Located in Kaga City, Ishikawa prefecture, Beniya Mukayu is about 40 km from Kanazawa. Reaching the ryokan by train is very convenient, as it takes three hours and a half from Tokyo and two and a half from Kyoto to Kaga Onsen station, and from there 15 minutes by shuttle bus or taxi.

Beniya Mukayu offers the chance to explore the beautiful Japanese countryside and relax while bathing in hot springs. But staying at the ryokan is often much more than that: it is also an opportunity to dive deep into Japanese culture for many guests. Concepts like ‘mu’ (emptiness) are difficult to explain, but they can be easy to grasp when experienced. Mukayu means richness in emptiness: something guests feel as soon as they enter their rooms and in many other moments throughout their stay.

Wakamurasaki Suite

All the rooms face the garden, which seems to pour inside through the window. The architect Sey Takeyama has designed rooms as if they were empty vessels. Their emptiness makes them meaningful, just as relaxing becomes meaningful when it is an empty time within a busy schedule. For international guests, Beniya Mukayu often is a haven of peace between busy cities: why don’t you indulge a bit longer? As the architect, Sey Takeyama, explains: “Time spent relaxing seems unguided, but rather it is time spent cultivating creativity.”

Horin restaurant

The art at Beniya Mukayu quietly fits in the atmosphere. In the Tsukubai Ho-sun by Kenya Hara, for example, the water drops roll down one after another before swirling on the white circle and falling into the black pond.

Other Japanese artworks populate the spaces. Like the flowers inside the ryokan connect the inside and the outside space, the artworks discreetly connect the mind with the surrounding space. The newest artwork, a collaboration project between Hibino Kodue and Beniya Mukayu, consists of several short videos filmed inside the ryokan and in the garden. Guests can scan QR codes and watch the contemporary dance performance shot in that particular space on their devices.

Tsukubai Ho-sun by Kenya Hara

Beniya Mukayu X Hibino Kodue collaboration project

A wide range of unique experiences at Beniya Mukayu and nearby provide the guests with more keys to access Japanese culture. In addition, the proprietress, Mrs. Nakamichi, and Scott Haas, North American writer and psychologist, have discussed the secrets to long-term well-being through a ryokan stay in Japan, commenting on Haas’ latest book, Why be happy? The Japanese way of acceptance. Hot spring bathing, food, nature, silence, emptiness are experiences that can show the Japanese approach to acceptance and well-being.

Unique experience: Welcome tea performed by the owner Mr. Nakamichi

Scott Haas’ Why be Happy? The Japanese Way of Acceptance
Scott Haas Goes To Meet Sachiko Nakamichi: The Japanese Way of Acceptance

The international staff has designed a number of stay offers to guide the guests through a wide range of choices. The stay offers are available on mukayu.com, and they can be customized according to the guests’ preferences. Moreover, those staying for two nights or more can request a private tour of the property focusing on either art and architecture or botany.

Take the chance to get a taste of Beniya Mukayu’s exquisite offer by participating in the “Essence of Japan” event at Palace Hotel Tokyo on February 4th, 2022. en.palacehoteltokyo.com/restaurants-bars/essence-of-japan/