Sakan Ryokan Sakan Ryokan Sakan Ryokan or "Hotel Sakan" (ホテル佐勘) is an historic ryokan (Japanese inn) located in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. The inn is over 1,000 years old, and is located within the spa resort named "Akiu Spa," which has four communal onsen (baths) that are supplied by natural hot springs. The hot springs are one of the three oldest ones in Japan, and are located near the Natori River. The inn was originally started by a man named Kanzaburo Satoh, whom the inn is named after. Ownership of the inn has been handed down to Satoh's descendants for 34 generations.
Ryokan (inn) the hall as well. Guest rooms are constructed using traditional Japanese methods: flooring is tatami, and doors are sliding doors. Even if the inn uses hinged doors for security, it usually opens into a small entranceway where guests can take off their shoes before stepping onto the tatami floor, which would be separated by a sliding door. Many ryokan rooms also feature a porch or balcony, also set off with a sliding door. Almost all ryokan feature common bathing areas or ofuro, usually segregated by gender, using the water from a hot spring ("onsen") if any are nearby. (Areas with