Kamesei Ryokan
2-15-1 Kamiyamada Onsen, Chikuma 389-0821 Nagano Prefecture
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$103
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What you can expect during your stay
- All linens sanitized in high-temperature wash
- Face masks required for guests in public areas
- Face masks required for staff in public areas
- Hand sanitizer available to guests & staff
- Stay-at-home policy for staff with symptoms
- Regularly sanitized high-traffic areas
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Updated 09/30/21 Safety precautions are provided by the property and are not checked by Tripadvisor for accuracy.
A note from Kamesei Ryokan
Updated 09/30/21 Safety precautions are provided by the property and are not checked by Tripadvisor for accuracy.
About
#1 of 39 hotels in Chikuma
Location
4.3
Cleanliness
4.7
Service
4.8
Value
4.7
Travelers' Choice
Traditional ryokan featuring warm wood construction, gardens throughout, relaxing onsen baths and gourmet kaiseki meals. You can wear your yukata robe and use our wooden geta sandals to stroll around our onsen town, Togura Kamiyamada, and explore the many small shops and eateries. Our town also has geisha and we would be happy to arrange an interactive 30-min. geisha show Centrally located to the best of Nagano, such as the Snow Monkeys, Matsumoto Castle, Hakuba, Alpine Route and Karuizawa. Our American owner is happy to share this slice of the Japanese countryside with you. Free pick-up at Togura Station.
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Property amenities
Free parking
Free High Speed Internet (WiFi)
Hot tub
Breakfast available
Bicycle rental
Hiking
Children Activities (Kid / Family Friendly)
Shuttle bus service
Valet parking
Wifi
Breakfast in the room
Complimentary tea
Special diet menus
Vending machine
Banquet room
Meeting rooms
Spa
Full body massage
Hot spring bath
Massage
Open-air bath
Baggage storage
Concierge
Gift shop
Non-smoking hotel
Shops
Laundry service
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Room features
Air conditioning
Safe
Telephone
Coffee / tea maker
Refrigerator
Bath / shower
Room types
Non-smoking rooms
Family rooms
Good to know
HOTEL CLASS
HOTEL STYLE
Family
Languages Spoken
English, Japanese
Location
Full view
70Somewhat walkable
Grade: 70 out of 100
82Restaurantswithin 0.3 miles
5Attractionswithin 0.3 miles
Contact
2-15-1 Kamiyamada Onsen, Chikuma 389-0821 Nagano Prefecture
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Hospitality and arrangement was awesome. My big family group from 3yrs -81yrs had difficult to make this trip plan. However Mr.and Mrs.Tayler always sincere to my request and give me well replies and responses in advance. Thank you for your hospitality it was very comfortable. All of us had a great time. We enjoyed arranged recipe and cookies too. Tomo
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Date of stay: May 2022Trip type: Traveled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
Helpful
Response from Tyler Lynch, Owner at Kamesei Ryokan
Responded 4 days ago
Tomo-san Thank you for your stay, and for your kind words. We are glad everyone in your family enjoyed our inn. From a play room for 3 years old children to have fun, to most of the rooms, the baths and dining areas all being on the 1st floor making the layout convenient for 81-year olds, people of all ages can have a memorable stay here at Kamesei Ryokan. We hope you have a chance to come back again someday.
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The inn has a classical atmosphere, but it seems to be well maintained, the courtyard until you go to the room is beautiful, and you can enjoy the hot springs and the open-air bath very well, so I think it is a very good inn. Freshly baked Seattle cookies handmade by the inn's owner, Tyler, were served as tea confectionery, and it was slightly warm, moist, soft and delicious. Breakfast was delicious with several kinds of elegant side dishes lined up little by little, and the soup stock of the clam soup in the bowl was also good. I stayed at Chikuma on the way back from hunting apricots, but by chance the room name was "Apricot"! Apricot tree that bears fruit in the garden facing the room! It was a good memory. Thank you very much.
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Date of stay: June 2022
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
Helpful
Response from Tyler Lynch, Owner at Kamesei Ryokan
Responded 4 weeks ago
Thank you for your stay, and for your kind words. Our town is famous for apricots. The nearby Mori Valley is covered in soft pink apricot blossoms in early April, and in late June / beginning of July the fruit is harvested. We named one of our guest rooms "Anzu", the Japanese word for apricots, and in its pocket garden we planted an apricot tree. Guests who stay in that room during harvest season can pick fruit in their own garden! We hope you can come back during blossom season -- that way you can enjoy both times of the year for apricots.
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I'm Japanese. But Kame-sei Ryokan has reminded me of the true Japanese cultural tradition. After having made a conference at the University of Shinshu, I was very tired, and arrived late at Kame-sei Ryokan. And they served us immediately amazingly delicious local foods of Nagano. They provided edible wild plants, carp, chars and salmon in a variety of cooking methods. The table was filled with so many dishes that we couldn't eat all. After that we enjoyed bathing outside. In the early morning, we bathed again. It was really fantastic! So I made a Japanese poem like this : Kawazu-naku hayashi-no naka-ni yu'amishi-te, ko-no-ha sugiyuku kaze-no oto kiku In the woods where a frog is croaking, I enjoy bathing hearing the sounds of winds, blowing from between the leaves. Thanks for this great experience!…
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Date of stay: May 2022Trip type: Traveled on business
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Room Tip: Any room will alright.
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This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
1 Helpful vote
Helpful
Response from Tyler Lynch, Owner at Kamesei Ryokan
Responded May 26, 2022
Thank you for choosing our traditional onsen inn after your conference on classical Japanese poetry. And you even wrote a poem about your stay. I bet this is the first time in the history of TripAdvisor that a comment has included an original Waka poem! Thank you again for your stay and we will work hard to keep our inn's traditional charm and ambience.
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+1
I'm Japanese, so I have used many hotels in Japan. I truly recommend you "Kamesei Ryokan" which is one of the most excellent traditional Japanese hotel. Especially, the "Villa" room has many Japanese traditional ornaments, furniture (Tsugaru-Nuri table and bamboo wall, Shoji etc.) and potteries, paintings. But the room is very clean, and W.C. and sink is latest. You can also enjoy delicious Japanese cuisine seasoned delicately. Maybe you should order Shinshu-gyu beef steak. It's marvelous (I always order when using this hotel). Onsen (hot spring) is also good!! The temperature is just right and you can get fine skin. Kamesei Ryokan was received the award "Nippon-no-Koyado" in 2021. This award is presented to particularly good small hotel in Japan, a mere 9 hotels were received in 2021 . I guess Kamesei-Ryokan is highly evaluated because it keeps good Japanese "Ryokan" culture, but sophisticate it modernly.…
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Date of stay: April 2021
Rooms
Service
Sleep Quality
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
Helpful
Response from , Owner at Kamesei Ryokan
Responded May 1, 2021
Thank you for your kind words. We are grateful you enjoyed Kamesei Ryokan's traditional ambience. Our inn is very old (the original building has a history of over 100 years!) but we are trying hard to make updates that enhance the classic feel. We are honored that you appreciate our efforts, and we are equally honered for receiving the Koyado award. We agree with your recommendation for Shinshu-gyu steak, Nagano's brand of Wagyu. The cows are fed with Nagano's famous apples and we serve it with apple sauce for a truly Nagano experience. We hope you can come and enjoy our inn again someday.
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+1
We stayed at Kamesei Ryokan for Christmas. We stayed 4 nights. It was comfortable and relaxing and just what we wanted for Christmas.Tyler and his wife Mari made us feel very welcome in their home, especially at Christmas with their beautiful tree and decorations! Tyler, gave us lots of wonderful advice on things to do and places to visit. He also took us on a private bike tour around town, which was a highlight for me. He is very personable and well known in his community. We also got to meet his neighbor who welcomed us into his home and showed us his family Samurai katana and armor, another highlight! We also added dinner and breakfast to our stay. The food is phenomenal! They made us a feel very special every night and morning with food made especially for us. Christmas dinner was especially extravagant and so wonderful, we felt like royalty! Thank you! I would highly recommend staying at Kamesei Ryokan, it is a destination in itself. Plus, the onsen! We looked forward to soaking every day in the relaxing water. We also got to use the private outdoor onsen. Wonderfully relaxing. Thank you for making our trip to Nagano so memorable! We hope to return to enjoy in another season!…
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Date of stay: December 2020Trip type: Traveled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
Helpful
Response from , Owner at Kamesei Ryokan
Responded Jan 4, 2021
Thank you for spending Christmas here at Kamesei Ryokan. We are grateful you and your family had a memorable stay. As a host, we appreciate guests who are open to new experiences so it was a joy for us, too, for you to participate in our Zukudashi Eco Tours cycling tour, and to venture to see the 'samurai room'. We certainly hope you can come back in the 'green season' -- I am sure your family will enjoy the Kids Ninja Village at Togakushi. P.S., Please give our regards to Jingles.
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We had a wonderful time -- can't say enough. The owner-hosts are warm and welcoming. Big, beautiful room with wonderful artwork and furnishings. We got the traditional dinner and breakfast, and massages, which were all well worth it. (One or two of the breakfast items do require some bravery.) And of course, the onsen! We somehow got confused on our itinerary and //on the day we were supposed to arrive// I had to call to say we wouldn't arrive until the next day; they shifted our reservation at no charge, which was really cool of them to do. Be sure, while waiting for Tyler to pick you up at the train station, to go into the little coffee shop so the nice ladies there can practice their English on you. This was our "unwind" time between Tokyo and Kyoto, and it was the perfect break. We only stayed one night but if we come to Japan again we will definitely book a longer stay. P.S. If the next stops on your itinerary are to the southwest (toward Kyoto / Osaka) be sure to take the Limited Express Shinano train for its incomparable views.…
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Date of stay: May 2019
Rooms
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Sleep Quality
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
Helpful
Response from Tyler-KameseiRyokan, Owner at Kamesei Ryokan
Responded Feb 10, 2020
Thank you for coming to Kamesei Ryokan, and for your kind review. We are grateful you enjoyed our hospitality, our traditional guest rooms, and our chef's culinary magic. Next time I see the ladies at the Togura Station coffee shop, I will mention your gratitude. Our onsen town Togura-Kamiyamada makes a great stop for between Tokyo and Kyoto / Osaka. As you mentioned the JR Ltd. Exp. "Shinano" between Nagano and Nagoya travels along the picturesque Kiso River Valley. It also passes through Matsumoto which has one of Japan's coolest castles and boasts outstanding views of the Japanese Alps, so we recommend stopping there along along the way. An alternative for people traveling with a JR Rail Pass is to take the Hokuriku Shinkansen from Nagano to Kanazawa, then JR's Thunderbird to Kyoto / Osaka. That way you could stop in Kanazawa to see the beautiful Kenrokuen Garden. Either way, for people wanting to experience a stay in a quiet, traditional ryokan in between Tokyo and Kyoto / Osaka, we hope you consider our inn, Kamesei Ryokan.
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This place is a great family Ryokan there is both a public and private (outdoor) natural hot spring bath. The room we had this time had a separate bedroom, private bathroom and a lovely sitting area. The owners of this Ryokan, Tyler and Mari make everyone feel welcome and are fun people to talk to and focused on their customers having a positive experience.
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Date of stay: December 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
Helpful
Response from Tyler-KameseiRyokan, Owner at Kamesei Ryokan
Responded Jan 13, 2020
Thank you for you coming back to Kamesei Ryokan. We are grateful you enjoyed our inn, the onsen baths, our relaxing guest room, and our hospitality. The guest room you mentioned is "Anzu", named after the anzu (apricot) tree we planted in its garden. Besides the 10-tatami mat size traditional room and sitting area, there is a bedroom with a raised platform that can accommodate up to 2 futons. It is our most spacious room. Also, for repeater-guests, we offer our private outdoor family bath for free. (Normally it is +2000 yen for 45 minutes.) We hope you can come and enjoy our quiet inn again someday.
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I and my husband from Switzerland stayed at Kamesei. Am Japanese but have lived overseas more than 30 years. With Mari and Tyler, very friendly and accommodating hosts, sulfur-rich baths (one of them outside was fantastic!) that make your skin soft and smooth, beautiful traditional interior (esp. the lobby), a spacious and clean tatami room, and the pretty garden, both of us enjoyed staying at Kamesei very much. The people and the place reminded me of an old Heineken beer advert and I would say Kamesei 'refreshes the parts' other inns cannot reach. Tyler briefed us well about the wineries in the region and how to get to those places. This was the main purpose of out trip and he did a great job. We also enjoyed the cycling along the Chikuma River using their rental bikes. Most of all they put a lot of effort in putting together information about restaurants and places of interest in the region in English which helped me a lot in making plans ahead of time. The cycling maps they produced were very useful as well. Also Mari and Tyler took us and picked us up to/from Togura station each day at the time we wanted, which made our life much easier than trying to get a bus or taxi. (You can't find Uber taxi easily in Japan and the normal ones very expensive). We would love to visit Kamesei again in the future.…
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Date of stay: October 2019
Value
Location
Service
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
1 Helpful vote
Helpful
Response from Tyler-KameseiRyokan, Owner at Kamesei Ryokan
Responded Nov 10, 2019
Thank you for your kind comments, and for coming to Kamesei Ryokan. We are grateful you appreciated our hospitality as well our inn's traditional atmosphere and Kamiyamada's rejuvenating onsen water. It was great that you were able to make use of our rental bicycles and use our town's cycling map to enjoy the Chikuma River Bike Path. And Nagano Prefecture is fortunate to have many outstanding wineries, and we are happy to provide info for winery tours. We appreciate your stay and hope you can come back again someday.
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If there is one thing that I loved about this place, it was the hosts - Mari and Tyler. They were really hospitable during my stay, giving me tips on where to go. They even offered to pick me up/drop me at the train station. Tyler also got in touch with me beforehand which made it easy to work out how to get there and the things I could do. The onsen in the Ryokan itself is good, but everything else in the small town is really close too. It's a really picturesque place to stay and I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of my time there.
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Date of stay: November 2019
Rooms
Cleanliness
Service
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
Helpful
Response from Tyler-KameseiRyokan, Owner at Kamesei Ryokan
Responded Nov 8, 2019
Thank you for coming to Kamesei Ryokan. We are grateful you enjoyed our hospitality, as well as our inn and our funky little onsen town, Togura-Kamiyamada. And we agree that our area is blessed with beautiful scenery, with the Chikuma River running down the middle and surrounded on all sides by hills and 1100-1200 meter tall mountains. Great hiking trails abound, with many boasting historical significance from the Warring States era. Thank you again for your kind words, and we hope you can come again someday. -Tyler / Kamesei Ryokan
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We did not feel too welcomed, during our stay. The foreigner who run the place with his Japanese wife (wife was more welcoming...) did not seems to be so joyful, when we checked in. Maybe he had a bad day, who knows. That is a pity, since as a guide who brings many tour-groups from overseas, I was hoping to establish some frame-work, for bringing more often, groups there. Obviously, with the feeling we had, that is not going to happen... The place was quite empty of guests, but full of mosquitoes... 5 minutes sitting at the lobby and all my bold-head was a nice lunch for them... Wish it was all different.
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Date of stay: October 2019
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
Helpful
Response from Tyler-KameseiRyokan, Owner at Kamesei Ryokan
Responded Nov 10, 2019
Thank you for coming to Kamesei Ryokan. I am sorry our service gave such a bad impression. To be honest, you and your parents came in with such scowls on your faces and were so aggressively demanding from the moment you set foot in our inn (What's the Wifi password?! Where's this?! Where's that?!) that we were very intimidated. When that happens, I instinctively step back and give extra space. Perhaps that came across as being unwelcoming, and for that I apologize from the bottom of my heart. But to be honest, I really, really tried. I gave the Wifi password right then and there, and answered all of your demands, and we upgraded your guestrooms to ones on the first floor with their own private gardens, and even gave your parents our deluxe room with a bed so they wouldn't have to sleep on the floor. We tried, we really did. After expending all my energy to on trying best to appease you, I must not have had enough left to smile. Even our proprietress (the 'Japanese wife' you mention), remembers you as being 怖い. But she is stronger than I and apparently was able to be more welcoming. She is my hero. Also to be honest, we have many tour groups from overseas whose guides continue to bring guests on a regular basis, apparently because they appreciate the effort we make to welcome guests. The night you stayed, our chef was off so it was relatively quiet (we only have 12 rooms so even with a full house our inn tends to be calm and relaxing) but other guests were present. We make sure the guestrooms are sprayed / treated for mosquitos but we will be more careful in the future for the lobby. Thank you for your constructive criticism in that regards.
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PRICE RANGE
$72 - $229 (Based on Average Rates for a Standard Room)
LOCATION
JapanChubuKoshinetsuNagano PrefectureChikumaTogurakamiyamada Onsen
NUMBER OF ROOMS
12
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Claim Your Listing Frequently Asked Questions about Kamesei Ryokan
Which popular attractions are close to Kamesei Ryokan?
Nearby attractions include Nishizawa Museum of Piggy Banks (0.2 miles), Shinshu Taishokan (0.1 miles), and Chikuma Kamiyamada Culture Hall (0.1 miles).
What are some of the property amenities at Kamesei Ryokan?
Some of the more popular amenities offered include free wifi, a spa, and free parking.
What food & drink options are available at Kamesei Ryokan?
Guests can enjoy breakfast and complimentary tea during their stay.
Is parking available at Kamesei Ryokan?
Yes, free parking and valet parking are available to guests.
What are some restaurants close to Kamesei Ryokan?
Conveniently located restaurants include Kohaku, Daikoku Dining, and La Bread Elegant.
Does Kamesei Ryokan have an airport shuttle?
Yes, Kamesei Ryokan offers an airport shuttle for guests. We recommend calling ahead to confirm details.
Does Kamesei Ryokan offer any business services?
Yes, guests have access to meeting rooms and a banquet room during their stay.
Which languages are spoken by the staff at Kamesei Ryokan?
The staff speaks multiple languages, including English and Japanese.
Are there any historical sites close to Kamesei Ryokan?
Many travelers enjoy visiting Amenomiya no Watashi (4.8 miles).
Is Kamesei Ryokan accessible?
Yes, it offers reduced mobility rooms. For specific inquiries, we recommend calling ahead to confirm.