Koraku Onyado Fujiginkei

Location and views

This is a seven-story ryokan on the shore of Lake Kawaguchi, in the Asakawa district of Fujikawaguchiko. Almost every one of the 31 rooms in the main building looks out across the lake to Mount Fuji, and on the seventh and top floor is Fujimi no Yu, an open-air bath with sweeping views. Two Western-style rooms are specifically listed as not having a Mount Fuji view, so if the view is what decides the stay for you, it is worth checking the room type when you book.

Guest rooms

The 31 rooms break down into 14 Japanese-style tatami rooms and 17 Japanese-Western rooms. Bettei Rin, the upscale Japanese-modern annex (Sora II, Sora, Yama, Mizuumi and Hana), lets you choose between Japanese-Western and Japanese-style tatami rooms, and its rooms have a bidet toilet as well as a shower room and a mist sauna. In the main building, the special rooms Ginkei and Koraku are Japanese-Western and Japanese-style tatami rooms built on a more generous scale, which works well for families. The main building's Japanese-Western rooms were renovated in March 2023 in a Japanese-modern style; with twin beds alongside a tatami area, they make it easy to lay out futon for a small child who is co-sleeping.

Onsen and communal bath

The seventh-floor communal bath, Meiseki-buro, is an indoor bath enclosed by rock faces, and its powerful stonework is the main feature. Fujimi no Yu, the open-air bath with a view on the top floor, looks out over Lake Kawaguchi toward Mount Fuji, so you can enjoy both the sunrise glow and the lakeside lights at night. Bathing hours run from after check-in until midnight and again from 5 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. the next morning, and the men's and women's baths are not swapped over. The source spring is Reisui no Yu Asakawa, and the water is a simple onsen (a weakly alkaline, hypotonic, high-temperature spring containing calcium, sodium, sulfate and chloride). The benefits listed include neuralgia, muscle pain, sensitivity to cold and recovery from fatigue.

Dining

Dinner centers on a set meal of seasonal dishes (shun-sai no zen), served either in Reiho, the restaurant with a full view of Mount Fuji, or in the banquet hall or a smaller banquet room. You cannot request a particular venue, although guest reviews report cases where families with babies and toddlers were given a private room.

Facilities and services

Inside you will find the restaurant Reiho, banquet rooms, a shop, a game corner, a table-tennis table, vending machines, two elevators and a PC corner. The whole building is non-smoking, with smoking permitted only in the first-floor smoking area, and loungewear is available to borrow. Shuttle vehicles run to a set timetable to Kawaguchiko Station and to sights nearby, including the Kubota Itchiku Art Museum, the Kawaguchiko Nature Living Center, the Herb Hall and the Muse Museum, so families without a car can still get out and explore.

Access and setting

The ryokan is well placed, about 11 minutes on local roads from the Kawaguchiko Interchange on the Chuo Expressway and about 5 minutes from Kawaguchiko Station by free shuttle. The Kawaguchiko Music Forest Museum, the sightseeing boat Appare, the Mount Fuji Panoramic Ropeway and the Kawaguchiko Museum of Art are all within a three-minute drive, and Fuji-Q Highland is within six minutes by car.

Staying with children

Rakuten Travel's plans for this ryokan offer four options for children under school age: with meals and futon bedding, meals only, futon bedding only, or neither. Several reviews describe stays with elementary-school children and with babies and toddlers. On accessibility, there is a ramp at the entrance, wheelchairs available to borrow and handrails in the communal bath, while the corridors inside the building and the stairs to the communal bath are only partly accommodating, so if you are bringing a stroller or an older family member, it is reassuring to talk to the hotel beforehand.