Beniya Mukayu
Minimalist Zen modernism meets traditional ryokan hospitality. Clean architectural lines, natural materials (tatami, bamboo, hinoki cypress), site-specific art installations, and deep quiet. This is a stay-put property — the point is to slow down, not explore.
Book a Zen Style Executive Suite or higher for upper-floor rooms — the garden views are dramatically better than ground-floor rooms
Why It Matters
One of the most architecturally distinguished ryokan in Japan. Relais & Châteaux member since 2009, Michelin-listed, and winner of Best Small Hotel Spa Worldwide 2015. The Spa Entei's Yakushiyama treatments draw on over a thousand years of local Buddhist healing tradition. Owner Kazunari Nakamichi personally leads the welcome tea ceremony for each guest.
Beniya Mukayu is a 16-room luxury ryokan sitting on a hillside once occupied by a Zen Buddhist temple in Yamashiro Onsen, Ishikawa. Founded in 1928 and now run by the third-generation Nakamichi family, the property was redesigned by architect Kiyoshi Sey Takeyama into a spare, modernist expression of Japanese aesthetics: minimal materials, floor-to-ceiling garden views, and every room built around a private open-air hot spring bath. The name 'Mukayu' translates to 'richness in emptiness', and that philosophy shapes everything from the uncluttered room design to the thoughtful daily rhythm of tea ceremony, kaiseki dinner, and healing spa treatments.
Where You'll Stay
6 room types available
Byakuroku Terrace Suite
Added in 2018, this 110 sqm ground-floor suite has an expansive outdoor terrace that stretches directly into the Forest Garden — close enough to reach out and touch the trees. Also features a miniature moss garden, a shoin study between the bath and terrace, a tatami living room, bamboo veranda, bedroom, and private open-air hot spring bath. The most immersive 'inside/outside' room at the property.
Twin/Double · 110 sqmJapanese Premier Tatami Garden View Room
Four rooms spread across the ground and garden floors, built with layered traditional materials — tatami, Japanese paper, bamboo, diatomaceous earth — all chosen to breathe and age naturally. Guests sleep on futon on the tatami floor. The private open-air hot spring bath, bamboo veranda, and wooden terrace all face directly onto the Forest Garden. Hammock available on request.
Futon · 70 sqm
Wakamurasaki Suite
The flagship suite — 120 sqm on the second floor with floor-to-ceiling sliding doors that open entirely onto the Forest Garden. The bamboo-floored sitting area effectively merges with the outdoors when doors are open. A 100-year-old mountain cherry tree sits directly in front; during blossom season, petals drift onto the veranda. Features a 3-meter lacquered living room table, tatami room, bedroom, walk-in closet, and private open-air hot spring bath.
Twin/Double · 120 sqmWestern Premier Garden View Room
Two rooms on the top floor, pure Western in style with full-size beds, a comfortable sofa, and a desk. The large wooden terrace has a skylight for moon-viewing (otsukimi). Private open-air hot spring bath included. Note: 18 stairs to reach this room — not suitable for guests with limited mobility.
Twin/Double · 60 sqmZen Style Executive Suite
Six very spacious suites on the upper floors (2nd, 3rd, 4th), each with a Japanese tatami room, bamboo veranda, a Western bedroom, walk-in closet, and private open-air hot spring bath. The upper-floor positioning gives dramatically wider garden views — pines, mountain sakura, weeping sakura, maples, and camellia all visible. Two full-size beds can be combined.
Twin/Double · 95 sqmZen Style Junior Suite
Completed in 2022, two first-floor suites combining Japanese and Western styles using traditional natural materials. Each has a Japanese tatami room with sofa, a separate bedroom with full-size beds, a bamboo veranda, wooden terrace, and a private open-air hot spring bath equipped with jacuzzi. Closest rooms to the Forest Garden.
Twin/Double · 70 sqmThe Property
Eat & Drink
1 venue on property
Restaurant
Spa & Wellness
Treatment Menu
On Property
How you'll actually spend your days.
Craft your own bamboo chashaku — the traditional scoop used in Japanese tea ceremony — with a local artisan instructor.
On arrival, owner Kazunari Nakamichi personally welcomes guests with a dedicated tea ceremony in the Main Library. Japanese culture is highlighted through this traditional ritual performed by the ryokan's proprietor.
Learn the Mukayu aesthetic of flower arrangement using seasonal blooms from the front garden, approach, and mountain garden of the ryokan.
Multiple library spaces on the property for reading and quiet contemplation. The Main Library is used for the daily owner's tea ceremony.
Assisted by Spa Entei therapists, guests learn to blend and wrap their own traditional medicinal herbal ball using herbs from Hakusan mountain.
Learn traditional Japanese washi paper-making techniques using natural plant fibers in the local craft tradition.
Meet local Kutani ware artists and try your hand at the Kinrande gold-brocade ceramic tradition, a hallmark of Ishikawa craftsmanship.
A nearly lost tradition: carve your own Wagatabon grooved tray with German-born Yamanaka Onsen woodworker Rabea Gebler at her studio. 2.5 hours. ¥22,000 per person.
Yamanaka is famous for traditional woodturning and lacquerware. Guests visit a local workshop to try the craft firsthand.
A local kimono shop owner teaches guests how to correctly wear a kimono and understand its traditions.
Tour the famous Kaga Boucha (roasted tea) factory and play Chakabuki — a traditional Japanese tea-guessing game.
Daily 45-minute yoga session, held on the terrace in summer months surrounded by the garden. Complimentary for all guests.
A guided hike into Ozuchi village in the surrounding mountains, passing traditional rural Japan largely unchanged by modernity.
Learn to make traditional Japanese wagashi sweets with a local artisan. Requires 2+ night stay. Guided in English.
Amenities & Practical Info
The details that matter for planning.
Free unlimited Wi-Fi throughout the property.
The Main Library is used for the complimentary owner-led welcome tea ceremony. Multiple library spaces (Forest Library, Library Zero) available for guests to use freely.
Yukata (traditional cotton robe), pajamas, and a full set of towels provided in each room.
Soft drinks and alcoholic beverages available in room.
Proprietary skincare developed by proprietress Sachiko Nakamichi over three years: shampoo, conditioner, body wash, body lotion, cleansing gel, facial wash, lotion, emulsion, and essential oils. Incorporates Yamashiro onsen water and natural herbs.
A communal indoor and open-air hot spring bath designed for tranquil meditation, featuring a round backrest in the bathtub. Gender-separated. Includes sauna. Opened November 2023.
A communal indoor and open-air hot spring bath made of white cypress wood for purifying the body and mind. Gender-separated. Includes sauna. Opened November 2023.
Every room has its own private open-air rotenburo with natural Yamashiro onsen water — a sulfate spring rich in calcium and sodium. Guests can use it at any hour, for as long as they wish. Hinoki (cypress) bathtubs in most rooms.
Expansive four-season garden with mossy paths, ancient red pines, a 100-year-old mountain cherry tree (Yamazakura), maples, camellia and larch. Spectacular in each season — cherry blossoms in spring, lush green in summer, fiery foliage in autumn, and snow-covered silence in winter.
Accepts VISA, JCB, AMEX, Diners Club, UC, DC, and Mastercard.
The shop sells Beniya Mukayu's signature Yakushiyama skincare line plus locally made ceramics, lacquerware, artworks and food products. Items also available via mukayu.com.
On-site parking available.
BUILD YOUR BENIYA MUKAYU PLAN
Rooms, dining, spa, and resort experiences — organized into one trip plan.
Start Planning