Name: Tsuta Onsen
Address: 1 Tsutanoyu, Okuse, Towada-shi, Aomori Prefecture, Towada, Towada, Towada, 034-0301, Japan
Rating: 9

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Tsuta Onsen

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We stayed for two nights in this hundred year on ryokan, and this turn out to be one of our favorite onsen resorts due to the following reasons:
1. About 15 mins walk from the ryokan, there is a swamp, where you can see an once in a life time view of redleaves durindg autumn. (we missed the season by 3 weeks, it is also depending on weather condition of the day)
2. The area is very quiet compared and Tsuta Onsen Ryokan is the only accomodation there, you can have a 100% relaxing environment.
3. There is a hiking 2.8km trail where you can breathe pure mountain air, bird watching and at the same time exercising.
4. Eventhough secluded, the onsen is.accessable by JR East Tohoku Bus, and by using the bus, is just 20 mins away from the famous Oirase Gorge, 45 mins away from Towada Lake and 2 hours away from Shin Aomori Shinkansen Station.
5. The onsen has a thousand year history.
6. The ryokan eventhough is 110 years old, is well kept and their newer wing has modern and comfortable rooms, the food is of very good quality as well.



Historic onsen with an once in a life time view

Tsuta Onsen is a well know historical ryokan that owns its ground source of hot spring (not the same as commonly piped-in source onsen). Its listed on one of the 100 famous ground source onsens in Japan. This property is in the midst of national park and in a secluded location. The JR east Bus makes its stop here to and from Towada Lake/Oirase Gorge. It’s a great choice to stay a night or two; enjoy its ground source onsen and the scenic beauties of surrounding beech forest and seven ponds behind the property. 
The original part of the property structure was built with forest lumbers; established in 1909; with two additions in 1918 and 1952.  But the history of Kyuan Onsen(Kyuan-no-yu) can be traced back to the year 1147! I was very impressed with its originality, preservation and upkeep; especially the history ties with development of national park, its own ground source hot spring, 12th century built Kyuan-no-yu and two newer onsens. All three onsens were built with wooden pools including bottoms of the pools and entire frameworks with cedar lumbers. Supplies of hot spring water come directly from the ground of the onsen pools. These pools are available to public for day trippers only during the certain hours. The public area for guests includes several reception/reading rooms, a large guest lounge with stunning views of Japanese garden, sitting area with rocking chairs, free nature spring drinking water and chilled tea. A famous poet and scholar Keigetsu Ōmachi who traveled to this area, discovered its tranquil and nature beauty. He decided to make this place his permanent residence and his final resting place. His burial site, memorial stone markers and a bronze statue are located outside the garden area. History and collections of Keigetsu Ōmachi's poems, calligraphy and literatures are in exhibits inside of the ryokan. Museum is free for guests to visit.  
There are several characters that make this ryokan an exceptional choice of place to stay. I prefer tranquility and scenic nature setting. So, choosing this ryokan for our two nights stay fit in our plans. The entire property is surrounded by the dense forest, with beautiful Japanese gardens, accompanied with fountains, ponds and flowing streams. Behinds the property there are walking trails lead to the wild bird sanctuary and seven ponds surrounded with forest trees. During the autumn foliage changing season the colors of leaves turning red, orange and yellow. The images reflect upon the calm water surface make this area a top attraction for photo shootings.  
For its nature setting Tsuta Onsen Ryokan is certainly an excellent place to retreat, relax and rejuvenate your body and soul. Ryokan offers full board to the guests since there is no other commercial operations in the area. Chef and cooks in house diligently prepare fresh dishes for each hotel guest. Top quality seafood choices including fresh scallops, crab claws and famous Towada Lake’s Kokanee Salmon(Himemasu), locally produced vegetables and regional’s specialties, are printed on a dinner menu described how each selection was prepared. Attending staff are courteous and attention to details. Although not all speak English, we were able to communicate with some who can. The cost of room will go up during the Autumn peak season and rooms are usually booked up way in advance.  For what it’s worth visitors are willing to pay high price for the exceptional qualities and services it has to offer. Food quality, staff services, hotel property and surrounding environment are worthy of your stays. So why not pamper yourself for a day or two in this secluded scenic nature setting.
To access to Tsuata Onsen, you can take JR Bus departing from Shin-Aomori/Aomori Bus stop (outside of JR Shin-Aomori/Aomori Station East Exit Stop # 1); bus will stop in front of the property, travel time is about 1 hour 35min. If you come from Lake Towada JR Yasumiya rest house it will take about 56 min. If you have JR East or all Japan pass, it will cover your rides. Or pay as you go. A digital fare chart board is located above the bus front window. When you get on the bus you must pull out a boarding ticket from the machine locates at right side of the front entrance steps, your ticket will bear a stamped number. Your ticket number will show on the fare chart as bus travel. When you get off at your destination the charts will display your fare under the number stamped on your ticket. JR Bus also has luggage holding space for your luggage. Hotel only offers free shuttle to Shichinohe JR Station.

A historical onsen ryokan known for its scenic beauty, ground source of hot spring and a poet's final resting place

I originally planned to stay here just because of a stop before going to Oirase Keiryuu. However, it proves to be one of the onsen hotels I love very much so far.
The hotel locates just at the entrance of Tsuta Ponds. It takes about one hour to walk round 6 of the 7 ponds (the other one is not close to these 6). During the red maple season, this hotel is always fully booked because of the stunning view of the ponds.
The hotel itself has a long history, but everything is maintained well. If you have big suitcases, book a room in the new wing where you can find an elevator.
One of the treasures of the hotel is the onsen. There are three, one for men and one for women, which will be swapped for use every midnight. The other will be shared by men and women, day and early evening for men and late evening and morning for women. You can see the hot spring water coming from the floor of the bath, bubbles coming up. 
The onsen dinner and breakfast I had were delicious though not made of very expensive ingredients.

A gem in Aomori

We stayed here two nights and really enjoyed the facilities. The Onsen is world class and the traditional rooms are gorgeous. We recommend staying in the West Wing if possible. Hiking through the nearby Beach forest and bird sanctuary was another highlight.

If you are a foodie, however, you may find the food to be a bit lacking. The traditional Japanese buffet breakfast and the kiseki style Japanese dinners both featured excellent service and beautiful presentation, particularly of the multi-course kiseki meal. However the food just really wasn't flavorful compared to other ryokans we have stayed at or pretty much any restaurant we've ever dined at in Japan. If food is important to you you may research many of the other ryokans/onsens in this area of Aomori prefecture. 

A quick note for non Japanese speakers who are trying to book a room here. There is a free shuttle, to the ryokan, from Aomori City. However, it is on your dime to get back into town. The public bus does stop right in front of the hotel.

Superb ryokan with onsen but really lackluster food.

Historical and traditional Japanese onsen Experienced. Located  in the calm and peaceful area full with the tree with breathtaking view in the autumn.  Enjoy the driving from Oirase to this great onsen. 
I'm enjoy the dinner , Japanese food very good and well prepare.
The breakfast have plenty choice of food and  delicious !!!

The room specious with tatami map and big glass window. 
Clean bed sheet and Japanese sleeping cloth. The toilet with bidet. Essential toiletries provide side small bag.  

For bath need to walk to enjoy traditional onsen. Must try both onsen  ( Traditional and newly built ).

Historical Onsen with beautiful scenenary

A traditionnel onsen and hotel surrounded by the nature.
A beautiful Japanese style garden. 
It has to be visited at least for the architecture of these ancient buildings and the place it-self. The lunch was good.

Beautiful onsen and garden

Historical and relaxing onsen in Japanese mountains. It's close to the beautiful Oirase Keiryu river which is great to go for an easy walk. The leaves were just starting to change color too. The highlight of staying here is being able to try fresh, local food. All the dishes in the meals use local and seasonal ingredients. The scallops were so delicious.

Great local food

A traditional japanese onsen in the middle of nature, tsuta onsen was great! Rooms and food are in a traditional japanese style and of great quality. The onsen is situated in the middle of nature, it's perfect to get a bit of time off the world, everything is so peaceful and quiet. In autumn for the season of the red leaves, just talking a small walk outside the hotel is breath taking!

Tsuta Onsen

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