Name: Shiroyamakan
Address: 501-5627 Gifu, Shirakawa, Ogimachi 1168-1, Japan, Shirakawamura, Shirakawamura, Shirakawamura, 501-5627, Japan
Rating: 10

Air conditioning

Elevator/lift

Smoke-free property

Heating

Newspapers

All Spaces Non-Smoking (public and private)

General

Family room

Shower/Bathtub

Bathtub

Rooms

Dry-cleaning

Services and amenities

Restaurant

Meals

Free Wi-Fi

Internet

Free bicycle rental

Recreation

Free parking

Parking

Beach/pool towels

Pool and beach

Meeting and presentation facilities

Conference Hall

Business

Cycling

Sports

Family/Kid Friendly

Kids

Pets Not Allowed

Pets

Location

At the hotel

Komatsu Airport

Toyama Airport

Shiroyamakan

Shirakawamura

child-bed

child-bed-fee

external-private-bathroom

private-bathroom

shared-bathroom

10-beds

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king-bed

queen-bed

limited-time

lounge

treatment

no-window

bay-view

bosphorus-view

canal-view

city-view

courtyard-view

garden-view

golf-view

harbour-view

inland-view

lake-view

land-view

mountain-view

ocean-front

ocean-view

oceanside

panoramic-view

park-view

partial-ocean-view

partial-sea-view

partial-view

pool-view

river-view

sea-front

sea-view

street-view

sunrise-view

sunset-view

water-view

with-view

annex

basement

main-building

1-bedroom

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6-bedrooms

not-guaranteed

wired-internet-access

smoking

sauna

duplex

safe

mini-bar

breakfast-for-1

breakfast-for-2

pets-allowed

wi-fi

kitchen

This ryokan is a destination in itself. The village of Shiragawa is very small. One can walk the length of the main street in 15 minutes. There are a lot of people who go to the village only for day trips.  You would stay in this Ryokan not because of the village, but for the spa-like luxury. I went there with my adult daughter. The ryokan is family run. We were greeted by one of the hostesses who spoke very good English.  We had the one room upstairs with a gorgeous river view. The room was spotless and spartan by design, zen-like, so as to appreciate what was around you. There are two private onsens on site. Robes are provided and one is encouraged to wear them after your bath. We took our onsen baths before dinner, but you can take it afterwards as well.  Dinner is served at a set time for all guests together.  There were only 3 other parties of two who stayed there that night. Dinner was a 10 course piece of delicious art, with almost all ingredients obtained locally. After dinner, I went for a night time stroll of the village which is now almost completely empty and quiet. Breakfast was similar to dinner, a multi-course artfully served meal, although it was not necessary for all the guests to come at the exact same time. Check out was straight forward but the patriarch and matriarch of the family made an effort to see us off personally. Highly recommended. Furthermore, the bus station is directly across the street, making it a convenient location on top of everything else!

Luxurious experience

My wife & I stayed overnight at Shiroyamakan & it was an experience we’ll forever cherish!

As I understand it, the exterior of the structure remains original to its late-1800s construction. Yet the 4th generation owners recently undertook a massive renovation of the interior & the results are breathtaking.

Of the inn’s 4 rooms, 2 have been kept in traditional ryokan style & 2 have been converted to a modern style. Our modern room featured huge picture windows, one of which looked out onto a koi pond & the other onto the Shō River (I shot the attached photo of the great white heron from our room!).

The room had its own ductless heat/AC unit & heat also radiated up from the gorgeous wood floor, making it oh-so-cozy. Finally, our room included its own super-modern Toto toilet & washroom.

For ablutions, Shiroyamakan offers two stunning hinoki wood bathing rooms. Each very large room is private, so you won’t be in there w/ strangers & your family can use the spring-fed bath together. I will never forget how amazing the bathing rooms smelled!

All that said, as great as the building is, it was the people who made our experience special. Shiroyamakan is a family affair & the proprietors, supported by their adult kids (plus their kids’ spouses), made us feel at home from the instant we stepped in.

Words & pictures can’t do the place justice, but hopefully this review gives you a sense for how much we loved it. If you’re planning a visit to Shirakawa-go, I can’t recommend a stay at Shiroyamakan highly enough. It’s the sort of experience that lifts your spirit & stays with you.

Unforgettable modern ryokan experience at Shiroyamakan!

PROS:
1. Just across the Shirakawa-go bus terminal
2. Such an immersive and peaceful environment. There was no TV in our room but we spent hours watching the dancing autumn leaves outside our window while listening to the rustling of the trees and chriping of the crickets.
3. Room is large and cozy with traditional Japanese decor. We were able to book the room with a private toilet and bath, however we realized that bathing in one of the ryokan's two onsens (Which could be used exclusively by a group, by just flipping the occupied sign) is a much better experience. 
4. The family was very welcoming and hospitable. Takuya Matsufuru-san, the fourth generation owner of the inn, even gave us a tour of the village in his van (tours were in Japanese which he would later translate into English audio by an app). 
5. Food was great! Kaiseki style dinner, and breakfast with freshly foraged ingredients from the mountains, freshly caught river fish, and handmade soba noodles!

CONS:
1. They only accomodate four groups at a time, hence booking can be quite a challenge, but is definitely worth it!


Wish we could have stayed longer!

I spent one night at Shirakawa-go and I have no regrets choosing Shiroyama-kan. This is perhaps my best ryokan experience so far in Japan. I initially had worries as there is only one room with attached bathrooms and I did not manage to book that room. The shared toilet turned out to be very clean and modern -even better than the toilet in some hotels and shopping malls. There are 2 vouchers per person to bathe at an onsen in the village which is about 3 minutes walk away.

The service and hospitality provided are also exceptional. Shiroyamakan provides free tour (in the owner's van) every afternoon. He drives us around the village and show us the famous locations such as the three houses and the observatory viewpoint. We can choose the time for dinner and breakfast to be served and they will call our room to inform when the meal is ready. Despite language barrier, the family genuinely tries to engage in conversation.

You can trust the photos in their official website: the food serving is that much, the food is that appetising, and the family running the ryokan is that warm and friendly. One example: we were the last one to check out and they asked what bus and the time that we would be leaving the village. As our bus was leaving Shirakawago, they were waiting and waving goodbye from outside of the ryokan which is located just opposite the bus terminal.

Recommended to stay here when staying overnight at Shirakawa-go

We spent two nights at Shiroyamakan in the middle of a 2-week trip and it was one of our most memorable experiences! As soon as we checked in, we knew we had found an amazing place. The family that runs it is so warm, friendly, and welcoming. The food was incredible — all regionally sourced and beautifully prepared. Everything we ate was delicious. You must buy a jar of the homemade miso to take home!! The room was very comfy. We loved how quiet it was. And definitely take advantage of the free admission to the onsen across the street. Plus you get a prime location in Shirakawa-go and can explore the village early in the morning and in the evening after all the tour buses have left. I would fly back to Japan just to stay here again and eat their amazing food!

The best of Japanese hospitality and regional cuisine!

This is perfect for couples and families who want to experience Japanese Ryokan and Shirakawa-go together. The hotel has a long history and has been operating as a family business for 4 generations already (and you can see the grand children checking out the guests out during breakfast). You can feel that the whole family genuinely want their guest to have a pleasant stay. While everything was good (we don’t mind using shared bathrooms), the food was definitely a highlight. We have stayed at much, much, more expensive ryokans but Shiroyamakan’s food is better. Quality aside, the portion of the A5 Hida Beef steak is beyond generous! The head chef is the owner of the Ryokan who happens to take great photos for the guests when they depart! 

10/10 would recommend!

Great hospitality by the owner’s family. Superb food!

We loved our stay at Shiroyamakan and will gladly recommend a visit to this lovely family run ryokan.  We were warmly welcomed at arrival and the hospitality continued throughout the visit.

Our stay included both dinner and breakfast.  The food was beautifully presented, tasty and plentiful.  

The House Dad plays chef, tour guide AND photographer.  At 4 pm, he takes guests on a village tour.  While his English is limited, the tour is supplemented by an English language recording.

While there are no bathing facilities at this ryokan, you’ll receive a ticket to the nearby (maybe a five min walk?) to a local bath.  The ryokan does include both western and Japanese style flush toilets.

We’d recommend an overnight stay here to fully enjoy the beauty of Shirakawago and this lovely family run inn.

Heartwarming and Comfortable Stay

Very tip top Japanese hospitality. The lodging is more than 100 years old but it has stood the test of time. It's very well maintained. The family runs the business for four generations and remains to be very passionate about hosting guests. They offer a tour around the village at 4pm and it's very informative. Dinner was great and representative of the regions production. They offer bath at a nearby onsen. It's strategic located in between the observatory and the village. Would definitely recommend friends to stay for a night!

Stay a night to get the full experience

We are glad we have picked this warm & comfortable “family-run” hotel from where you will experience high quality of service & food, thoughtfulness, smiles, kindness & great hospitality!

The room "Hakusan" we picked is the only one with private bathroom out of the four rooms in the hotel. The room charge included dinner & breakfast. Father & son are the chefs to make those meals for the guests. What an amazing art of food we have ever tried! 

A coupon was given to every guest to enjoy free onsen which is about 5-minutes walk from the hotel. They sent us to the onsen & picked us back to the hotel because it was raining. Thank Nana (the youngest daughter who can speak English well) & all the family members to make this hotel a home-feel place for us! 

We really enjoyed our stay there & will definitely come again if we shall visit Shirakawa-go in the future!

The hotel you must stay when you visit Shirakawa-go

I stayed at Shiroyamakan for 1 night in early April. I wanted to stay within walking distance to Shirakawago, and a room with good view, but there aren’t many good accommodation there. I read the reviews about all accommodations around Shirakawago and decided to compromise by picking Shiroyamakan. For me the idea of not having a bath or toilet in the room was really terrible. However, my reasons for choosing Shiroyamakan are: the location, a room with good view and private dining. Luckily, the experience turned out to be a lot better than I thought. 

If I remember correctly, the host told me that building itself was over 100 years old. However, the shared toilet were renovated (thank goodness). I had the Seseragi room, which has vey nice view of the Sho river. In addition, staying in an old building made the experience at Shirakawago a bit more interesting.

When I arrived, they warned me about stink bugs (shield bugs) as the season was changing. There were actually many stink bugs in my room. I caught and disposed about 20 of them. For those who don’t like bug, don’t stay there in spring. 

As they don’t have bathroom, they gave me a coupon for bathing at the hot spring nearby. I didn’t bother asking for a drop off, but walked to the hot spring after dinner. The street was quite dark and scary as I was by myself. The hot spring wasn’t very relaxing because there were many people.

Both dinner and breakfast at Shiroyamakan were good and very well presented. They served dinner in private dinning rooms, but breakfast was served in common dinning hall.

They had a mini tour of Shirakawago in late afternoon, when most tourists had already left the village. The owner of Shiroyamakan took us to a number of photogenic spots and the observatory point on the hill. The place was actually closed to general public at that time of the day, but we could still get in as a tour group of Shiroyamakan. I was impressed by this fact. It was really good to have the whole observatory for ourselves. Thanks to that I had plenty of good photos. The owner doesn’t speak English, so they gave me English audio guide, which was a brilliant idea. 

When I made the booking at their website, they did not have the option for single occupancy of the room. I traveled by myself, but I didn’t mind and in fact had prepared to pay for 2 people. (Few others ryokans that I have been to actually charged for 2 people even though I travelled solo). To my surprise, when I checked out, Shiroyamakan charged me only half of what they quoted. They only charged for one person. This really impressed me.

In summary, I like their tour, their food, the location and the view from the Seseragi room. Comparing the amount of money that I paid to the service that I received, I think the stay was not expensive at all. 



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