Saikatei Jidaiya
彩花亭 時代屋
Does Saikatei Jidaiya allow tattoos? In a private bath
Jidaiya gives seven rooms a spring tub of their own, each in a different style, and keeps two source-fed private open-air baths, one beside a goldfish courtyard and one with a shallow shelf for lying down in the water.
Jidaiya publishes no tattoo rule. Seven of its rooms have a hot spring tub of their own, open-air, semi-open-air or indoors, and two source-fed private open-air baths are booked for 45 minutes at ¥3,300.
The bath
The inn lists its water as a calcium-sodium sulfate spring at pH 7.8, weakly alkaline, and says it is gentle enough for a newborn; it suggests a quick rinse afterward for anyone with sensitive skin. The large bath, Kurazashiki-no-yu, has a retro interior with a view of a courtyard garden, and a door leads out to an open-air bath that the inn compares to a hideaway.
The two private open-air baths are both source-fed. Ousai is finished in pebble-washed concrete and rust-colored stone, beside a small courtyard garden where goldfish swim, with a resting room behind a lattice window. Keyakisai has a shallow shelf for lying in the water, which the inn says suits babies and children, plus room for a half bath or a foot soak, and a CD player and radio in the changing room. Each is used for 45 minutes within the hour between 3 and 9 p.m., at ¥3,300 including tax, booked ahead. Seven rooms have their own spring tub: a round open-air tub by a courtyard garden in Daidaisai, a cypress open-air tub in Moegisai, an indoor view bath facing the Zao range in Yamabukisai, and semi-open-air baths in Akanesai, Konpekisai and Asagisai.
The hotel
Jidaiya sorts its rooms into the seven spring-tub rooms, each named for a traditional color, and three types of standard room: a Japanese-modern twin and Japanese rooms of 12.5 and 10 mats. Every meal is served in a private dining room, some with chairs, and the inn says its kitchen brings French technique to Yamagata produce. It also serves its dinners to day and evening visitors who come to eat, without a room.
Good to know
- Private open-air baths for ¥3,300, 45 minutes, booked ahead, 3 to 9 p.m.
- A shallow lie-down shelf in Keyakisai, which the inn says suits small children.
- Every meal in a private dining room, with chairs for those who need them.
Getting there
From Yamagata Station, take the JR Ou line or the Yamagata Shinkansen to Kaminoyama-Onsen Station; the inn publishes no time for that leg. From the station a taxi takes about 10 minutes. The inn publishes no pickup and no walking time. Drivers leave the Tohoku-Chuo Expressway at Kaminoyama-Onsen and follow Route 458 toward the town for about 7 minutes.
Kaminoyama-Onsen STN · JR Yamagata Shinkansen / Ou line
Not walkable.
Taxi about 10 minutes; the inn publishes no pickup.
Where it is
Kaminoyama-Onsen STN
- Shinkansen tickets Seats between any two stations, booked by date.
- JR East Pass from ¥35,000 · 5 or 10 consecutive days Covers the whole train ride: the Tsubasa, the Yamagata Shinkansen, runs from Tokyo to Kaminoyama-Onsen with no change.
- Zao Fox Village and Ginzan Onsen day trip The Zao Fox Village and Ginzan Onsen, from Sendai.
- Japan Rail Pass from ¥53,000 · 7, 14 or 21 days For a trip that takes in several regions by Shinkansen and JR lines.
What happens when you arrive
Use the bath in your room, or reserve a private bath.
How we know
Bath layout confirmed, tattoo policy not published Checked on the official site: (the hot spring page and the rooms page)
Best for: a couple who wants a private open-air bath with a lie-down shelf, or a room with its own spring tub, and dinner that mixes Japanese and French cooking
The two private open-air baths, Ousai (with a small courtyard garden where goldfish swim) and Keyakisai (with a shallow lie-down bath), are both source-fed: 45 minutes within each hour from 3 to 9 p.m., ¥3,300 including tax, booked ahead. The seven spring-tub rooms: Daidaisai (18 mats, a round open-air tub by a courtyard garden), Moegisai (10 mats, a cypress open-air tub), Yamabukisai (16 mats, an indoor view bath facing the Zao range), Akanesai (16.5 mats, a semi-open-air indoor bath in a corner room), Byakuransai (8 mats, a bath the inn calls open-air), and Konpekisai and Asagisai (10 mats plus a 6-mat Western room, semi-open-air baths of pebble-washed concrete). Standard rooms have ordinary baths. All meals in private dining rooms.
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