Hakone Ginyu

Hakone Ginyu is a ryokan (traditional Japanese inn) in Miyanoshita, Hakone, at about 420 m above the Hayakawa Valley, where every room has its own terrace and private open-air hot-spring bath facing the mountains. It suits couples, on honeymoon or celebrating an anniversary, and families who want to bathe and dine without leaving their room, for one or two nights.

A rotemburo in every room

A rotemburo is an open-air hot-spring bath. At Hakone Ginyu, every room has one on its terrace, facing the Hayakawa Valley and the Hakone mountains. You bathe whenever you like, without sharing, which suits couples, families with children and travellers who are hesitant about communal bathing. Dinner and breakfast are also served in the room.

Four floors, four room types

The ryokan has four room types, one per floor. The Sora, Hoshi and Tsuki types come in a Japanese version, on tatami (traditional mats) with futons, and a queen-bed version; every room has a dining room, often with a sunken kotatsu table, and a mini-kitchen.

• Sora, on the 2nd floor, 68 m², looks into the nearby forest trees, at their best in the autumn-leaf and mountain-cherry seasons. It is the least expensive category: Shiun, an 8-tatami Japanese room for up to four; Yugiri, with a queen bed, for a couple.
• Hoshi, on the 3rd floor, 68 m², has mountain views: Seiya, a 10-tatami Japanese room, for a family; Ginga, with a queen bed.
• Tsuki, on the ground floor, has a large terrace and two baths: an open-air bath with a jacuzzi function and an indoor bath facing the terrace, usable in any weather. Meigetsu, a 100 m² Japanese room, suits a family; Fukou, 80 m² with a queen bed, is the honeymoon room.
• Kaze, on the 4th floor, is a single 100 m² room, Keifu, with the highest view over the mountains, an open-air bath and an indoor bath: for a family or a small group of up to four.

The ryokan's site gives no children's policy; the Japanese-style rooms are presented as suited to families and small groups.

Public baths and spa

Besides the bath in your room, two infinity public baths, Tsuki-shiro and Tsuki-ne, each have an open-air bath and a low-temperature sauna facing the Hakone mountains. Men and women swap sides at 10 pm. They are open from 2 pm to 10.30 am the next day, local time. Our guide to onsen etiquette explains public-bath customs.

Ginyu Spa occupies a separate pavilion with a water garden and an open-air bath fed straight from the spring. It is open from 10 am to 8 pm, last admission 6 pm, to guests who book a treatment.

Dining and bar

The kaiseki dinner (a seasonal Japanese meal of many small courses), with a menu that changes monthly, is served in the room from 6 pm. Breakfast, Japanese or Western, is served in the room at 8 or 9.30 am, local time. For a change, the Yuan teppanyaki counter (cooking on a hot iron plate) has opened recently.

After dinner, the Ginyu Shijin lounge and Bo-yu bar on the 5th floor open from 7.30 to 10 pm; on the ground floor, the Myo-jo lounge looks onto the garden.

Booking and what the price includes

The ryokan takes bookings by phone, from 9 am, up to one year ahead; New Year bookings open on 1 September at 10 am. We handle this for you. The official 2027 rate card includes kaiseki dinner, breakfast, service, consumption tax and the onsen tax. Cancellation costs 30% of the price from three to two days before arrival, 50% the day before and 100% on the day. Check-in is from 2 pm and check-out by 11 am, local time.

Location and what to do nearby

The ryokan is at 100-1 Miyanoshita, a 3-minute walk from Miyanoshita Station on the Hakone Tozan mountain railway. From Tokyo Station, the shinkansen (bullet train) reaches Odawara in 30 minutes, then the Hakone Tozan climbs in 40 minutes. From Shinjuku, the Romancecar, the Odakyu company's limited express, reaches Hakone-Yumoto in about 80 minutes, then the Hakone Tozan climbs to Miyanoshita in 30 minutes.

The same line continues to Gora, for the Hakone Open-Air Museum, then the cable car and ropeway to Owakudani and Lake Ashi. The ropeway is partly closed from 7 to 24 December 2026 (Owakudani-Sounzan section) and from 12 January to 26 February 2027 (Togendai-Owakudani section), with replacement buses. Cherry-blossom and autumn-leaf dates are covered in our guide to seasons and cherry blossoms.

How it compares in Hakone

Of the three ryokans in our Hakone selection, Hakone Ginyu is the only one where every room has its own open-air bath, and its published price already includes the onsen tax. In our check for April 2027, its cheapest room, with an open-air bath, cost about two thirds of the entry room at Gora Kadan, which has none. Gora Kadan, on the other hand, has a pool, a spa and larger pavilions. KAI Hakone, lower down the valley in Hakone-Yumoto, costs less, with hinoki public baths and four rooms out of 34 with a private bath.