West
A big, old-school kissaten with 94 seats, serving pancake breakfasts from 8am, then curry, hamburg steak and coffee.
- Open from 8am
- Pancake mornings
- Plenty of seats
Around town · Puzzle trail · all over town
The 1,200-Year Mystery: a puzzle trail round Yugawara
Tue 1 Sept – Sat 31 Oct · Any day until 31 October. Booklets during pickup-point hours
Pick up a free puzzle booklet, walk the town from the station to the onsen district collecting clues, and enter a draw for ¥1 million in prizes.
On now
About the event
For two months around Yugawara Fes, the whole town is a puzzle. Collect a booklet, then walk three areas hunting for keywords: the Akari shopping street by the station, the old Miyakami and Miyashita neighbourhoods, and the onsen district. Put them together to solve the mystery.
It takes two to three hours at your own pace, and there's no time limit, so stop for a bath or lunch halfway. The booklet has hints, and the puzzles work for primary-school children and adults alike. Primary-school children need an adult with them.
Pick up the booklet free at the tourist information centre outside Yugawara Station (8:30–17:15), the chamber of commerce hall in Dohi (9:00–17:00), or the Genkan Terrace at Man'yō Park (8:30–17:15). There's nothing to book.
Solve even one puzzle and take it to a reporting point for a limited-edition postcard, while they last. Find keywords in two of the three areas to enter the draw for fifty ¥10,000 Yugawara gifts. Find all three to enter the big draw too: ¥100,000 in cash for one winner, a ¥50,000 Yugawara onsen stay for three, or 50kg of Koshihikari rice for five. You choose one.
Entries close at 23:59 on 31 October. Prizes go out from November, to addresses in Japan only. Clues are never inside paid venues, the station, toilets, water or anywhere off limits.
Make a day of it
The trail runs from the station up to the onsen district, so it's a day out on its own. Start near the station in the morning, stop for a bath halfway, and finish with dinner up the valley.
Before you start
West opens at 8:00 for pancake sets and coffee (closed Thursdays), and Yugawara Cafe is right outside the station from 9:00. For lunch, Chaos makes burgers until 14:00, and Saluté and Kappo Shirako have set lunches (both closed Mondays).
Yugawara Cafe
A calm self-service café right outside the station, with bread, cake, good coffee, Wi-Fi and a one-person booth for calls.
- Right by the station
- Bread and cake
- Wi-Fi and work booth
Chaos
A cheerful little burger shop by the station, with patties from the family's hundred-year-old butcher and a Spielberg sticker on the window.
- Burgers made to order
- Fresh juices
- 2 min from the station
Saluté
A relaxed Italian place four minutes from the station, with pizza, pasta, house cakes and imported wine, and a lift from the car park.
- Pizza and pasta
- Step-free
- Imported wine
Kappo Shirako
A small kappo two minutes from the station, cooking fish bought straight from the ports and vegetables from local growers.
- Fresh fish
- Lunch sets
- 2 min from the station
Halfway: a bath
Kogome no Yu is the town's cheap and cheerful day bath by Man'yō Park (closed Mondays). Soyu Terrace is the long, lazy option with lunch, so book it. Walk the stream through Man'yō Park and have a coffee at the Genkan Terrace, or see the art museum up the road (closed Wednesdays).
Kogome no Yu
The town's own day bath, next to Man'yō Park: big indoor and open-air baths, a free tatami rest room, and cheap entry after 7pm.
- Open-air bath
- Free rest room
- Half price after 7pm
Soyu Terrace
A quiet, beautifully designed bathhouse in the woods of Man'yō Park. Book a half day with lunch, the baths, a sauna and a library.
- Lunch and baths
- Sauna and library
- Ages 12+
Man'yō Park
A wooded park along the Chitose River in the heart of the onsen district, with stream-side decks, a thatched tea house, a café and a day spa.
- Stream-side decks
- Tea house
- Free to enter
Yugawara Museum of Art
The town's small art museum in the onsen district, with a café terrace, a garden and a foot bath by the stream.
- Café terrace
- Foot bath
- Good in rain
Genkan Terrace
A glass-walled café and library at the entrance to Man'yō Park. Free to walk in, with terraces among the trees and by the river.
- Free to enter
- Library and Wi-Fi
- Riverside terraces
Dinner and a drink in the onsen district
Book ahead: Torisuke for yakitori over charcoal (closed Mondays and Tuesdays), Yoru no Ajito for Italian wine and gibier, or Iroha for hamburg steak (closed Mondays). Beer Stand Kadoya pours craft beer by the Ochiai-bashi bus stop every day until 22:00.
Torisuke
A husband-and-wife yakitori house grilling over binchōtan, with clay-pot rice cooked to order.
- Binchōtan yakitori
- Kamameshi
- Cash only
Yoru no Ajito
A small evening spot for Italian wine with cured ham, cheese, house bread, and Yugawara wild boar and venison.
- Italian wine
- Local wild boar and venison
- Evenings
Iroha
A cosy evening yōshoku restaurant with wood-panelled walls, known for hamburg steak and tomato curry.
- Hamburg steak
- Tomato curry
- Evenings
Beer Stand Kadoya
The only place in the onsen district to drink fresh local beer on tap, with a terrace over the Chitose River.
- Local beer on tap
- River terrace
- Open daily
Where to stay
For a group, Shiroyamakan (formerly Shiroyama Bekkan) rents out the whole annex of an onsen inn two minutes from the station, with a spring-fed bath and room for 12. Or stay in the onsen district, where the baths, Man'yō Park and dinner are all a short walk away. Hotel Shikisai and Megumi are easy with children, Genzan Uenoya is old Yugawara in a 1930 wooden inn, and The Ryokan Tokyo is the budget pick. For dinner served in your room, Fukiya. Treeside is four minutes from the station, if you'd rather come and go by train. Friends of Matt's run Shiroyamakan.
Shiroyamakan
The detached annex of an onsen inn two minutes from Yugawara Station, rented whole: three bedrooms, room for up to 12, and a half-open-air bath fed from the hot spring.
- Whole annex to yourselves
- Spring-fed bath
- 2 minutes from the station
Hotel Shikisai
A big, easygoing onsen hotel by the river with buffet dinners, a station shuttle, table tennis and a summer pool. Good value for families and groups.
- Buffet dinner
- Station shuttle
- Summer pool
Onyado Megumi
A family-friendly ryokan with rooms for four, a children's playroom, a bookable private bath, and meals in the room in the larger suites.
- Family-friendly
- Kids' playroom
- Private open-air bath
Genzan Uenoya
One of Yugawara's oldest inns, in a four-storey wooden building from 1930 that's a registered cultural property. Two springs of its own, free private open-air baths, and a hinoki foot bath on the top floor.
- Registered cultural property
- Free private open-air baths
- Rooftop foot bath
The Ryokan Tokyo Yugawara
A relaxed, modern onsen inn for writers and solo travellers, with a library lounge, desks, ink-making, and a spring-fed bath.
- Writing plans
- Solo-friendly
- Day bath and lounge
Fukiya
A sukiya-style ryokan with seven baths, including two hinoki tubs on the roof, and dinner and breakfast served in your room. Good with children.
- Meals in your room
- Rooftop hinoki baths
- Family-friendly
Treeside Yugawara
A small design hotel and apartments four minutes from the station, with rooms that look out to the hills and a restaurant downstairs.
- 4 minutes from the station
- Apartments with kitchens
- Restaurant downstairs
Tickets and details
Plans can change with the weather. The organiser's page has the latest.
Also coming up
On now
From 24 Nov 2025, no end date
Dragon God's Secret Hot Spring
A puzzle game you play on foot from Fudō Falls down to Man'yō Park, following a story on your phone. Go any day.
On now
Sat 5 Sept – Sun 29 Nov
Weekend rakugo
Japanese comic storytelling every Saturday and Sunday afternoon in the geisha house, plus a Saturday-night show with a bath.
On now
Sat 10 Oct – Thu 17 Dec
Mikan picking
Pick and eat sweet Yugawara mandarins in hillside orchards above the sea, from October to mid-December.