Is Shimaya pet-friendly?

No, only service animals are welcome at the property.

How much does it cost to stay at Shimaya?

As of 2026/1/17, prices found for a 1-night stay for 2 adults at Shimaya on 2026/1/19 start from NT$4,765, excluding taxes and fees. This price is based on the lowest nightly price found in the last 24 hours for stays in the next 30 days. Prices are subject to change. Choose your dates for more accurate prices.

Self parking is free at this property.

What time is check-in at Shimaya?

Check-in start time: 3:00 PM; Check-in end time: 9:00 PM.

Where is Shimaya located?

Situated in Yamanouchi, this ryokan is within a 5-minute walk of Yudanaka Hot Spring and Shibu. Shiga Kogen Ski Area and Joshin'etsu-kogen National Park are also within 3 mi (5 km). Yudanaka Station is 7 minutes by foot.

Shimaya Reviews, Deals & Photos 2026

10/10 Excellent

Daniel

2025/12/28

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities

Great stay with very friendly staff, the offer free transport to the monkey park and the onsen are great.

Stayed 1 night in Dec 2025

10/10 Excellent

gregory

2025/9/28

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort

Clean room, comfortable, simple breakfast And good location. It is exactly as described.

Stayed 1 night in Sep 2025

10/10 Excellent

Andrew

2025/1/20

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities

Wonderful ryokan operated by a friendly couple - they went above and beyond to make our stay enjoyable by letting us borrow boots for the snow and driving us up to the Snow Monkey park.

Stayed 1 night in Jan 2025

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveler

2025/1/20

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort

Cozy Stay, Lovely Hosts

Adorable, family owned place with big (for Japan) traditional rooms. The owners are extremely friendly and even drove us to the monkey park. The onsen is clean and very nice.

Stayed 1 night in Jan 2025

10/10 Excellent

greg

2025/6/1

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort

Superb host offered great advice and dropped us off at the entrance to snow monkeys. Room was great traditional room. Ideal location if going to snow monkeys easy walk from the train station

Stayed 1 night in Apr 2025

8/10 Good

Verified traveler

2024/7/31

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort

It was a great experience staying there. Simple down to earth accommodation with friendly staff and owner. We had a great time there and location is good with nearby restaurants. Good option if you are seeking a clean and comfortable stay with basic amenities.

Stayed 3 nights in Apr 2024

10/10 Excellent

Rolando

2023/11/18

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities

The staff managing the hotel are warm & very helpful.

Stayed 1 night in Nov 2023

10/10 Excellent

Kathleen

2025/3/24

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort

charming - excellent service from hosts. as others have mentioned, they gave us a ride up to the monkey park, & to train station upon our departure, for which we were so grateful after a week’s trekking. as vegetarians, we were also super happy with the breakfast offerings. such sweet people, would stay again

Stayed 1 night in Mar 2025

10/10 Excellent

Kristina

2025/5/8

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities

We highly recommended a stay at Shimaya Ryokan for anyone visiting Yudanaka. The location, cleanliness & attention to detail were outstanding and host/owner Mr Yamuto (apologies if name is spelt incorrectly) went above and beyond to ensure we were comfortable and that all our needs were met… even driving us to Snow Monkey Park and providing us with maps for the next leg of our trip. A very positive and memorable experience.

Stayed 2 nights in May 2025

10/10 Excellent

Brandon

2025/1/20

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities

We were treated extremely well by everyone at Shimaya. They went above and beyond to ensure that our travel plans worked out. Amazing customer service from very kind people!

Stayed 1 night in Jan 2025

10/10 Excellent

Ellinor

2023/11/8

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort

Spacious, clean room with a great view. Very friendly and helpful host.

Stayed 3 nights in Nov 2023

10/10 Excellent

Molly

2025/1/4

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities

The property and surrounding areas were beautiful covered in snow during our Winter visit. The hotel provided boots so we could easily get around in the snow. The man who was at the front desk during our stay was knowledgeable of the area and kind. We had two rooms and both were clean and comfortable throughout our stay.

Stayed 3 nights in Dec 2024

10/10 Excellent

Susan

2024/11/22

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities

Quaint century old multi-generational run family onsen. Feels like visiting a friend. The hosts are warm and so hospitable, provide local info and recommendations. Breakfast is not to be missed, the player piano, and jute box memorabilia set against a nice spread with local fruit, in addition to a modest western style offerings. A modest stay on a trip to see the macaques.

Stayed 1 night in Nov 2024

10/10 Excellent

Ryan

2025/3/17

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities

The staff were amazingly friendly and helpful. Absolutely made our stay feel like we were guests in their own home. The building is older and a bit worn but this adds to the experience of staying at a traditional guest house. It feels like it has a very rich history of welcoming guests. The house was spotless and immaculately kept. Our hosts generously offered to drive us to the monkey park gate nearby The monkey park experience was like no other! An absolute highlight of our family’s trip to Japan.

Stayed 1 night in Mar 2025

10/10 Excellent

Simon

2024/12/11

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities

The owner was so nice! We came a couple hours late, past check in, but he still checked us in and gave us a bunch of good info. The next morning, he lent us winter boots to walk around the muddy snow monkey paths. The room itself had a nice atmosphere and view.

Stayed 1 night in Dec 2024

10/10 Excellent

Iwan

2024/4/15

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort

A Lovely Stay

Would highly recommend this traditional hotel for anyone travelling to Yudanaka. We were made to feel very welcome by the friendly host. Public onsens are on site. However, a private onsen is available for a small fee, which is well worth it! A complimentary lift to the snow monkey park the following morning was much appreciated.

Stayed 1 night in Apr 2024

10/10 Excellent

Paige

2024/4/29

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities

Amazing stay at Shimaya. The owners, as mentioned in other reviews are outstanding. Gave us a ride to the Snow Monkeys and were very helpful. The breakfast (¥700) was simple and quick - toast, fruit, yoghurt, coffee and juice! Onsen was clean and great. We were on the fourth floor and the views were unreal. Will for sure be returning in the winter!

Stayed 2 nights in Apr 2024

10/10 Excellent

John-Ross

2023/11/14

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities

Shimaya is a traditional inn with comfortable futons on tatami flooring. Nicely hot onsen, unique deep soaking bath in the room. Owners are lovely and it was extremely useful to be driven to the monkey park in time for it opening. That's a taxi fare of about 2000 yen so a generous honour provided by the owners. Great location

10/10 Excellent

MATTHEW

2024/5/20

Liked: Amenities

The owner is the most attentive and accommodating man! Made sure we hade all we need, know where to go, even inquired as to where we were going…to make sure our experience was great. Hotel is older but in great shape. The free/24-7 in house onsen was hot as heck! Varied day by day of course depending on what is being cooked up underground! Very clean.

Stayed 1 night in May 2024

10/10 Excellent

Miriam

2025/4/1

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities

We loved staying at Shimaya. The family run ryokan is clean and has only a few rooms. This meant that it was easy to book the private hotel onsen as a family and, later, my daughter and I had the larger women's hotel onsen to ourselves. The family was very helpful and kind, even driving our family to Snow Monkey Park, offering to drive us back, and suggesting a walking route back for exploring Shibu Onsen. They also provided various sized boots that allowed me, my husband, and our 10 year old daughter to have sturdy boots for the walk along the snowy and muddy path up to Snow Monkey Park. Our room was a perfect size for our family of three, including an enclosed balcony with a nice view of the mountains. It was also located a short walk from the train. While the ryokan only offered breakfast (which was great), there were many restaurants in Shibu Onsen and Yudanaka within walking distance. We had a wonderful time and will definitely return if we are able.

Stayed 2 nights in Mar 2025

8/10 Good

Jason

2025/1/2

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort

Snow monkey ryokan

It was a decent comfy plac. large bedroom. Friendly helpful staff. The owner even gives people rides to Snow Monkey Park and to the train station! My only disappointment was the picture from their listing showed a large beautiful outdoor onsen with a view, and come to find out that Onsen is not on the property -- it's located ten minutes drive away and closed for winter. That picture was the main reason I picked this hotel, and wanted to show my partner, so we didn't get that nice luxury experience. Oh well. It was decent besides that, and the town is cute and has many onsen!

Stayed 3 nights in Dec 2024

8/10 Good

Sharon

2025/6/27

Liked: Cleanliness, amenities

This hotel is 6-8 minutes walk from train station at gentle uphill. With a few days notice, you can arrange shuttle pick up. We did not. We stayed two nights in room 402. Room is large and clean with safe and fridge. It has a sitting area and small balcony. Traditional Japanese style room. Note hotel is very old and dated but after initial surprise, we grew to really like it. No elevator. Onsite onsen is very nice. They even have a small private one. Shuttle will drop you at monkey park entrance. We saw lots of monkeys and had at great dinner at Gion restaurant by the train station. In the summer the town is very quiet. Note you cannot visit most of the onsens in Shibu unless you’re staying right in the Shibu town and this hotel is a short walk away in neighboring town. For us the hotel’s onsen was just fine. Simple, affordable breakfast was offered. Would stay again

Stayed 2 nights in Jun 2025

10/10 Excellent

Jordan

2024/12/15

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities

Very quiet and relaxing Ryokan in Yamanouchi Onsen Town. I think I was the only person staying here at the time. I had the Onsen all to myself for the night I was there and I wish I had booked one extra night because the Onsen was very relaxing. The staff/owners are super sweet and wonderful people. They even offered me a ride up to the snow monkey park entrance when I arrived. The rooms have an excellent view of the mountains. Hot water and tea cups are waiting in your room when you arrive. The thermos' last a long time because I still had hot water in the morning for a tea on the balcony to watch the sunrise. Breakfast is basic continental. The fruits were super delicious and the bread for toast was fresh baked. The mattress was comfy and cozy, I fell asleep within minutes of laying down. Highly recommend staying here for a night or two if you're looking for a quiet and relaxing getaway in a cute mountain town.

Stayed 1 night in Dec 2024

6/10 Okay

Holly

2025/1/1

Disliked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities

We stayed 1 night at Shimaya with my family in a Japanese style room. The hotel picked us up from the train station and also gave us a ride to the Snow Monkey Park the next day. The room was comfortable, but old and the washroom had a terrible smell. I could not find the toilet until I asked a fellow guest who said it was out on the balcony. We also had trouble finding the private onsen and couldn’t find anyone who spoke English, so gave up on that. The breakfast was just ok with boiled eggs, toast and cereal. Overall it was a bit disappointing as I was looking forward to the onsen. But it was good for a simple night stay in Yudanaka.

Stayed 1 night in Dec 2024

10/10 Excellent

Jacob

2024/12/11

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort

Great Stay!

HIGHLY Recommended! Was a great family trip and the staff were extremely friendly and helpful. If you have elderly or children please note there is no elevator and the stairs can be a little challenging so request a low floor.

Stayed 2 nights in Dec 2024

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Shimaya Reviews

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9.0

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10/10 Excellent

Daniel

Daniel