Preserving This Machiya for Generations to Come

 

Hanaya was founded in 1949 in a traditional machiya townhouse that was once home to a kimono merchant. The building is approximately 100 years old, and today Hanaya is run by its third generation.

 

I was born and raised in this very house. From an early age, I developed a deep interest in the structure of the machiya and the way people lived in these traditional townhouses.

I dreamed of one day caring for the house myself and carrying it forward as a ryokan, or traditional Japanese inn.

That dream led me to become an architect.

Today, I continues to run Hanaya while living alongside and caring for this machiya.

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Caring for the Machiya, One Step at a Time

 

Over the years, the house has been carefully maintained and improved little by little, while continuing to be lived in.

In the past, Hanaya welcomed many guests from the film and kimono industries and was once a lively, bustling inn.

As times changed, so did the way people traveled and stayed in Kyoto. Today, many of our guests come to Kyoto to slow down, enjoy the city at a gentler pace, and spend quiet time in the machiya.

The conversations we have with our guests, the daily work of caring for the house, and the things we notice while living here have all taught us something.

We have valued each of these experiences and used them to guide the gradual care and renovation of the machiya.

As we continued making improvements so that our guests could stay more comfortably, Hanaya gradually became the small inn it is today, welcoming just two guest parties each day.

 

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Renovated in 2022, While Preserving the Character of the Machiya

 

In 2022, we carried out further renovations to make the inn more comfortable while preserving the character and atmosphere of the traditional machiya.

Both the first and second floors now feature two adjoining eight-tatami rooms, creating spacious and relaxing guest spaces.

As much as possible, we have preserved the traditional details of the machiya, including its original fittings and character, while updating the plumbing and other facilities to make them more comfortable and convenient.

A private shower room was also added to the second floor.

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More Than a Ryokan — An Experience of Machiya Living

 

What we value at Hanaya is not simply what one might think of as the traditional “ryokan experience.”

We want our guests to experience the beauty of the machiya itself.

The distinctive layout of a traditional omoteya-zukuri machiya, its sliding doors and other fittings, its gardens, and the way light and air move through the house.

We have preserved these elements as much as possible, with the hope that our guests can feel, even for a little while, as though they have become residents of a Kyoto machiya.

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A Different Kind of Comfort

 

There are also some ways in which Hanaya differs from a modern accommodation.

Because we have preserved the original structure of the machiya, the guest rooms do not have private bathrooms or toilets.

The building also does not have the level of soundproofing you would expect from a modern building.

Some guests may find these aspects less convenient.

Yet it is precisely because of these traditional features that the unique atmosphere of a machiya can still be felt.

We hope you will enjoy a different kind of Kyoto experience — one that is not defined by convenience alone, but by the quiet passage of time in a traditional Kyoto machiya.

 

Ryokan Hanaya

 

Shinji Ito

Owner & Principal Architect

First-Class Architect (Japan)