“SETRE NARAMACHI” has opened on December 5, 2018, as a hotel where you can fully enjoy history, nature, culture, foods, and arts of Nara.
With its concept of “the hotel that unravels Nara and creates Nara – the past history connects to the 100 year future”, the hotel of “Fueki-Ryukou” has been born as aiming the innovation of 100 years from now with the past history.
* Fueki-Ryukou is the concept that means that one takes in the new valuable matters into the unchanging principle.
A whole hotel is made as a machiya, a Japanese traditional house, in Nara, and you can experience Nara wherever you are in the hotel.
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You’ll Find Nara Wherever in Hotel
image by booking.com“SETRE NARAMACHI” is located in front of the Sarusawa Ike pond where you can view the Five-Storied Pagoda of the Kohfukuji Temple, a landmark of Nara, and is conveniently located within a walking distance from Kintetsu Nara station and JR Nara station.
Working at Tadao Ando Architect and Associates, and become an independent architect, Ryuichi Ashizawa constructed the hotel, using cedars, Japanese cypresses, soil and stones of Nara , and also using various methods of construction.
Moreover, all the foods are local production for local consumption, so you also can surely feel Nara even with foods.
Relaxing Space
image by booking.comThe ground floor is the floor with stones of earthen floor image of a machiya.
* Machiya is a house which can be seen in old and traditional cityscapes and was used as house and workplace by merchant.
After you enter and proceed, you will find a courtyard terrace in front.
A weeping cherry tree and three Japanese persimmon trees are planted in the courtyard terrace.
They wish a thought that you may enjoy the garden, with your thinking back to a 1300 year-history of Nara throughout four seasons.
It is planned to make a crop field in the space.
It is interesting that you can enjoy crops of Nara while strolling inside of the hotel, isn’t it?
The room called as “Takumi shistu” or a master craftsman’s room is where you can experience technique and lifestyles of craftsmen and artists of a traditional industry and local industry of Nara.
The room reminds of a lattice of Machiya, and it is made by some wood jointed in lattice pattern by three way craft work without using nails.
Cedar barks of Yoshino and bamboos of Nara are used for the ceiling.
“Takumi shitsu” is made as a communication space between guests and craftsmen.
The room is also planned for a tea ceremony and transcribing a sutra.
There is a library of books and vinyl records on the second floor and lined 35 LP vinyl records.
There are coffee beans of Nara ROKUMEICOFFEE.CO, and you can grind the beans with a mill and enjoy a cup of coffee.
Please indulge to your moment listening to Japanese musics, while enjoying aroma of coffee and relaxed.
Viewing the Sarusawa Ike pond from a window, you feel your time flowing very slowly.
You might even see in your eyes the capital of Nara of far 1300 years ago, when thinking back in time in the quiet space.
Hoshizora (starry space) Terrace To Feel Nara
There are 32 guest rooms.
You will feel Nara slow and easy in rooms like a room overlooking the Sarusawa Ike pond and a room viewing the courtyard.
This room is called as “aeru room”.
You can experience a life in Nara in the room.
* “aeru” means in Japanese as mixing foods with dressing.
It seems a metaphor that the room will be your dressing so that you will experience a real life in Nara.
Cedar barks are used on the ceiling and Totsukawa stones of Nara display mountains of Nara on the wall.
As you staring mountains which is drawn on the wall made of soil, you may almost go back in time to Nara of 1300 years ago.
And, a cloth of mosquito net produced in Nara are used for a curtain.
When you wake up in the morning, you will feel happy that you are in Nara and you will feel that you want to return.
The room makes you completely satisfied in your mind.
From “Hoshizora Terrace”, limited only for stay-in guests, you can view the five-storied pagoda of the Kohfukuji temple and Wakakusayama mountain during the day time.
And it becomes a space for guests to relax while watching the starry sky.
Foods are also Products of Nara
Dining at “SETRE NARAMACHI” is in the restaurant of the ground floor or in a counter-room of “Horigotatsu style” at the far end on the ground floor.
Yoshino cedar, products of Nara , are used for the interior, which makes you feel the warmth of wood.
* “Horigotatsu” is a traditional style of Japanese living room.
A floor dug so that you can free your feet even sitting on the floor.
Some has a heater at the bottom so that you will be warmed.
There are three types of seats, seats where you will enjoy viewing the courtyard and relax, seats at the counter where you will enjoy chef’s performance, and seats in private rooms.
Above is how the counter-room looks.
The room is separated from the restaurant, and is with a bit of high quality because a chef cooks in your front also he talks to you.
Menus of restaurant change everyday according to local production for local consumption policy, so the chef will cook the best condition foods of Nara’s product of the day.
The picture shows an example, and the restaurant uses all the food of Nara’s products, such as “Mahoroba red beef”, “Yamato vegetables”, “Katakami Shoyu”.
You will also be happy to enjoy “SETRE Original Sake Hyakunen Sugi (100 years old cedar)”, served in a wooden bucket made of Yoshino cedar.
Please indulge yourself with food ingredients of Nara.
Gagaku and Design of Common Spaces
There held regular Gagaku plays on every Monday since January 7th (Monday), 2019.
As if you were in the old capital Nara, please enjoy the court music that you listen to and that sounds like coming across the time from 1300 years ago.
*Gagaku is Japanese ancient court music.
There are many places where you can imagine the old capital Nara.
The landing of stairs are painted in Terigaki (or bright vermilion) color.
Outer iron walls are decorated with rust engraved with arabesque patterns which came from the Silk Road about 1300 years ago.
You can feel Nara in various circumstances during your stay.
Please try giving your particular attention.
A Hotel Which Unravels Nara and Creates Nara
Nara had flourished the most in 1300 years ago, with arrival of various cultures, as the east terminal of the Silk Road.
“SETRE NARAMACHI” unravels such long history, makes the best use of sightscapes and treasures in Nara, and shares a goal with producers in Nara .
Comfortable hospitality of young women as hotel’s general manager will make you spend your whole day staying at the hotel, without going out for sightseeing.
Please enjoy feeling the flow of time there while confirming the old Nara with your full five senses.
It’s sure that you will become wanting to return to “SETRE NARAMACHI”.
The information is as of December 2018.
Note that please refer to the official site for confirmation.
