Four-star One MICHELIN Key Yamashiro Onsen, Kaga, about an hour from Kanazawa, Kanazawa
Beniya Mukayu
Sixteen rooms around a moss garden in the spa town of Yamashiro, each with its own cypress bath filled from the hot spring.
Opens the hotel's own website. We have no arrangement with the hotel.
- MICHELIN
- One Key, 2024 to 2026
- Rooms
- 16, each with an open-air hot-spring bath
- Founded
- 1928
- From the airport
- About 30 minutes from Komatsu
The hotel
A family ryokan in Yamashiro Onsen.
Beniya opened in 1928 in Yamashiro, a spa town in Kaga on the old road from Kyoto towards Shirakawa-go, whose springs have been used for at least 1,300 years. The Nakamichi family runs it today, the third generation to do so, and it joined Relais & Châteaux in 2008. The modernist buildings are the work of the architect Sey Takeyama. The name comes from Zhuangzi: mukayu, the empty room that fills with light.
Details matter here. The lobby floor is made of local diatomaceous earth, chosen over carpet. A round black pool by the designer Kenya Hara, once shown at the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art in Kanazawa, sits outside the spa. Three libraries hold books on art, crafts and local plants, one with work by Tatsuo Miyajima, and the moss garden keeps pines three centuries old.
- A bath of your own Every room has a hinoki cypress tub on the hot spring, open to the garden. Communal indoor and outdoor baths and a sauna are there too.
- Spa Entei Treatments built on local medicinal herbs and the spring water, in a spa that won Best Small Hotel Spa Worldwide in 2015.
- Tea with the owner The owner performs a traditional tea ceremony for guests.
Rooms & suites
Tatami, beds and a garden view.
Sixteen rooms in six types, Japanese, Western or a mix of the two, and every one faces the garden from its own open-air bath.
- Japanese Japanese room with open-air bath 70 square metres on the garden level, futons on tatami and a terrace for watching the moon.
- Suite Executive Suite Six suites of 95 to 100 square metres on the upper floors, with two beds, a walk-in wardrobe and room for four.
- Special room Wakamurasaki 120 square metres, with a three-metre lacquered table and a view of a mountain cherry about a hundred years old.
Dining
Kaga kaiseki on local plates.
As listed by the hotel and Relais & Châteaux. Shown for information.
- Horin Kaga kaiseki Chef Yuji Yamada; dishes served on locally made ceramics and lacquer
Recognition
Awards and listings.
- One MICHELIN Key 2024, 2025 and 2026
- Relais & Châteaux Member since 2008; Welcome Trophy 2013
- Best Small Hotel Spa Worldwide 2015
Good to know
Before you go.
- Children The MICHELIN Guide says children under seven are not accepted. We confirm the current rule with the ryokan before booking.
- Dinner Kaiseki dinner is the heart of the stay. Tell the ryokan about any diet when you book.
Getting there
Flying to Kanazawa.
Komatsu Airport, with flights from Haneda and a few Asian cities, is about 30 minutes away by car, according to the ryokan. Private jets also use Komatsu, by arrangement with the airport, as its runway is shared with an air base. Kanazawa is about an hour by road, and JR Kaga Onsen station is about four kilometres away.
- Seoul 1 h 30
- Shanghai 2 h 20
- Taipei 2 h 50
- Hong Kong 3 h 50
- Singapore 7 h 05 long-range jet
Questions
What guests ask first.
- How many MICHELIN Keys does Beniya Mukayu have?
- One. It has held one Key since the first Japanese selection in 2024, and kept it in 2026.
- Does every room have a private onsen?
- Yes. All sixteen rooms have an open-air hinoki bath fed by the Yamashiro hot spring, facing the garden.
- How far is Beniya Mukayu from Kanazawa?
- About an hour by car. Komatsu Airport is closer, about 30 minutes away.
- Can SkyCourtage arrange the flight to Kanazawa?
- Yes. We arrange Business and First Class seats on scheduled airlines and private jet charter to Kanazawa, with one final price, our margin included. The hotel is booked with the hotel or through our booking partner.
Also in Kanazawa
Other hotels worth the trip.
- Tsuruko Four rooms with their own living rooms and open-air baths, about five minutes from Kanazawa Station, new to the MICHELIN Keys in 2026.
- Araya Totoan A ryokan of seventeen rooms with spring-fed cypress baths, where the calligrapher Rosanjin once spent a year.
- Hitotsu Notojima Eight rooms on the island of Notojima, each with tall windows on the water, and sushi made from the local catch.
Staying at Beniya Mukayu?
Book the room, then the flight.
Rates and availability come from the hotel itself. For the journey to Kanazawa, a Business or First Class seat or an aircraft of your own: tell us the date and we come back with one final price, our margin included.
Opens the hotel's own website. We have no arrangement with the hotel.