This section holds four winter houses at hot springs in the snow country of Japan. None is built from ice; all four are working wooden inns in places where snow lies deep for months. The notes describe how each house is put together and where it sits.
Nyuto Onsen Tsurunoyu
Semboku, Akita, Japan
Tsurunoyu is the oldest of the houses grouped under the Nyuto name, in the mountains east of Lake Tazawa. It is a working inn built of dark timber, low and long, with a thatched wing that guests still sleep in. Rooms are floored with matting and warmed by stoves. The house stands at the end of a side road in a wooded valley.
CategoryIce Hotels
LocationSemboku, Akita, Japan
CheckedSeptember 2026
In outline
Several separate buildings stand along one track rather than under one roof. The oldest wing has a row of guest rooms opening onto a corridor, with a stove in each. Later wings hold further rooms and the dining space. Bath buildings sit apart from the sleeping wings, across the yard and beside the stream.
The setting
The valley lies in the Towada-Hachimantai uplands, thick with beech and buried in snow through the winter. A single narrow road climbs to the house from the main valley road below. Other inns of the Nyuto group are scattered through the same woods, each on its own spur.
Before you write
Ask how the last part of the road is handled in winter, since the approach is narrow and snow is cleared on a schedule. It is worth confirming meal times, which are fixed, and asking whether the wing you are given is heated by stove. Some rooms are held by returning guests, so write early.
Notoya Ryokan
Ginzan Onsen, Yamagata, Japan
Notoya stands on the short street of Ginzan Onsen, where wooden inns of several storeys face each other across a narrow river. Its front is timber with plastered panels and balconies at each level, and the entrance opens straight onto the street. Rooms are matted, and the house keeps a small number of them. Cars are left outside the street itself.
CategoryIce Hotels
LocationGinzan Onsen, Yamagata, Japan
CheckedSeptember 2026
In outline
The building is tall and narrow, built up rather than out, with guest rooms stacked on the upper floors. A staircase runs through the middle of the plan. Dining is taken in rooms set aside for it, and the bathing rooms are held on the lower levels. Older joinery and plasterwork survive across the front.
The setting
Ginzan Onsen sits at the head of a wooded valley in the Yamagata mountains, reached by a road that ends at the village. The street is closed to general traffic, with parking further down the valley. Snow lies deep here and the inn fronts are lit after dark along the water.
Before you write
Write ahead about parking and about how luggage is carried to the door, since vehicles stop short of the street. Ask which meals are included and at what hour they are served. In deep winter the last stretch of road can be slow, so confirm the arrival window you are expected to keep.
Takaragawa Onsen Osenkaku
Minakami, Gunma, Japan
Osenkaku is spread along the Takaragawa river above Minakami, with lodging buildings standing on both banks. Footbridges cross the water and join one part of the house to another, so guests move outdoors between wings. The buildings are timber and of different ages. Bathing pools are set on the river bank, below the sleeping wings.
CategoryIce Hotels
LocationMinakami, Gunma, Japan
CheckedSeptember 2026
In outline
Rather than one block, the house is a group of wings placed along the water. Guest rooms are matted and open onto corridors that follow the bank. Dining rooms and reception sit in the wing nearest the entrance. Covered walkways and open bridges connect the parts, and the river runs through the middle of the plan.
The setting
The valley is narrow and wooded, north of Minakami in the Gunma mountains, and the road in follows the river. Snow closes over the banks in winter and the water runs loud all year. The nearest town lies down the valley, with the rail line and the expressway beyond it.
Before you write
Ask about the road up the valley in winter and about the shuttle from the station, which runs to a timetable. It is worth confirming which wing your room is in, since the walk between wings is outdoors. Meal times are set, and the house asks that arrivals be made before dark.
Hoshi Onsen Chojukan
Minakami, Gunma, Japan
Chojukan sits alone at the end of a road in the mountains west of Minakami. The house is timber throughout and has grown by wings across more than a century, with the oldest lodging block still in use. The largest of its buildings is a tall bath hall with arched windows and an open roof. Nothing else stands at the address.
CategoryIce Hotels
LocationMinakami, Gunma, Japan
CheckedSeptember 2026
In outline
Wings of different dates are joined by corridors and short flights of steps, so the plan changes level as it goes. The older lodging block keeps its matted rooms, dark joinery and small windows. Newer wings hold further rooms and the dining space. The timber hall stands slightly apart, reached by a covered passage.
The setting
The house lies at the head of a wooded valley, with forest on all sides and a stream below the buildings. The road climbs to it and stops. Minakami and the rail line are down the valley, and the mountain crossing towards Niigata runs to the north.
Before you write
Confirm how the road is kept in snow, as the last section is steep and lies above the valley floor. Ask about the shuttle from the station and the hour it leaves. Meals are served at fixed times, and rooms differ a great deal between the older and newer wings, so ask which you hold.
golfsones.com is independent and descriptive. What is written here was drawn from open sources, and those sources change without notice. In winter the road, the snow and the daylight decide how some of these houses are reached. The site has no link to any hotel listed, sells nothing and holds no bookings. Ask the house directly before you travel.
