Shiroyamakan

My wife & I stayed overnight at Shiroyamakan & it was an experience we’ll forever cherish! As I understand it, the exterior of the structure remains original to its late-1800s construction. Yet the 4th generation owners recently undertook a massive renovation of the interior & the results are breathtaking. Of the inn’s 4 rooms, 2 have been kept in traditional ryokan style & 2 have been converted to a modern style. Our modern room featured huge picture windows, one of which looked out onto a koi pond & the other onto the Shō River (I shot the attached photo of the great white heron from our room!). The room had its own ductless heat/AC unit & heat also radiated up from the gorgeous wood floor, making it oh-so-cozy. Finally, our room included its own super-modern Toto toilet & washroom. For ablutions, Shiroyamakan offers two stunning hinoki wood bathing rooms. Each very large room is private, so you won’t be in there w/ strangers & your family can use the spring-fed bath together. I will never forget how amazing the bathing rooms smelled! All that said, as great as the building is, it was the people who made our experience special. Shiroyamakan is a family affair & the proprietors, supported by their adult kids (plus their kids’ spouses), made us feel at home from the instant we stepped in. Words & pictures can’t do the place justice, but hopefully this review gives you a sense for how much we loved it. If you’re planning a visit to Shirakawa-go, I can’t recommend a stay at Shiroyamakan highly enough. It’s the sort of experience that lifts your spirit & stays with you.

PROS: 1. Just across the Shirakawa-go bus terminal 2. Such an immersive and peaceful environment. There was no TV in our room but we spent hours watching the dancing autumn leaves outside our window while listening to the rustling of the trees and chriping of the crickets. 3. Room is large and cozy with traditional Japanese decor. We were able to book the room with a private toilet and bath, however we realized that bathing in one of the ryokan's two onsens (Which could be used exclusively by a group, by just flipping the occupied sign) is a much better experience. 4. The family was very welcoming and hospitable. Takuya Matsufuru-san, the fourth generation owner of the inn, even gave us a tour of the village in his van (tours were in Japanese which he would later translate into English audio by an app). 5. Food was great! Kaiseki style dinner, and breakfast with freshly foraged ingredients from the mountains, freshly caught river fish, and handmade soba noodles! CONS: 1. They only accomodate four groups at a time, hence booking can be quite a challenge, but is definitely worth it!