In for some unique accommodation in Japan? Then opt for a stay in original Japanese houses. We had a great experience in a traditional Kyo-Machiya townhouse in Kyoto and Fuji Travel House in Fujikawaguchiko near Mt. Fuji. Ideal to experience Japanese housing culture in an often spacious facility.
For the Dutch version of this blogpost, read here.
Introduction
When arranging our trip to Japan, I was looking for spacious accommodation in a typical Japane style, if possible. Most of the times, rooms in hotels are rather basic and, in particular in the big cities, very small. An adventure in itself, as we experienced in Tokio, but I didn’t want that for a trip of 3 weeks.
So I started looking for houses, which was not always so evident, given the fact that quite some websites are in Japanese. Luckily, booking.com als turned out to be of some help.
Rinn Fushimini Inari, a Kyo- Machiya Japanese house in Kyoto
The town house
In Kyoto, I came across the superb website of Kyo- Machiya houses, traditional houses in Kyoto. Some of them are renovated into small hotels, others are rented to tourists as individual town houses.
I chose Rinn Fushimini Inari town house for our stay.
Rinn Fushimini Inari is a traditional Kyoto townhouse with an elegant appearance based on the ‘Cool Kyoto’ concept. The combination of rich, impactful Japanese-style furniture inspired by the thousand torii gates and contrast of shadows, which are the foremost attractions of Fushimi Inari, and use of vivid vermilion fabric art, adds depth to the luxurious atmosphere of the guest rooms.
The town house sleeps up to 7 guests. The ground floor has a kitchen, bathroom, living-room in Japanese style and a small side room with a coach, with views on the small garden.
There are 2 bedrooms (one Western style with 2 double beds, the other one with 3 futon beds), a flat-screen TV and a small kitchen that provides guests with a microwave, a fridge, a washing machine and kitchenware. There is a decent bathroom with shower in the bath. The holiday home offers bed linen, pyjama’s, towels and laundry service. There is also free Wifi in the house.
Location
This town house is ideally located near the splendid Fushimi Inari Shrine, one of the most famous shrines in Japan, known for its thousands vermillion torri gates. This allowed is to not only visit this complex during the day, but also return in the evening to enjoy its splendor. We were even lucky to participate at the …. festivak mid summer, a great experience.
On top, the town house is only minutes away from the Fushimi Inari station on the Keihan Electric Railway and the Inari Station at the Nara JR line. Both stations are just a few stops from Kyoto station, so Kyoto is within reach. Also, the Inari station is on the Nara line, so it also offers an easy travel to the ancient city of Nara. An ideal base thus to explore Kyoto and Nara.
Finally, the neigbourhood offers a lot of eateries.
Prices and How to book this house
We stayed 4 nights in summer season and paid 670 euro, which is really reasonable.
You can book this luxury town house via booking or via this website.
The latter website gives a great overview of the other luxury Japanese style houses for rent in the Kyoto area, all scattered throughout the city. So you can chose yourself which one is the most convenient for you.
We received the keys and information via Rinn Station, close to Kyoto Station. The service was super. We arrived around noon and they offered to bring our luggage to the town house in the afternoon, for free, so we could more easily explore Kyoto.
Fuji Travel House, a modern Japanese house in Fujikawaguchiko
The house
In Fujikawaguchiko, I came across the Fuji Travel House, Japanese style house via booking.com.
This rather modern Japanese house offers accommodation up to 9 guests. It has 2 bedrooms, one with a 2 single beds, one with 6 futons and 1 sofa bed.
There is a living room with a fully equipped open kitchen, one bathroom, a washing machine, a flat-screen TV with cable channels and a terrace with mount Fuji views. The holiday home offers bed linen and towels. There is also free Wifi and air conditioning in the house.
The house has ample room. A plus is also it has sufficient Japanese and International kitchenware.
In the evening, you can see people climbing Mt. Fuji from the terrace.
The only minor thing is the house is located near a rather big street, so sometimes you can hear the traffic.
Location
The holiday home is located in a residential area. It’s rather close to the station (10 minutes walk) and Mt. Fuji Panoramic Ropeway (25 minutes walk). Lake Kawaguchi is 4.1 km from the holiday home, while Mount Fuji is 22 km from the property.
The house is also located in a geothermal area, with a number of hot springs nearby for guests to relax in.
There are a lot of eateries in the neigbourhood.
Prices and How to book this house
We only stayed 1 night in summer season and paid 200, which is really reasonable.
You can book this house via booking.com
Read more handy tips on accommodation in Japan in our extensive blogpost Find top accommodation in Japan.
Or go hiking from Magome to Tsumago, a beautiful hike between two postal villages.
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