Kashiya Ryokan

A kind, family-run place that gives you the ryokan experience you’re looking for.

The owner was super friendly 😋, and the food was excellent!

Kashiya Ryokan felt like a small place where you can really sense Inami’s history, rather than the kind of luxury offered by a high-end ryokan. I’d like to visit again, and think travelers who choose guesthouses and little inns on purpose would enjoy it. The guest rooms have sliding doors and open onto a broad veranda along the corridor. The transoms are especially striking: every room has ones in the Minami-Inami style, which is distinctive to residential architecture. I doubt many luxury inns have anything as magnificent as Inami’s transoms. Even having the one in my room carved by a 21st-century craftsman would likely cost a lot. The tea caddies and other furnishings also looked like they came from Inami. There were pieces that seemed to be by the first Oshima Goun. If Oshima took part in building the inn, that would place it after he became independent, probably in the late Taisho period or before World War II. It’s an old inn, but the rooms, family baths, and toilets were clean and comfortable. It can’t hold dozens of people, so I’d guess it has room for two families at most. With several guests staying, everyone needs to be considerate of one another. We chose this place to visit Zuizenji Temple. The temple is several tens of minutes by car from an area where trains run only about once an hour, and local buses operate only on weekdays, so sightseeing without a car is difficult. With heavy winter snow, I’d say renting a car or taking a taxi from the nearest station is the best option. The landlady is very talkative. If you like chatting, you’ll have a pleasant stay. If you prefer the impersonal feel of a business hotel, I definitely wouldn’t recommend it. The food was delicious and home-style.

The proprietress’s Instagram highlights show a QR code for her LINE account with the caption “Book Here,” but I wouldn’t rely on it. I recently messaged on LINE to ask about a reservation. The message was read, but I got no reply. A day later I asked again for an answer, and that message was also read without a response. Both showed as read only after some time, so it doesn’t seem like they’re using the automatic read/unread feature common to official LINE accounts. I called after hearing nothing on LINE. They said, “We’re fully booked,” then abruptly hung up before I could respond. The tone was rude and dismissive. Their Instagram profile calls them a “Friendly host,” but the attitude I encountered was the opposite. Are they closing down? I was extremely disappointed by such careless, rude service. It’s hard to believe they’re running a ryokan.