Ten generations of the same family have tended this 530-year-old ryokan, originally a Buddhist temple on the banks of the Katsura River. Twelve tatami rooms face an inner courtyard where a floating Noh stage rises from a bamboo-fringed pond—traditional drama performed at water's edge. Hot spring baths connect to the pond through a simple ring of rocks, while Villa Tenko accommodates families with young children in a separate wing.
Arcana Izu gives the rural ryokan a sharply contemporary reading, pairing wood, brick and Scandinavian-inflected furnishings with Japanese warmth in 16 adults-only rooms. Massive windows frame the Yugashima forest, a view echoed in the 32-seat French restaurant, where tables face outward theatrically. Each room adds a free-flowing hot-spring open-air bath, suiting couples seeking cuisine, onsen privacy and quiet design.
Atami Izusan Karaku inverts the typical ryokan layout, placing its reception on the eighth floor where floor-to-ceiling windows and a reflecting pool frame Sagami Bay. Below, twin open-air soaking pools and an indoor circuit of baths and saunas descend toward the water. All 57 rooms feature private terrace onsen baths with the same coastal panorama, while the restaurant presents local seafood in kaiseki progression.
On Izu’s remote east coast, Fugaku Gunjo keeps its scale intimate: eight 100 sqm suites, each with a sea-facing deck terrace and an open-air onsen bath angled toward Mount Fuji above Suruga Bay. Its modern, gallery-like calm extends to blue-tiled water gardens and three terraces, while dinner draws on bay seafood and Izu vegetables; suited to couples seeking privacy, views and ritual bathing.
In Numazu’s pine-fringed Senbon Matsubara, Numazu Club pairs a restored Meiji-era teahouse with eight Akira Watanabe-designed residences set across broad gardens. Its restaurant serves Chinese courses with the cadence of tea kaiseki, grounded in Suruga Bay and Izu seafood, while Fuji subsoil water fills hinoki guest baths; spa, sauna and rock-bath facilities suit travelers seeking a quiet architectural retreat.
A weathered wooden ryokan rising from the Izu Peninsula's forested valleys, Ochiairo preserves the unhurried rituals of traditional Japanese hospitality across just fourteen rooms. Tatami-floored quarters open onto manicured gardens, each with its own spring-fed bath. The shared onsen—natural boulders and cave-like rock walls encircling steaming pools—feels primordial. Nine-course kaiseki dinners, served privately in-room, showcase seasonal local ingredients with quiet precision.
At LOQUAT Nishi Izu, a former Toi family residence now holds an intimate Italian auberge limited to three groups daily. Its three renovated historic buildings function as private retreats, each with an open-air terrace bath fed by Toi Onsen. Dinner at Takeru Quindici Nishi-Izu highlights local seafood and mountain produce; spa treatments, gelato, and staff-guided sunset views toward Mt. Fuji suit slow, food-led stays.
Atami's reputation as Japan's Riviera finds quiet expression in this 87-room property, where contemporary minimalism meets traditional Japanese sensibility through shoji screens and restrained palettes. The crown asset: a twelfth-floor onsen with infinity edge, its thermal waters framing unobstructed Pacific views. Five dining venues and a sauna round out the offering, suiting couples and families seeking refined coastal retreat without ostentation.
Built into Atami’s sea cliffs, UMITO Atami Bettei keeps its scale deliberately intimate: five ocean-facing suites, each with a private Atami Onsen bath and direct exposure to the Pacific’s surf. The mood is secluded and elemental, with SPRING_BATH_RESTAURANT’s nine-seat counter adding a precise dining focus. The Presidential Suite, with infinity pool and fireworks views, suits couples or families seeking privacy.
Perched in a secluded corner of Ito City, Tsuki no Usagi delivers the classic ryokan experience with panoramic views across the Izu coastline. Natural hot springs feed the onsen baths, while the inn's traditional architecture and unhurried pace suit families seeking an authentic Japanese retreat. The isolation here is deliberate—guests come for stillness, mineral waters, and unobstructed horizons.
Opening onto the traditional garden of Asaba ryokan, this intimate 35-square-meter sanctuary draws on both Eastern and Western wellness philosophies. Therapists work with heated stones, shells, and aromatic oils alongside products from Japan's luxury SENSAI line. The compact space amplifies the sense of seclusion—treatments here unfold in meditative quiet, designed to restore equilibrium after days spent exploring Izu's coastal trails and hot spring villages.
Early spring brings cherry blossoms along the Kawazu River — the Kawazu-zakura bloom weeks before Tokyo's varieties, typically in late February. Autumn offers comfortable temperatures and fewer crowds at onsen towns. Winter remains mild by Japanese standards, making outdoor rotenburo baths particularly atmospheric.
The Odoriko limited express runs directly from Tokyo Station to Atami, Ito, and Shimoda, taking between 80 minutes and two and a half hours depending on destination. The Shinkansen stops at Atami in 45 minutes. From there, the Izukyu Railway continues down the eastern coast, while local buses serve interior mountain routes and the western shore.
Kinmedai dominates menus — this deep-sea golden-eye snapper is the peninsula's signature fish. Fresh wasabi from Amagi mountain streams appears grated over soba and sashimi. Ito produces himono, salt-dried fish eaten at breakfast in most ryokan. Atami's shotengai sells manju steamed buns and dried seafood for omiyage.
The Izu Peninsula drops south from Hakone into the Pacific, a volcanic landmass sculpted by hot springs and wrapped in dense cedar forests. Towns like Atami and Ito developed as onsen retreats for Tokyo's elite in the Meiji era; today, ryokan culture persists alongside contemporary resort architecture. The eastern coast faces Sagami Bay with calm waters and fishing ports, while the western shore looks toward Suruga Bay and, on clear days, Mount Fuji. Shimoda at the peninsula's southern tip carries historical weight — Commodore Perry's Black Ships anchored here in 1854, and the town retains an end-of-the-road quietude.
Dining leans heavily on the sea. Kinmedai, the golden-eye snapper pulled from deep waters off Inatori and Shimoda, appears simmered in soy, grilled with salt, or served as sashimi at local izakaya. Wasabi cultivation thrives in the peninsula's cool mountain streams around Amagi, and freshly grated wasabi accompanies much of the local cuisine. The café scene clusters in resort towns — Atami's shotengai shopping streets hide kissaten serving hand-dripped coffee, while Ito's harbor area mixes craft roasters with traditional tea houses.
