Today, this historical house has been renovated to serve as a private accommodation. With two spacious tatami bedrooms and a large living room, the house can sleep up to nine guests. When you make a reservation here, you’ll be renting out the whole house, so there’s no need to worry about sharing with other groups. Although you’ll have the place essentially to yourself, there will be a staff member on hand to welcome your group and show you around the house. After that, they’ll leave you to enjoy your stay. A staff member is also just a phone call away, in case you need any assistance. Murata Buke no Yado is a great place to stay for groups of friends travelling together, or for people travelling as a family.

Inside, you’ll find everything provided, with futons prepared as if you were visiting a ryokan, brand-new toilets, a washing machine for your laundry, and a bath and shower. The kitchen too, is fully stocked with all the cookware and dishes you’ll need to cook and dine. You’ll notice that the stovetop is electric, as the use of flame is prohibited on the precious premises. (Sorry, smokers.)

Between the amenities inside the garden outside, the windows and shutters invite you observe firsthand—and I mean you can literally use your hands to observe—the shutters that enclose the place for the night. A feature of such old houses, you will find the shutters have been made in the traditional style, but from new wood. They slide smoothly on a track that brings them out from where they are stored away during the daytime, in a recess of the outer wall. The same brass keywork from older times allows you to control the seal of the window panels which form the main “wall” between the rooms and the garden. The other parts forming the house are just as interesting to observe up close: the exposed beams under the thatched roof, the details of the layout, and the care so evident in the recent restoration. It turns out they do make them like they used to.

Around you, the town of Murata invites exploration on foot or by free rental cycle. Buke no Yado faces a hill that was once the site of the stronghold used for storing whatever goods were on the move from this town to the next. Goods that were to be kept and sold within Murata were housed in kura storehouses like the one in the corner of the Yado’s garden. A short walk away from Buke no Yado is Kura no Machi Nami, a street lined with some of these historical kura, given new life as charming shops and cafes.