The world's oldest hotel: What it's like to stay at Japan's Nishiyama Onsen Keiunkan

hen it first came to my attention that the world’s two oldest hotels were located in Japan, I made a mental bargain with myself. The bargain was to keep my list of dream vacations manageable. That is why I gravitated first toward Nishiyama Onsen Keiunkan, which dates back to the year 705 and is certified by Guinness World Records as the older of the two.

It helped that the location was in Japan’s central region of Chubu. I actually have a file on my laptop labeled, “To-Do in Chubu.” (Nice rhyme, if I do say so myself.) There are still many places in that file that I have yet to visit. The occasion of my recent marriage, however, provided a good excuse to cross “world’s oldest hotel” off the list.

Tucked away in the town of Hayakawa, deep in the mountains of Yamanashi Prefecture, Nishiyama Onsen Keiunkan had been beckoning us newlyweds. History and hospitality are twin pillars of Japanese culture; my wife and I decided to balance the back half of our first mini-honeymoon on those.

We had already enjoyed a taste of urban luxury in Shinjuku at the Park Hyatt Tokyo, where Lost in Translation was filmed. Now we were headed for another one-night stay at the hot springs inn where I would learn to overcome my reluctance about public bathing.

Getting to the hotel is part of the adventure

Counting adopted heirs, Nishiyama Onsen Keiunkan has been run by the same family for 52 generations. It’s about an hour away by shuttle bus from the nearest train station, Minobu. My wife’s hometown of Fujinomiya is on the same train line. The Minobu line starts in Shizuoka but ends in Yamanashi, with Mt Fuji in between — straddling the two prefectures.

Having lived in Shizuoka, I already knew that there was a rivalry between it and Yamanashi over which side holds the better view of the mountain. This is a deep-seated rivalry in the grand tradition of the Yomiuri Giants and the Hanshin Tigers baseball teams. It’s something I had rather inconsiderately not taken into consideration when planning our trip.

My new in-laws must have been less than thrilled to see us to go behind enemy lines — on our honeymoon, no less — in Yamanashi. If so, however, they maintained perfect poker faces as we left their house in Fuji’s shadow and caught the train to Minobu.

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