Mt. Yoshino is an amazing place and is also my favourite ryokan (inn) there.
Most Japanese inns sleep on tatami mats and futons, but I like beds better. And I’ve been sleeping in bed since I was a child. So actually, I prefer the bed to the futon. Well, from friends who knows me well;
“Because you’re just lazy, SAKURA.”
Well, if you are sleeping on a futon, you have to put and back to the closet every day.
So yes, it’s correct, I just don’t want to do it every single day!
But this is a different story if you have someone to do it.
And if you have excellent yummy food that someone to serve you, yes, totally OK! Let me introduce my favourite Ryokan in Japan here.
“Yoshinosou Yukawaya” is a place to stay and enjoy their food.
A Ryokan That Allows you to Feel very Welcoming
Usually, when I book hotels and ryokan in Japan, I always use an online hotel reservation, “Jaran.” When you stay hotels and ryokan, you can get some points, and next booking you can get a discount as using these points.
When I searched for booking room using this “Jaran”, Yukawaya Ryokan appears on the popular No.1 in the Yoshino area.
However, I booked different ryokan for the first time. My first trip to Yoshino, I was with an Australian friend. She has allergies to crustaceans such as shrimp and crabs as well as some fish.
If she eats these, she is likely to suffer terrible symptoms such as vomiting. So I decided to contact the hotels and restaurants in advance.
When I called the ryokan (not Yukawaya) for explaining my friend’s allergies, the person who answered my call was quite rude. He didn’t seem to understand or care at all, very unprofessional. They must check customers’ wellbeing. Therefore, I cancelled the booking.
Again, this time, I checked reviews too.
Before making a reservation, I had found the most popular reviews in may criteria, “Yoshinosho Yukawaya” that appeared on online booking Jaran.
Then I made an international call to get a confirmation by phone. The first person to answer the phone was probably one of the workers there, and she quickly and politely changed the phone to the Misstress.
She asked me my friend’s allergies details, what ingredients, what fish names etc. “Ok, no problem. We’ve got all information here. We are very looking forward to meeting you.” that what she said.
It was delightful to chat with her, the softness of her manner, her hearty laugh of my joke over the phone, I really wanted to meet her so much.
Long-established Ryokan Has the Best Guest Service
In fact, Yukawaya ryokan is the oldest traditional inn in Yoshino that has lasted for over 720 years. Yamamoto, the managing director, is said to be the 16th owner of this ryokan.
For more information, please quote from Yukawaya’s website.
Yoshino, as the Shugendo sect of ascetic Buddhism became increasingly active and influential, received attention largely in association with En no Gyoja(7th c.to 8th c.), who is believed to have been the founder of Shugendo. Our inn has been living with the statue of En no Gyoja for about seven hundred twenty years.
Therefore, as a matter of course, Yukawaya staff known in Yoshino very well.
There is also a package for night service at Kimpusen-ji Temple, and I participated in this package with tickets twice before.
Then ryokan’s manager Yamamoto-san advised us to “Go down in half an hour, and you will sit in front of the monks.”
Or, they always asked us what we were going to do the next day then;
“If you go on a hike tomorrow, would you like us to make lunch for you because there’s nothing to eat?” (Of course, it’s not free!)
Not only the Okami-san (Misstress) but Yamamoto-san the Director also spread the map in the lobby table then showed us where we should go.
Guest Rooms are Clean and Spacious
Of course, it’s traditional Japanese ryokan, and these rooms have tatami mats. When you are living abroad, you can’t see tatami mats. Personally, I like wooden floorboards in, and I really don’t like carpets.
However, the smell of tatami is so nostalgic for me anyway.
And this ryokan was so clean and tidy. There is nothing like the hair or dust in the corner of the room.
I have found a smaller room with a Kotatsu which has a heater inside and keep you cozy with a blanket over it. It would be very nice that you and your best friend lay down and chat all day.
have found a smaller room with a Kotatsu which has a heater inside and keep you cozy with a blanket over it.
It would be very nice that you and your best friend lay down and chat all day.
Meals with Ingredients From Mountain are so Delicious!
As there are many good reviews in Jaran net, Yukawaya’s meals are very delicious! Well, I also like Japanese style inns very much (as someone make my futon every day).
When I was living in Japan, I used to go with my parents or friends, but I hadn’t come to cross as good as this inn’s meal. Don’t get me wrong, they are good, but I wasn’t impressed.
Yukawaya’s chef is very creative, that is why it’s not ordinary countryside food. It’s not only a dish that you can eat, but you can also naturally enjoy the appearance and its unexpected chef’s creativities.
There were more than that! I’m so bad about it that there are only a few photos available, I was too busy to eat because it’s so so delicious and then I totally forgot to take photos!
And here’s breakfast.
Breakfast was served not in our guest room, we had to go to the hall.
Again, breakfast was also brilliant! Usually, I don’t eat much about breakfast, only a toast with jam or slice of tomato with pepper, just like that.
But another sensational pleasure is ryokan’s Japanese style breakfast. There are so many different dishes in front of you!
Also, here you can eat a famous Nara tea porridge. It’s the rice porridge cooked in Japanese hojicha tea. It is quite refreshing, and I really like it too.
In Yukaway’s breakfast set, there’s also a dried river-fish, Ayu and you can roast it on a table, and it’s so so delicious. Actually, I was looking forward to this dried Ayu.
Every time when I stay there, I thought;
“Oh, there’s a dried river-fish Ayu, tomorrow morning. YES!!”
Then, I knew my husband didn’t like river-fish so much to I expected he would give me his.
Then he asked me;
“What do you do with this? What? Are you roasting? Ok, wow, that’s delicious!”
That what he said and ate it all ….
Yukawaya is I Feel Like Coming Home
The reason why I like this Yukawaya is that I can sleep very well and the people who work there make me feel very comfy. The last time I went there with my best friend for more than 30 years. And she is my best buddy to travel.
In fact, due to the typhoon, the Kansai International Airport collided with a connecting bridge on the previous typhoon. I was really worried that my airline would transfer to Narita Airport.
However, it was all ok from Sydney to Kansai airport, but there was another one when I was heading home.
Then, the Kansai airport was closed in advance, and of course, my airplane cancelled. Therefore I had to stay one more night in Kyoto, and then the Misstress was worried about me.
Then the Misstress asked me,
“So, is SAKURA staying in Kyoto?”
Then my friend replied to her;
“Yes, I’ve decided to stay with her too,”
The Misstress (Okami-san) said;
“Oh, really!? You are going to stay with her, that’s good!! ho ho ho ho (laugh).”
She looked so relieved that my friend was coming with me.
Uh…Okami-san, what does that mean, “That’s good, ho ho ho ho”?
Am I so unreliable?
Anyway, I really love Yukawaya.
We realised that we were of the same generation as the Okami-san (Misstress), and that was why we’d got well alone.
I’ll be here again the next time when I go to Japan for sure!
Then again, I’ll say to them ‘I’m home.’
I’m sure both the okami-san and the manager (her husband) would say, “welcome home!”
I can’t wait to see them again.
Yukawaya’s details:
Website: http://www.yukawaya.com/e/index.htm
Where to book this Yukawaya?
You can book this Yukawaya Ryokan via a few websites include their own website. However, you may find a better deal on other booking sites, as I wrote, you can get points for discount next booking.
Yukawaya’s official website
This is Yukawaya’s official website, there are different language translated page there to refer for more information. You can book the room too.
Jaran: Japanese hotels bookingsite
Jaran is quite popular online booking site, you can check the reviews and all their details of amenities etc. Also you can get points after you stay then you can get some discount for next booking.
There is in English version there too.
Tripadvisor
Tripadvisor is now probably the best review site on the market. There are many photos, not an only commercial one, but the travellers uploaded too. Also, it has a large number of reviews, and the hotels do comment back to the reviewers.
Booking.com
I always book the hotels through this Booking.com. use has a large number of reviews, and it’s effortless to narrow down the search by your travel demand. You must check this site first.
Booking.comAgoda.com
I booked the hotel in Thailand a few years back via this Agoda.com. This Agoda booking site has a good number of reviews and sometimes cheaper than any other site too, it’s better to check the price for sure.
HotelsCombined
The site is I always use and has a large number of other booking sites to compare in one website. It is easy to narrow down the search, and there are many hotel reviews. The price is low on average, and it’s very convenient to search for the lowest prices on one site.
READ MORE YOSHINO TRAVEL STORY
I hope you enjoyed my story of Yoshino-so Yukawaya Ryokan. Hopefully, you found it useful too, though. Here are a few more interesting articles about Yoshino that I recommend you read next:
4 Reasons Why You Should Visit Yoshino in Nara than Kyoto! 
Nara Yoshino, Notendaijin: Tremendous Power Spot of God Above the Neck! 
Yoshino Kimpusan-ji : Must Visit one of the Oldest Temples in Japan, Yoshino Nara
