We stayed two nights at the Mimatsuso ryokan after reading good reviews about it.

Like the others said, it is an old house. The first impression was so-so because when we arrived, we saw old TV sets and other electronic waste belonging to the shop next door piled up in the alley next to the house.

But it is very clean inside and we were given two rooms for our family of three. A living room where we could relax after a day of walking around; and a bedroom that is right across from the living room. Very nice set up. After putting our child to bed, we could enjoy tea in the living room.

The room doesn’t come with attached bathroom or toilet but it was very convenient to use the shared toilet and bathroom, which are all very clean. We never had to wait to use any of those during our stay there. The futons were very comfortable and we all slept very well.

The owners are very kind and welcoming people. They welcomed us with Royce cookies when we checked in. On our second night, we were served tea and a different snack. They kept apologising about how old the house is but we didn’t mind it.

Location-wise, Minatsuso ryokan is very convenient to get to from the Asahikawa JR station, about 5-10 mins of walking. It’s also near to the Tokiwakoen, a pleasant local park.

We had travelled in Hokkaido about close to two weeks by then and this is our first ryokan stay.

Mid-range hotels in Japan are expensive and rooms very small for what you are paying for.

The price we paid for the room included breakfast which was traditional Japanese breakfast of rice, miso soup, grilled fish, salad, fruit and tea. Simple but delicious.

We had the most comfortable stay in this ryokan despite it being much older than the hotels we had stayed in.

We enjoyed the experience so much that we booked our next ryokan in Hakodate after that.

So yes, I recommend this place if you like a clean and homely room to return to after a day of walking around and don’t mind if the house is more on the old side.

Everything here was great!

Check in and check out was super easy, with parking confirmed in advance. The couple couple in charge are welcoming and speak good English, and provide nice little touches to make you feel at home. The room itself was very comfortable - traditional Japanese style but the bed was extremely comfortable. I also enjoyed the small bath facility, like a mini onsen for one.

Breakfast was generous, authentic Japanese fare. I can’t say anything wrong about the place, extremely good value and right in central Asahikawa.

It is the best place I've ever stayed in my entire Hokkaido trip!
We stayed in three bedroom with tatami room, the room was spacious!
It's like we got 1 room for our bed and 1 room for lounge.

The owner is very kind. They drove us to the station every day from the property.
Not to mention, the amenities are amazing, they provide us with toothbrush, shampoo, hairdryer, conditioner, shower gel, yukata, towel, mineral water, tea, hot water jug. You can also rent kimono for free! WOW!

Oh also there is a big size bath tub if you want to experience mini onsen lol.
They even serve us snack every night ;_; and gave us souvenir when we were check out. I'm so touched. They also sell Asahiyama Zoo ticket.

Definitely will come back!