Nara
Forest.
A contemporary ryokan within the cedar canopy. Fourteen rooms, one cedar, the rhythm of the kettle.
Coordinates
35.1947° N, 135.7733° E
Setting
Cedar forest
Keys
14 rooms
Season
Open April–November
"Built around a single cedar that was old before the village was old. Everything else was arranged so as not to disturb it."
Nara Forest was conceived by the Kyoto architect Shigeru Inō with the master carpenter Tetsuo Aoki over six years. Walls are weathered hinoki cypress, joined without nails in the traditional sashimono method. Floors are tatami of igusa rush, refreshed each spring. Every room faces the same tree.
Fourteen rooms, all facing the cedar.
Each room is a single space — a low futon, a tea hearth, a writing alcove. Shoji screens slide back to reveal the forest. Bath water arrives at forty-two degrees, twice daily.
- i
Cedar Room
48 m² · Forest, ground floor
from ¥184,000 - ii
Moss Room
62 m² · Garden, private engawa
from ¥246,000 - iii
Onsen Suite
88 m² · Private cedar bath
from ¥328,000 - iv
The Old Tea House
140 m² · Two rooms, study, hearth
from ¥520,000
Cedar, steam, the long thaw.
Water rises from the mountain at forty-six degrees and is cooled in three wooden vats before reaching the bath. Indoor and outdoor pools, separated by a sliding cedar wall that is opened only after dark.
Kaiseki by chef Hiroya Onozuka. Twelve seasons, twelve menus.
The kitchen follows the older Japanese calendar of twenty-four seasons. Each menu lasts roughly fifteen days. Vegetables are pulled from the kitchen garden each morning; fish arrives by van from the Sea of Japan before dawn.
- 01
Tea ceremony at sixteen-hundred
Conducted by the okami in the old tea house. Two guests at a time.
- 02
Shinrin-yoku with the forester
A slow two-hour walk through the cedars, mostly in silence.
- 03
Calligraphy hour
Ink, brush, a single sheet of washi. Tutored or alone.
- 04
Knife-sharpening with the chef
Honing a single carbon blade on three Japanese whetstones.
- 05
Moon-viewing from the engawa
Sake warmed in a tin tokkuri; a haiku on the desk by morning.
How one arrives.
i. Fly to Osaka or Tokyo.
KIX or HND. The Shinkansen reaches Kyoto in two hours from Tokyo, fifteen minutes from Osaka.
ii. A car, ninety minutes.
A driver meets you at Kyoto Station and follows the old cedar road north into the mountains.
iii. The last hundred steps.
From the carriage gate, a moss-lined path leads to the entrance hall. Slippers, tea, and silence are waiting.
A residency begins at two nights.
Our keepers compose each stay by correspondence — a single conversation, often by letter, never by form.