosanjin kaiseki and private rotenburo in six Edo-named detached villas on a hilltop in Atami.
53

Tsutsuji-tei

Gunma·Chef Tago's monthly kaiseki and Bandaiko's pH 1.6 spring meet in ten intimate forest rooms
54

Matsuzakaya Honten

Kanagawa·Hakone's rarest spring: three minerals flowing since 1662 through a moss-carpeted Tokaido inn.
55

Sansou Murata

Oita·Twelve relocated farmhouses and a legendary jazz bar in the quiet hills above the Yufuin basin.
56

Zaborin

Hokkaido·Kakenagashi private rotenburo and kita-kaiseki cuisine in a Hokkaido birch-forest retreat.
57

Kamiyashiki Taira no Takafusa

Tochigi·Kakenagashi springs and irori mountain fare in the Heike refuge valley of Yunishigawa, Nikko.
58

Soba and Sake Oyado HIYAMA

Tochigi·An owner-chef's three-room ryokan near Kinugawa Onsen where kaiseki ends in hand-pulled soba.
59

Hatago Wakatsu

Shiga·Omi kaiseki for two, in an 1829 merchant estate beside the Hachiman-bori Canal
60

Hakone Yumoto Onsen Bansuirou Fukuzumi

Kanagawa·Operating since 1625, Hakone's sole ryokan holding National Important Cultural Property designation.
61

Kyuan Iida

Tochigi·A Nasu-Shiobara forest hideaway where two rooms receive the undivided hospitality of one chef.
62

Tocen Goshoboh

Hyogo·Japan's oldest onsen inn since 1191, where iron-rich kinsen water flows from the Rokko mountains.
63

Kamenoi Besso

Oita·A century on Kinrin Lake: kakenagashi alkaline spring, forest cottages, and a gramophone library.
64

Yoshikawa small luxury inn Kyoto & Tempura

Kyoto·Seven tatami rooms and Kyoto's finest tempura, centered on a Taisho garden by Kobori Enshu.
65

Hirosekan Hiten no Oto

Niigata·Fifth-generation kaiseki served at temperature and a kakenagashi sulfur spring of national renown.
66

Jigoku Onsen Seifuso

Kumamoto·Sulfur water wells from volcanic gravel underfoot at this lone 1803 inn on the slopes of Mount Aso.
67

Esashi Ryotei Kuki

Hokkaido·Kakenagashi springs and 25-kilometre farm-to-table kaiseki in seven rooms on Esashi's herring coast.
68

Kappo Inn Taikanso

Shizuoka·Six rooms, a father-and-son kappo kitchen, and Shirada kakenagashi waters on the east Izu coast.
69

Myoken Ishiharaso

Kagoshima·Seven kakenagashi springs on the Amorigawa: Kirishima volcanic water, delivered pure since 1966.
70

Oyado Uchiyama

Shizuoka·Six hillside cottages in Izu Kogen where the region's finest kaiseki meets Pacific panoramas.
71

Omoidenoyado Yunosimakan

Shizuoka·Free-flow alkaline sulfur spring and four Fuurinkazan private baths deep in the Abe River valley.
72

Narashino-no-sato Gyokusui

Shizuoka·Thirteen intimate rooms and a Yumori-tended kakenagashi spring in Oku-Atagawa's bamboo hills.
73

Umi to Irihi no Yado Teisui

Akita·On Akita's Oga Peninsula above Toga Bay, rare radium onsen and ten rooms of open Sea of Japan.
74

Daimaru Ryokan

Oita·Nagayu's only inn on the Seri-gawa since 1917, with free access to Japan's rarest carbonated spring.
75

Former Fukujyuin Takei Ryokan

Nagano·Former shrine lodging in Togakushi's cedar forest, two rooms, one proprietress, 300 years of care.
76

Hiiragiya

Kyoto·A Kyoto landmark since 1818, where sukiya architecture meets Kyo-kaiseki and devoted nakai service.
77

Yugokoro no Yado Ryokan Ichikawa

Shizuoka·Umegashima's sole kakenagashi inn, flowing alkaline sulfur spring water since 1967
78

Meigetsuso

Yamagata·Nakai who recall your last room, Zao views from the rotenburo, and kaiseki rooted in Yamagata soil.
79

Yamagata The Takinami

Yamagata·A 350-year-old relocated farmhouse frames kakenagashi sulfur baths and Yamagata kaiseki in Akayu Onsen.
80

Sansou Tensui

Oita·Ten kakenagashi baths, Sakura Falls views, and Bungo kaiseki on a 10,000-tsubo riverside estate.
81

Onyado Chikurintei

Saga·Eleven rooms of sukiya-zukuri craftsmanship set within Mifuneyama Rakuen, Saga's great Edo garden.
82

Ryokan Hirobun

Kyoto·Three rooms and Kyoto's finest kawadoko, beside the water deity's shrine in the Kibune gorge.
83

Oyado ZUIGETSU

Kanagawa·Five rooms on Sakurayayama where Chef Nojiri's five decades of kaiseki mastery define every course.
84

BYAKU Narai

Nagano·Kiso terroir dining in a restored 1793 sake brewery at the heart of Japan's finest post town.
85

Miyajima Villa Hatago Sakura

Hiroshima·Michelin-quality kaiseki for eight guests, with 130-Mache radon baths facing Miyajima's torii.
86

Hashidzuya Annex Tsukishiro

Tottori·World-record radon springs and winter matsuba crab: two private suites in a 300-year Misasa inn.
87

Kasenkyo Izutsuya

Hyogo·Above Yumura's 98°C spring, a 300-year inn with a nationally honored kaiseki chef and eight baths.
88

Nishiya Villa

Nagano·Irori-grilled kaiseki and Nakabusa kakenagashi springs in a Niigata farmhouse reborn in Azumino.
89

Yatsusankan

Gifu·Eight generations of kaiseki and irori warmth in Hida Furukawa's Meiji-era cultural property.
90

Minamikan

Shimane·Matsue heritage ryokan on Lake Shinji, serving the same family sea bream rice since 1888.
91

Folkcraft Ryokan Fukashiso

Nagano·Folk craft timbers and Shinshu kaiseki define this Matsumoto inn, operating quietly since 1916
92

Kamiyashiki Taira no Takafusa

Tochigi·Taira clan refuge turned hot spring inn: irori hearth cuisine and source-fed baths in Yunishigawa.
93

Garden Inn Sekitei

Hiroshima·Sixty years of Setouchi kaiseki in a 1,500-tsubo garden estate facing the island of Miyajima.
94

Kikunoyu

Nagano·Since 1891, soft alkaline springs and honmune-zukuri architecture define this quiet Matsumoto retreat.
95

Seijyakubow

Hokkaido·At Seijyakubow, Japan's rare plant-based moor water flows freely into a private bath in every room.
96

Culinary Ryokan Yamazaki

Fukui·An owner-broker ryokan on the Echizen cliffs, sourcing every course from the dawn fish auction.
97

Hijiori Onsen Maruya

Yamagata·Wild mountain sansai and kakenagashi iron springs in a seven-room cedar inn since 1868.
98

Aso no Yamaboushi

Kumamoto·Four private cottages with kakenagashi onsen at the foot of Aso Daikanbo's volcanic caldera.
99

Chousenkaku Kameya

Nagano·Three-century Nakasendo honjin beside Suwa Taisha: Kobori Enshu garden and seasonally driven kaiseki.
100

Monjusou Shourotei

Kyoto·Master-crafted Tango kaiseki and mineral onsen beside the pine corridor of Amanohashidate.