Miyamasou

Dinner for two at the 3 star French Laundry in the Napa Valley will easily cost you $1,000 and up. Breakfast and dinner at Miyamasou, with a starred restaurant, with rooms and hot bath (o-furo) in a tranquil valley next to a 1,000 year old temple will cost about $1,200 for two. Luxury is not inexpensive.||||My choice is to drive the narrow, winding road about an hour north of Kyoto to experience one of the finest ryokans in Japan. Your room overlooks a stream, cherry blossoms (in season), cypress forests, nature revealed. Service is impeccable, unobtrusive. The food is sublime. Creative, seasonal small plates continue, course after course. Wonderful sake is available. The dishware is exquisite, the attention to detail thoughtful and elegant.||||Staying overnight in one of the six rooms at Miyamasou is memorable. You may have a deeper understanding of the Japanese culture from this experience. Lunch service is open to the public so take a hike to the temple next door and contemplate nature. Then return to your o-furo and the gourmet dinner that awaits. Highly recommended.

It takes a while to get to Miyamasou from actual Kyoto. We took public transportation, which took 2 hours total (amazingly, the city bus travels into the mountains, and Miyamasou staff will pick you up at the bus stop if you let them know when you are arriving). Once you get to the ryokan, you are invited to a hot bath after traditional welcome sweets and tea. The staff is incredibly nice and the rooms are set right off a babbling brook. It's serene and tranquil. You probably go to Miyamasou for the food, which was delicious, but the entire experience was relaxing. There's also a temple where you can go on a short hike that ends with a surreal view of the valley.

We arrived at Miyamasou and immediately fell in love with the warm hospitality of every staff member, the stunning winter scenery and immaculately maintained rooms. In fact we extended our stay to 2 nights and would highly recommend this for guests who want to truly escape and relax! ||Even though winter is the low season we had an exceptional experience exploring the snow covered mountain area, savouring every dish prepared with immense care and admiring the beautifully curated plates, saucers, sake pots and hand made chopsticks!||Bath time is really special - it was certainly a highlight after traipsing through the snow during the day. ||Miyamasou exemplifies 5 star service, the attention to detail in every aspect makes it truly unforgettable. It has certainly become one of our all time favorite experiences and we look forward to returning during spring and autumn in the not too distant future!

This is a place you'll want to return to at different times of the year to experience the seasonal changes of the natural environment and the exquisite, kaiseki of freshly picked ingredients sourced from the forest, river and beyond. ||Each time we have been to Miyamasou we've tried a variety of different dishes according to the season from wild berries picked that morning (before the bears ate them) to freshly caught Ayu river fresh. We've been seated in both the traditional, peaceful private tatami rooms in the old temple quarters as well as the Naguri Room with it's shared, sunken seating around a counter (kappo style.) From here you can watch the chef at work - the underfloor heating here is just what you need during the colder weather. ||Accommodation is in sukiya style - tea house style architecture wing by the stream. The building rooms are sublime & tastefully decorated - flower arrangement and calligraphy hung in the tokonoma alcove. Rooms have the most comfortable fluffy futons, heating & airconditioning, down to your choice of Jazz or classical music on the washlet panel!|| In Summer, it's pure pleasure to relax on your own veranda overlooking the meandering stream, enjoing tea and sweets surrounded by nature's verdant display.||In Spring, the stream had turned into a rushing river torrent and huge, wild sakura cherry trees were blooming in the forest and daffodils were clumped on the river banks giving the surroundings a pastoral atmosphere that I would not have imagined on my previous visits.|| Relaxation amongst nature is really the essence of what a stay here entails. There's no doubt about it, this is an isolated spot and your time will be spent reading a book, going for walks along the mountain path or climbing to the hilltop temple. The paths are used by local timber cutters and lead deep into the forest. You are unlikely to meet anyone else on your walks.||The Okami proprietress is always welcoming - from our very first visit to Miyamasu we were treated like honoured guests and on return we could never fault the professional service of the friendly but unintrusive staff. ||It is such a long way from Kyoto city so you must either rent a car (mountain roads are narrow and winding so beware in Winter. In Summer, if going through Kurama/Kibune traffic jams can be an issue in and around both these popular onsen towns.); Or catch a taxi (cost just over ¥10,000); Or catch a slow, local bus and the Miyamasou staff will pick you up at the bus stop. Bus departs from Demachiyanagi or Kurama - at 1hr 40mins it's a long journey on an uncomfortable regular bus, the seats are particularly hard & quite narrow ... and on our trip played a nerve-jangling rendition of Greensleeves for the whole trip ( just like an old Ice Cream van doing its rounds!) Elderly locals popped out of the middle of the forest to catch the bus - goodness knows where they'd come from. Note: there are only 4 buses per day.||If visiting in August you may have the rare opportunity to see the spectacular ancient fire festival Matsuage at Hanase village - not to be missed if you are in the Miyama region.

We made the 1 1/2 hr trek by taxi to (11,000 yen) to Miyamasou after reading about the ryokan in the Wall Street Journal. I took my two daughters, ages 16 and 22. The drive was beautiful though the forested mountains past small villages. I am happy that I didn't attempt the drive myself because the road is very narrow. It is a two-way road with only one lane in parts.||||When we arrived at the ryokan we were greeted at the car by two ladies dressed in traditional kimonos. They whisked us to our room - no checking in. We were immediately given tea and mochi snack and yukada robes to wear. The room was blissful, a suite of three traditional tatami rooms with a balcony over a river in the middle of a mountain forest. It was magical! We were asked if we wanted to take an onsen (traditional bath) before dinner. We were taken to the onsen a short way from our room and all three of us soaked in the deep, wooden hot bath. We opened the full length windows onto the rushing river and let the brisk air in while we bathed.||||At 6:30 we were called for dinner in another building, we are shown over in our yukada robes and seated in another beautiful traditional tatami room. We started in on a three hour 12-course meal to end all meals. Miyamasou is known for the food, foraged and locally procured. Everything was beautifully prepared and presented, delicious and innovative. Read Ruth Reishal's review or WSJ article to get a full description. There were some very adventurous things on the menu and I have to say that we did our best to eat or try everything. The big surprise is that bear was really delicious and that we ate sea cucumber ovaries (yes, you read that right). The foraged vegetables were made into lots of appetizing dishes like fiddle-head fern tempura, roasted broad beans and potato croquettes with mountain leaf puree. We also had mountain stream carp, shrimp and eel. It was an epicurean tour de force.||||The next morning we had a lovely, multi-course breakfast and then headed back to Kyoto. It was a beautiful, zen-like retreat.||||although the inn was full (I think they accommodate 12 people), we never saw another soul besides our two female helpers. It is the ultimate, private retreat.

We had a great stay at Miyamasou. The dinner and breakfast were wonderfully prepared and extremely tasty, using seasonal and locally-foraged ingredients that represented the best of spring. Our host Namiko took very good care of us during the stay and took pains to answer our questions and explain the details of the food and dining etiquette to us. The proprietress, Ms. Nakahigashi, also welcomed us and was extremely warm and friendly.||||Miyamasou is set in a tranquil mountain/forest and it was a very welcome break from the hustle and bustle of Kyoto (the steaming onsen helped with that, too :).

we arranged our luncheon there because it was recommended to us by an expert who has been there. The experience was so good, so far beyond anything that I could have expected. it was the consummate Kaiseki ryori experience in Japan and the lunch, which lasted 3 hours, were simply unlike any other meal that I have had, in terms of freshness, details, variety, balance, artistry, presentation, and service. One of the most memorable item was the dessert (which we had very little of in Japan)--sake ice-cream with a semi-dried persimmon and a bit of strawberry glaze. We just ordered the basic level luncheon (there were 3 levels). I cannot imagine what the other higher level would be like. ||||it was way up in the mountains, about 1 hr 15 minutes from downtown kyoto. the drive winds along a river and was quite scenic and gave us a chance to see a little bit of rural Japan.

If you only have one night, spend it at Miyamasou ryokan although you are going to have to plan well, well in advance and leave your expectations back in Kyoto. If you are here for food, this is the place -- but don't expect standard Japanese keiseki or other options. The rooms are immaculate. The location about an hour drive from Kyoto center is spectacular. The staff is very friendly, if limited on English. The highlight by far is the kitchen. We had spectacular, authentic food and tastes foraged from local surroundings. I wish we could have learned more about the food's and recipe/ tastes. You eat what is served, and if you have adventurous tastes, what you are served is exceptional.