Luxury Hotels Atlas / Places / Japan / Takeo / Onyado Chikurintei
Onyado Chikurintei
Takeo, Japan · Independent · High Luxury
Eleven sukiya-style rooms sit inside Mifuneyama Rakuen, the 150,000-tsubo Takeo garden that opened in 1845. Onyado Chikurintei has hosted Japan's Imperial Family, serves on Arita porcelain, and treats omotenashi as the whole argument. Michelin Two Keys. The ryokan is small enough that a shogi title match once used it as a closed venue. Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko stayed here, and the Michelin Guide awarded Two Keys in 2025.
- 11 rooms
- Opened 1845
- Neighborhood: Takeo Onsen
- Rooms from 624 sq ft (58 m²)
About Onyado Chikurintei
- Eleven sukiya-style rooms sit inside Mifuneyama Rakuen, the 150,000-tsubo Takeo garden that opened in 1845.
- Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko stayed here, and meals arrive on Arita porcelain.
- The house is small enough that a shogi title match once used it as a closed venue. Michelin Two Keys in 2025.
- Entry-level rooms start at 624 sq ft (58 m²).
History
Onyado Chikurintei is an intimate luxury ryokan in Takeo Onsen, Saga Prefecture, on the Japanese island of Kyushu, adjoining the celebrated Mifuneyama Rakuen garden that first opened in 1845. The ryokan, built in refined sukiya-zukuri style, draws on well over a century of hospitality tradition in a hot-spring region said to date back some 1,300 years.
With just 11 rooms, Chikurintei has hosted members of Japan's Imperial Family - including Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko - and served as the venue for major shogi and go title matches. It earned red-pavilion recognition in the Michelin Guide for Fukuoka and Saga in 2014.
Experiences
- Mifuneyama Rakuen garden visit — Free garden admission for lodging guests, with seasonal flower festivals, maple reflections and winter snowscapes; four rooms have private paths.
- Takeo Onsen hot spring bathing — Transparent, smooth hot spring water fed to outdoor baths by bamboo groves, a granite communal bath and private room baths.
- Rakan Bath at Mifuneyama Rakuen Hotel — Free use of the communal bath 'The Rakan Bath' at the Mifuneyama Rakuen Hotel, a 2-minute walk away.
Amenities
- Onsen
Awards
- MICHELIN Two Keys (2026)
Open Onyado Chikurintei in the atlas for live weekend rates, photos, and the full folio.
More hotels in Takeo
- Takeo Onsen Kyotoya — Independent · Accessible Luxury