Experience the atmosphere at the Sawara Merchant Town Hotel NIPPONIA in the small Edo district of Hokuso, Chiba

Chiba
Stay

Apr. 9, 2024

Add to favorites

Sawara, a town of waterways, is located in Katori City, Chiba Prefecture, and is called the "Little Edo of Hokuso. Sawara prospered during the Edo period (1603-1867) as a relay station for the Tone River water transportation, and prospered as the kitchen of Edo (old Tokyo) and a merchant town. Even today, the old townscape with its Edo atmosphere remains, with rows of stately storehouse-style merchant houses and machiya townhouses mainly along the river.

In this issue, we will introduce the Sawara Shokecho Hotel NIPPONIA, where you can experience the atmosphere of the Edo period. The hotel has reused historical and cultural buildings scattered throughout Sawara, and has distributed the reception area, guest rooms, and restaurant in different buildings to create a single lodging space in the town.

What is a "decentralized hotel" where the entire town is a hotel?

The Sawara Shokecho Hotel NIPPONIA is a "decentralized hotel" that integrates the entire town into a single lodging space.

By having the front desk, lodging buildings, restaurants, and other facilities scattered throughout the town, guests will naturally tour the town and spend time interacting with Sawara's people and culture by actually walking around the town. Guests will be able to spend time "blending in" with the town, experiencing various attractions that cannot be experienced in an ordinary hotel, but can only be experienced in this hotel.

Get in touch with the people and culture of Sawara

History and Culture Remaining in Each Accommodation Building

At the Sawara Shokecho Hotel NIPPONIA, you can enjoy your private time without worrying about your surroundings, as the rooms are rented out as a single building. There are 14 guest rooms in 11 buildings. Each of the buildings has historical and cultural value and is being reused as a whole town, allowing guests to experience the unique culture, history, and human activities of each area in a natural way.

YATA", a storehouse in a merchant's house

YATA" is a lodging building that utilizes the house of a merchant family that was engaged in the cotton industry. It was named after the Yata no Kagami, an old Edo style flower characterized by its large petals. There are three guest rooms: the main house (Room 101 / capacity: 2 persons) built in the Meiji period, a storehouse (Room 102 / capacity: 4 persons) built using the most advanced technology of the time, and a warehouse (Room 103 / capacity: 2 persons) facing the back yard.

The entrance to the main house is decorated with a gourd of prosperous business, as if it were a merchant's house. It has a half-open-air ceramic bath and a hinoki bath.

The storehouse where cotton products were stored is a maisonette-type guest room, and cotton is used for the interior. You can enjoy the extraordinary feeling of staying in a storehouse.

The warehouse, a one-story storehouse, is a hideaway space located at the far end of "YATA! It is equipped with a garden, so you can spend a peaceful time sitting on a chair in the garden. It has a hinoki bath.

AOI" is located along the Ono River

AOI" is a lodging facility that utilizes a building built in the early Showa period along the Ono River. Formerly a restaurant loved by the local people, it has a spacious courtyard and can be rented out as a whole building (capacity: 4 people). The house is named after the "Aoi no Ue" (hollyhock) that is associated with the Sawara Grand Festival held in summer and fall, as it is a prime location for the floats that pass right in front of the house.

AOI" used to be a Japanese-style restaurant called "Yanagihan Villa," and its name is still engraved on the devil's tile and mirror, reminding us of those days. Why not view the garden from the moon-viewing platform or enjoy the tranquil atmosphere of the illuminated garden at night?

SEIGAKU, a famous house in Sawara

SEIGAKU, with its eye-catching black walls and a pine tree overlooking the street, was once the residence of Kiyomiya Riemon, a prominent family in Sawara that operated a grain and pawn business from the Edo period to the Meiji era (1868-1912). There is an earthen storehouse (Room 301 / capacity: 4 people) and a rice storehouse (Room 302 / capacity: 3 people) said to have been built as a pawn warehouse in the Edo period. It was named after "Seigakujo," a kind of iris with beautiful wisteria purple color, which is the flower of Katori City.

The second floor of the storehouse guest room contains materials describing life in those days and the history of Sawara, while the first floor is the living room and water area, which was renovated from the lower part of the house. Each floor is equipped with a bed.

The rice warehouse is an open space with a ceiling height of 5m and a width of 15m. The entrance door is a large wooden door that was used in those days and is padlocked. Inside the storehouse, there are wooden letters and other objects from the Edo period.

MIYAKO" where you can stay with your dog

MIYAKO" is a guest room in a renovated shoin-style building of "Seimiya Riemon Residence," a famous family in Sawara, like "SEIGAKU. There are two rooms (Rooms 303 and 305) with hinoki baths, both with a capacity of 2 persons.

One of the shoin wings (Room 303) was relocated during the Meiji period and partially renovated. The texture of the doors and walls create a nostalgic atmosphere and the beauty of the period. The splendid "earthen walls" remain as they were built in the Meiji period, and the room is brightly lit with skylights. You can stay with your dog and the room is equipped with the largest private dog run.

The other building (Room 305) is the only one of the rooms where you can stay with your dog and has a veranda terrace. The room is connected to a spacious private dog run. You can enjoy a space just like a mansion.

GOKO, a 120-year-old merchant storehouse

GOKO" utilizes a historic merchant house located along the Ono River, not far from the Tadataka Bridge. It was the building of Namiki Nakanosuke Shouten, a wholesaler of daily necessities and miscellaneous rough goods, and trader of Japanese paper and incense since its establishment in 1901. Its location in the center of the townscape makes it easy to stroll around Sawara. This building was also named after one of the Edo style irises, "Goko no Yuu". There are four guest rooms (rooms 401-404).

In the two-room guest room (Room 401) on the second floor of the main building, guests can enjoy the architecture that was transferred from the Edo period to the Meiji period. Large windows offer a view of the Ono River and swaying willows. It is also a special seat from which you can view the Sawara Grand Festival held in the spring and fall.

In the guest room (Room 402), which was renovated from the main building and former living space, pay attention to the interior design. The room features the stylistic beauty of Japanese architecture, such as a difference shelf and an alcove, and the bedroom window offers a view of the Ono River and the historical townscape.

In the guest room (Room 403), which makes use of the storehouse as it is, including the storehouse and interior of the Namiki Nakanosuke storehouse founded in the Meiji era, the walls, beams, and "ladder staircase" have hardly been altered. The storehouse where important family goods were stored was renovated, and the Gassho-zukuri beams and massive plaster walls have been retained, making this a rare room that can be reserved as a stand-alone unit.

The dynamic beams on the second floor are a distinctive feature of this one-room-only guesthouse.

SHIPPOU" to open in March 2024

The building is a former granary of the Ino Saburoemon family, which was built in the middle of the Edo period (1603-1868), and it is rare to find it left as a building nowadays. Located along the Ono River, near the Tadataka Bridge, guests can see boats crossing the Ono River from the second-floor bedroom. There are two guest rooms (Rooms 501 and 502, both with a capacity of 3 persons) with walls and bay windows that retain their original Edo period style, a living room on the first floor, and a spacious bedroom on the second floor.

Enjoy Sawara's fermented food culture with French cuisine at "LE UN

You can also taste the culinary culture of Sawara at the Sawara Shokecho Hotel NIPPONIA. The restaurant "LE UN," which reuses a sake cellar owned by a long-established brewery founded in the Edo period (1603-1868), offers a French menu that captures the traditions and culinary culture long preserved in Sawara. In Sawara, the brewing industry has developed, with sake, sake-kasu (sake lees), miso (soybean paste), and shoyu (soy sauce) made from high-quality rice, and the focus on locally produced ingredients and fermented foods has been refined.

At LE UN, you can experience this culinary culture and enjoy dishes based on French techniques while incorporating local ingredients and specialties under the theme of local production for local consumption. You can also enjoy pairing dishes that incorporate sake lees or other fermented foods with sake directly from the brewery.

Authentic French cuisine using local ingredients (image)

Japanese breakfast using fresh local ingredients

Guests staying at the Sawara Shokecho Hotel NIPPONIA can enjoy a nutritious Japanese breakfast made with fresh local ingredients. The drink is an original amazake made from sake lees from the local sake brewery, Toukoru Sake Brewery!

TASTING BAR in Sawara at night

This is the "TASTING BAR" available only to guests of the Sawara Shokecho Hotel NIPPONIA. How about sake tasting before or after dinner? You can enjoy local sake from Sawara in the atmosphere of the brewery's unique and dignified atmosphere.

Only for hotel guests! Activities

This activity is available only for guests of the Sawara Shokecho Hotel NIPPONIA! You can participate in a special visit to Katori Jingu Shrine, one of the three major Shinto shrines in Japan, where you will be guided by a Shinto priest to enjoy the shrine, a night boat tour to feel Sawara, a town of waterways, and other valuable experiences to enjoy the town of Sawara.

Night Boat Tour to Love the Moon in Suigo Sawara

You can enjoy a different perspective of the city as you sway along the Ono River at night. A set of evening drinks is included to accompany the night boat tour! Why don't you enjoy tsukimi sake and snacks while viewing the moon? In the winter season, a kotatsu (a table with a kotatsu over the heater) will be provided so that you can enjoy the winter scenery while warming up.

■Ride together
Adult 12,500 yen/person
Child (2 years old to elementary school student) 4,500 yen/person
■Chartered
Adult 15,000 yen/person
Child (2 years old to elementary school student) 4,500 yen/person

*Please check the official website for more details.

A special experience to deeply touch Katori Jingu Shrine and fill your heart

Katori Jingu Shrine is one of only three Shinto shrines in Japan, along with Ise Jingu Shrine and Kashima Jingu Shrine, until the Edo period. Why don't you come and get a deeper insight into one of the best power spots in Japan? You will learn about the 2,600-year history of the shrine through a formal visit to the shrine and a tour of the precincts and treasure house by a Shinto priest. This is a special experience that you cannot get just by visiting the shrine.

7,000 yen/person (free for junior high school students and younger)

*Please check the official website for details.

Special experience at Katori Jingu Shrine (image)

Official] Sawara Shokecho Hotel NIPPONIA

A trip to experience the culture, history, nature, and people of Sawara as a whole town

We have introduced the Sawara Shokecho Hotel NIPPONIA, a recommended place to stay in Sawara, Chiba. The guest rooms are filled with a sense of the past, the food is prepared using local ingredients, and you can experience the charm that can only be experienced in Sawara through the precious cultural assets that have spun the history of the town.

Location

1708-2, Sawara I, Katori-shi, Chiba 287-0003, Japan

Access

About 12 minutes on foot from Sawara Station

Required time from KAGURA building to each accommodation building:
・SHIPPOU building 5 min walk
・YATA building 2 min walk
・AOI building 8 min walk
・SEIGAKU building 2 min walk
・MIYAKO building 2 min walk
・GOKO building 4 min walk

*The contents and services in this article are subject to change.

*All images are for reference only.

Visit "Sawara Shokecho Hotel NIPPONIA " on a weekday!

Why don't you enjoy your trip more by taking a budget trip on weekdays?
It may be easier to make a reservation at the popular accommodation "Sawara Shokecho Hotel NIPPONIA " on a weekday when it is not crowded....

Let your soul burn in the photograph at Sawara Shokecho Hotel NIPPONIA!

You can take a picture of yourself and the scenery only if you wear clothes that match the background. Japanese-style clothing is the most suitable attire for the streets of Sawara! Just thinking about what to wear and how to pose before your trip is enough to get you excited. It is also a great point that there are fewer tourists on weekdays than on holidays, so it is easier to take pictures!

JR East is now proposing other new ways to enjoy your trip! Please check the official website for details.

[Official Website] Travel, Weekdays

Tags related to this article

Previous post Back to list Next