SHIZUKA RYOKAN — Where Time Dissolves | Luxury Onsen & Sake Experience

Private onsen bath with bamboo garden view

The Onsen Experience

温泉

Four Private
Sacred Baths

Drawn from a 400-year-old thermal spring at 1,200 meters elevation, our waters carry dissolved minerals that have healed and renewed for centuries. Each bath is yours alone — private, silent, timeless.

The waters are rich in sodium bicarbonate and silica — known in Japanese tradition as bijin-no-yu, the waters of beauty. Temperature maintained at 41°C, the perfect human threshold between waking and dreaming.

01 Bamboo Forest 竹林の湯

Surrounded by 30-year-old Moso bamboo. The sound of wind through the grove is the only music. Dawn bathing recommended.

02 Stone Garden 石庭の湯

Arranged around a traditional karesansui dry garden. Contemplative, meditative. Our most requested bath at dusk.

03 River View 川辺の湯

Elevated platform overlooking the mountain river. The sound of rushing water below. Mist rises at dawn and dusk.

04 Cedar Room 杉の間の湯

Indoor hinoki cypress bath. Ancient wood fragrance. For winter evenings when snow falls silently outside.

Sake Omakase

The Brewery
Ritual

Our master brewer, Toshiyuki Arai, crafts sake from Yamada Nishiki rice grown on the mountain terraces above. The brewery tour and tasting omakase is an intimate ceremony for four guests at a time.

Five-Flight Omakase

一

Junmai Daiginjo — "Morning Mist"

Ultra-premium, polished to 35%. Floral, ethereal. Served chilled in Edo kiriko crystal.

Premium

二

Kimoto Junmai — "Deep Earth"

Traditional lactic fermentation. Rich umami. Earthy, complex. Aged 3 years in cedar casks.

Aged

三

Nigori Namazake — "Cloud Water"

Unpasteurized, unfiltered. Cloudy, alive. Served at the moment of pressing. Seasonal only.

Seasonal

四

Amazake — "Sweet River"

Non-alcoholic fermented rice drink. Ancient nourishment for the onsen ritual. Warm in winter.

Non-Alcoholic

五

Koshu Reserve — "Silent Mountain"

Our rarest offering. Twenty-year aged sake. Single cask. Only twelve bottles per harvest.

Reserve · Limited

懐石

Seasonal Kaiseki

The Art of Eating
What the Mountain Gives

先付

Sakizuke — Opening

A single seasonal ingredient, prepared with minimal intervention. The amuse-bouche of restraint.

椀物

Wanmono — Soup Course

Clear dashi broth with matsutake mushroom, yuzu peel. The taste of the forest distilled.

向付

Mukōzuke — Sashimi

River-caught ayu sweetfish and mountain trout, presented on hand-thrown Kyoto ceramics.

焼き物

Yakimono — Grilled Course

Charcoal-grilled over binchōtan at tableside. The smoke becomes part of the atmosphere.

Philosophy

"Food is the language of gratitude to the season. Each dish is both prayer and poetry."

Chef Haruki Mitsuyama trained for twelve years under a Kyoto kaiseki master before returning to his birthplace in the mountains. His menu changes not just seasonally, but daily — responding to weather, to what arrived that morning, to what the garden yields at the moment of harvest.

Dining at Shizuka is never a performance. It is a private communion between guest, chef, and the living mountain.

Accommodations

Six Suites.
No Two the Same.

Each suite is a private universe — designed around a singular element of Japanese philosophy. Tatami floors, shoji screens, private garden, and your own dedicated onsen basin.

The Ma Suite

間 — Space & Void

The largest suite. Named for the Japanese concept of meaningful negative space. 120 sqm of deliberate emptiness and total presence. Private bamboo garden and outdoor onsen basin.

¥280,000 per night / per couple

The Wabi Suite

侘び — Rustic Imperfection

Irregular stone walls. Hand-plastered earthen surfaces. A celebration of imperfection and transience.

¥220,000 per night

The Sabi Suite

寂び — Patina of Time

Two centuries of stories held in the walls. The oldest structure, preserved with reverence.

¥240,000 per night

The Mu Suite

無 — Nothingness

Minimal beyond minimal. White shoji, a single flower, the sound of wind. Zen practice space included.

¥200,000 per night

The Mono Suite

もの — The Thing Itself

Garden suite. Cherry blossom view in spring, maple canopy in autumn. Living painting, ever-changing.

¥260,000 per night

The Yūgen Suite

幽玄 — Profound Mystery

Cliff-edge position. Mist rises below at night. The furthest from everything, closest to the essence.

¥320,000 per night

Daily Schedule

The Rituals of
a Shizuka Day

A day at Shizuka is not itinerary — it is ceremony. Each moment flows into the next with the deliberate rhythm of ancestral practice.

Nothing is scheduled unless you choose it. Nothing is rushed. The only requirement is presence. Time moves differently here — slower, richer, more vivid.

05:30 — Dawn

Morning Meditation

Guided zazen in the cedar meditation hall. Optional — but those who rise for it rarely miss it again.

06:30 — First Light

Dawn Onsen

The bamboo bath at sunrise. Mist rising from the water. The mountain waking around you.

08:00 — Morning

Asa Kaiseki Breakfast

Seasonal morning kaiseki. Miso, pickled vegetables, mountain rice porridge, grilled river fish.

10:00 — Mid-Morning

Tea Ceremony

Ura Senke tradition. Matcha whisked in silence. Each movement a form of moving meditation.

16:30 — Golden Hour

Sunset Sake Ritual

The master brewer pours the day's pressed sake. Watching the sun set behind the mountains. Saying nothing necessary.

19:00 — Evening

Kaiseki Dinner

Ten-course omakase kaiseki. Three hours of ceremony. The evening's main event — and the most intimate.

21:30 — Night

Night Onsen

The stone garden bath under stars. Complete silence. The sky reflected in the water's surface.

Seasonal Availability

The Mountain Changes.
So Does Shizuka.

Each season transforms the ryokan entirely. The menu, the rituals, the colours of the garden, the quality of the light — all change in concert with the natural world.

春 Haru — Spring March · April · May

Cherry blossoms fall into the onsen water. The world turns pink and pale. Sakura sake only available during hanami peak.

夏 Natsu — Summer June · July · August

The bamboo is at its most verdant. Fireflies illuminate the garden at dusk. Evening yukata walks through the forest.

秋 Aki — Autumn September · October · November

The sake harvest season. Maple leaves turn crimson. Matsutake mushroom kaiseki. Our most requested period.

冬 Fuyu — Winter December · January · February

Snow silences everything. The cedar onsen on a winter night, steam rising, is the definition of yūgen. Profound mystery made tangible.

Guest Reflections

What Guests
Remember

"I arrived with a full diary and a cluttered mind. By the second morning, both had been washed away. Shizuka doesn't just accommodate you — it quietly dismantles who you thought you needed to be."

A. Whitmore London, United Kingdom · Stayed 5 nights

"The sake omakase with Arai-san changed how I understand the relationship between craft and time. Twenty years in a bottle is twenty years of listening. We sat in silence after the final pour for nearly ten minutes. No one wanted to break it."

K. Tannenbaum Zürich, Switzerland · Annual guest since 2019

"The Yūgen Suite at 3am. Snow falling outside. The mist rising from the water below the cliff. I stayed in the bath for two hours. I am not sure time passed at all. There is no word in English for what Shizuka gives you."

M. Okonkwo Lagos, Nigeria · Honeymoon stay

Reserve Your Stay

Begin the Ritual of
Arrival

Shizuka accepts a maximum of six guests at any time. We do not participate in online booking platforms. Reservations are made directly, personally, and with care. Each stay is prepared for you specifically.

Seasonal Rates Per Night (including kaiseki)

Spring — Sakura Season

¥320,000 / night

Summer — Firefly Season

¥260,000 / night

Autumn — Harvest Season

¥340,000 / night

Winter — Snow Season

¥280,000 / night

Reservation Request

Minimum 2 nights · Maximum 14 nights

Given Name

Family Name

Email Address

Arrival Date

Departure Date

Suite Preference

Occasion & Special Wishes

Our reservation team responds within 24 hours. Your request is not a booking — it begins a conversation. All rates include kaiseki dinner and breakfast.

SHIZUKA

Where TimeDissolves

Four PrivateSacred Baths

The BreweryRitual

Five-Flight Omakase

Junmai Daiginjo — "Morning Mist"

Kimoto Junmai — "Deep Earth"

Nigori Namazake — "Cloud Water"

Amazake — "Sweet River"

Koshu Reserve — "Silent Mountain"

The Art of EatingWhat the Mountain Gives

Six Suites.No Two the Same.

The Rituals ofa Shizuka Day

The Mountain Changes.So Does Shizuka.

What GuestsRemember

Begin the Ritual ofArrival