Yuyado Daiichi

We loved this place – in big part because of the amazing staff. They were friendly, efficient and helpful. Our room was great – very spacious and with its on onsen and a great view of the river. Breakfast buffet was great – offering some slightly western options and dinner was great – but totally Japanese and after a month of traveling we are a bit tired of it. The reason we were here was for the Blakiston’s Fish Owl which comes into feed most evenings – it was fantastic and worth the trip by itself.

Stayed 2 nights. The ryokan experience starts with being met in the car park, bags whisked away, shoes off at the entrance and slippers provided. Then an orientation with a very nice Vietnamese lady, one of the few members of staff who spoke English. We were given a detailed explanation of how to use the two different onsen, and lots of other info that you really need, because this is an experience like no other. The rooms are beautiful ( ours looked onto the stream), the (long and many) corridors are decorated with beautiful art and ikebana, and there are lots of drinks dispensers everywhere - the corn soup is delicious. The food was some of the finest we had anywhere during our 4 weeks travelling in Japan (including a couple of Michelin- starred restaurants), presented exquisitely, and wonderfully flavoured - a true feast over several courses and a couple of hours. Breakfast buffet equally memorable. We only went here to see the Blakiston's Fish owl, so the whole experience was a wonderful surprise - if you've seen the Studio Gibli film "Spirited Away" you will get a sense of what it was like. And we were the only westerners here, which was great, and only added to the sense of being on a different world. On that note, if you're an uptight westerner who doesn't like getting naked in front of strangers, you might struggle here - there are no showers or washing facilities in the rooms ( apart from a basin), only those in the onsen themselves. I don't think we would have chosen to go if we had understood this beforehand, but I'm SO glad we did go.

We stayed for 2 nights and chose this resort for the wildlife. The checkin was efficient and they had English speaking staff. The room assigned was a Japanese style room with a sleeping n living area and lots of space for everything. The staff were friendly and helpful. The dinner meals were individually set for each room at the restaurant. The breakfast was a buffet and had many choices. While you had your meal you can enjoy the bird feeding session. We stay awake while waiting for the fish owl which appear about twice in the evening and early morning. We had to use the Onsen at 2am, just to keep ourselves awake during our wait. For the 2 days, we did not venture out of the lodge as we slept in the day and stay awake at night for the owl. There is ample carpark, coin operated laundry machine and lots of free coffee at the lobby.