This article contains affiliate links. If you book through them, this site may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Our ratings are based on our own trips and on primary sources, whether or not a link is involved.
Language: English | 日本語
In August 2024, six of us across three generations took a 4-night, 5-day trip to Yamagata to celebrate my father’s 80th birthday and my mother’s 77th. On the third night (a weekday), we stayed one night at Kozankaku in Ginzan Onsen.
| When | A weekday in August 2024, 1 night with dinner and breakfast |
|---|---|
| Who | Six people across three generations (my parents, my wife and me, two elementary school kids) |
| Room | One two-room suite overlooking the onsen street for all six of us (upgraded from a mountain-side room to a larger one) |
| Price | JPY 143,820 for six, 1 night with two meals (including bathing tax and drinks) |
| Booked | On Rakuten Travel, about two and a half months ahead |
| Payment | Cash at the ryokan |
| Getting there | Rental car |
After staying there
- The nighttime lights, the food and the baths were good. I think it is worth going once.
- There is not much to see, and we felt we would not go a second time.
- Kozankaku’s main building has no elevator. The stairs inside were hard for my mother, who has bad knees.
Is Ginzan Onsen worth it? What disappointed us: not much to see, and no second visit
Ginzan Onsen is famous by name, and my parents had been saying, “We’d like to go to Ginzan Onsen.”
What we felt when we got there was that there is not much to see. The buildings were beautiful at night and the atmosphere was lovely. Even so, honestly, we do not think we will go a second time.
Still, I think it is worth going once. The food, the baths and the nighttime lights were good, so it was worth staying the night.
There are many hot springs around Ginzan Onsen. If we go again, I think we will stay at one of those nearby.
How much time you need at Ginzan Onsen: 1 hour at night, 1.5 hours for the falls and the mine
We spent about an hour walking the onsen street at night, and about an hour and a half the next morning, after checking out, at Shirogane Falls and the Nobesawa Silver Mine tunnel. About two and a half hours in total.
There is not much to see, but that also means you can take your time. The onsen street at night, the falls and the mine tunnel are shown below with photos.
Ginzan Onsen at night: we stayed over and walked the lit-up street
At night we walked the onsen street with the ryokan lights on. The buildings were beautiful at night, and the atmosphere was lovely.
Traffic restrictions are planned in winter
The Ginzan Onsen official website (in Japanese) has a notice about private-car restrictions and a shuttle bus planned from December 2026 to early March 2027 (as of September 2026, the notice was not yet final). We went in August and thought getting there in snow would be hard. If you go in winter, check the latest official information.
One night at Kozankaku as six people: a room overlooking the onsen street, dinner and breakfast
Kozankaku is a four-story wooden ryokan in Ginzan Onsen (per the property description on Rakuten Travel).
Upgraded to a larger room, all six of us in one
We had booked a plan for a mountain-side room. On the official website, the mountain-side Japanese-style rooms take up to six people. But we were told it would be cramped for six, and as I remember it, we were upgraded to a larger room. We stayed in a room overlooking the onsen street, all six of us in one room.
The room name on the ryokan’s itemized bill is “Ginzan.” On Kozankaku’s official price list, Ginzan is a street-side room with two 8-tatami-mat rooms. The room charge was JPY 130,200 for six in our Rakuten booking, and JPY 141,680 on the ryokan’s bill.
Dinner and breakfast in a quiet room shared with just one other group
We had dinner and breakfast in the same room. It was not a private room, but there was only one other group next to us, so we could eat in peace.
Dinner was at a table with chairs.
The food was good. Drinks were extra: one beer, one orange juice and one cider came to JPY 1,540.
The problem at Kozankaku was the stairs: no elevator in the main building
What we wrote when booking
In the request field, we wrote that the trip was for my mother’s birthday.
We also asked, “My parents have bad legs, so if possible, a room with fewer stairs.”
Even so, the stairs inside were the problem. For my mother, with her bad knees, getting around the building was hard.
The baths are up a flight of stairs
The baths were on an upper floor, up the stairs. My parents could use the baths, but we went with them to the entrance. The water itself was lovely.
The photo shows a private bath. Kozankaku’s private baths are on the 1st and 3rd floors of the main building, and you can use them whenever they are free (official website).
There is no elevator in the main building
The facility guide on Kozankaku’s official website (in Japanese) says there is no elevator in the main building. If you are staying with someone who has trouble walking, ask the ryokan about the room’s floor and the stairs to the baths before you book.
Shirogane Falls and the Nobesawa Silver Mine tunnel: the grandparents stayed out because it looked slippery
The next morning, we walked to Shirogane Falls at the far end of the onsen street. It is a 22 m waterfall (Yamagata Prefecture’s tourism website).
The river near the falls was beautifully clear. You can see fish swimming in the water.
The mine tunnel: just the four of us
At the nearby Nobesawa Silver Mine ruins, you can walk inside the old mine tunnels.
The four of us went in. It looked slippery, so my parents decided not to.
On this Yamagata trip, my parents also waited at the bottom at Yamadera. With three generations, I do not think everyone has to go into the same places.
The whole Yamagata trip is written up in our 77th and 80th birthday trip: three generations, 4 nights and 5 days in Yamagata (in Japanese).
How far ahead to book Ginzan Onsen: we booked on Rakuten Travel two and a half months ahead
From booking to our stay
- June 13, 2024 (74 days before our stay)
Booked on Rakuten Travel - One night on Monday, August 26, 2024
Paid in cash at the ryokan
The plan we booked was the “Mountain-side room, Ginzan Onsen enjoyment plan.”
June 13 is the day we made the booking. Kozankaku’s official booking page did not say when bookings open (checked on October 10, 2026). In our case, we could book at least 74 days before our stay, and by then the ryokan were already mostly full.
Is Ginzan Onsen hard to book? Even two and a half months ahead, the ryokan were mostly full
We thought booking two and a half months ahead left plenty of time, but the ryokan were already mostly full. The other ryokan were the same.
From what was left, we chose Kozankaku for the balance with the price and for being close to the parking lot. If your dates are fixed, it is safer to check availability early.
On October 4, 2026, we looked for Kozankaku on Agoda and Expedia for three December dates (a weeknight, a weekend and New Year), but it is not listed on either site. On Rakuten Travel (a Japanese site, where we booked), no rooms came up on any of those dates, even when we searched for just 2 adults (booking may not have opened yet).
The plan we booked in 2024, the “Mountain-side room, Ginzan Onsen enjoyment plan,” was not on Rakuten Travel’s current plan list. The dinner-and-breakfast plans listed now include a Taisho-romance plan for the main building’s Japanese-style rooms and a group plan for 4 or more guests, but we could not see their prices because no rooms were available (October 4, 2026).
Kozankaku price and payment: JPY 25,300 per adult, paid in cash at the ryokan
The booking information said credit cards could not be used.
According to Rakuten Travel, credit cards cannot be used on site; only Rakuten Travel’s online card payment is available (as of September 2026).
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Room (1 night, 2 meals), 4 adults | JPY 25,300 × 4 = JPY 101,200 |
| Room (1 night, 2 meals), 2 children | JPY 20,240 × 2 = JPY 40,480 |
| Bathing tax (4 adults) | JPY 150 × 4 = JPY 600 |
| Drinks (beer, juice, cider) | JPY 1,540 |
| Total | JPY 143,820 |
Ginzan Onsen parking: cars cannot enter, so we chose Kozankaku near the parking lot
You cannot drive into the onsen street itself. At Kozankaku too, cars cannot reach the front of the ryokan, and there was no drop-off area.
We went by rental car. To keep the distance we had to carry our suitcases as short as possible, we chose Kozankaku, near the entrance to the onsen street. It was a short walk from the parking lot to the ryokan.
Kozankaku’s own parking lot has 15 spaces and is free; we paid nothing for parking. The access page on the official website (in Japanese) says it is on the left partway down the slope, before the ryokan street. According to Rakuten Travel’s property information, no parking reservation is needed (as of September 2026).
Kozankaku cancellation fees, and no preschool children
Cancellation policy on the official website
| When you cancel | Fee |
|---|---|
| 3–4 days before | 30% |
| 2 days before | 40% |
| The day before | 50% |
| On the day | 100% |
The official website says to cancel by phone.
If you book on Rakuten Travel, check the conditions of the plan you booked and the cancellation steps on your booking confirmation page.
A ryokan where young children cannot stay
Kozankaku’s page on Rakuten Travel says it asks guests not to bring preschool-age children. Some plans in the plan list also say they ask guests not to bring children in the lower grades of elementary school or younger (both checked on October 11, 2026). The official website does not say from what age children can stay. If you are staying with a child in the lower grades of elementary school, ask the ryokan before you book. Our kids were both in elementary school at the time.
Can you stay at Kozankaku with kids? Elementary school children pay 80% of the adult rate
When we stayed (a weekday in August 2024, 1 night with two meals), the ryokan’s itemized bill showed JPY 25,300 per adult and JPY 20,240 per child (elementary school). Children were 80% of the adult rate.
As the Rakuten Travel information above says, young children cannot stay at Kozankaku. Both of our kids were in elementary school by the time we stayed, so they were just old enough.
Kozankaku’s official website does not give its rules for children’s rates (checked on October 11, 2026). When you book, enter the number and ages of the children on the booking screen and check the total.
Looking for a ryokan at Ginzan Onsen?
We booked Kozankaku on Rakuten Travel (Japan) and paid in cash at the ryokan. You can also search stays in Obanazawa, where Ginzan Onsen is, on Agoda.
Check Kozankaku on Trip.com Search Obanazawa stays on AgodaAffiliate links. Kozankaku’s official website: kozankaku.com (in Japanese)
Summary: Ginzan Onsen is worth one night. Next time, a nearby onsen
For us, Ginzan Onsen did not have much to see. Even so, the nighttime lights and Kozankaku‘s food and baths were good, and it was worth staying one night.
If you go with grandparents, think about the stairs inside first. Kozankaku’s main building has no elevator, and that was where we struggled.
Stays around Ginzan Onsen
Kozankaku’s main building has no elevator. If you are going with someone who has trouble walking, ask when you book.
Check Kozankaku on Trip.com Search Obanazawa stays on AgodaAffiliate links.
Related articles
- Our 77th and 80th birthday trip: three generations, 4 nights and 5 days in Yamagata (in Japanese; the whole trip and its costs)
- Three-generation trips with grandparents and grandchildren: choosing destinations and rooms (in Japanese)
- Who pays for a three-generation trip? Our family’s cost-sharing rules (in Japanese)
- mikizin in English: all English pages