Four-star Two MICHELIN Keys Hanazono, Niseko
Zaborin
Fifteen villas in a birch forest at Hanazono, each with its own hot-spring baths inside and out, and a Hokkaido kaiseki dinner at the end of the day.
Opens the hotel's own website. We have no arrangement with the hotel.
- MICHELIN
- Two Keys, 2026
- Villas
- 15, each with two onsen baths
- Opened
- 2015
- From the airport
- About two hours from New Chitose
The hotel
A ryokan in the birch woods.
Shouya Grigg moved to Niseko in 1994, bought land in the forest at Hanazono and built Zaborin there. It opened in 2015. The architect Makoto Nakayama drew a modern ryokan of fifteen separate villas, linked by walkways, with long windows that frame the birches in every season. The name suggests sitting in the woods and forgetting. Grigg later opened SHIGUCHI, also in Hanazono, in 2022.
The smallest villa covers about seventy square metres. Each has two baths, one indoors and one in the open air, filled from the inn's own spring, which flows through without being recycled. Guests change into yukata and stay in them for dinner, a long kaiseki menu built on Hokkaido produce by the head chef, Yoshihiro Seno, who was born on the island.
- Two baths in every villa Hot-spring water from Zaborin's own source, free-flowing, in an indoor bath and an open-air one.
- Kita kaiseki Yoshihiro Seno's name for his cooking: a multi-course kaiseki dinner built on Hokkaido produce.
- Architecture in the trees Makoto Nakayama's villas and walkways, with windows set to frame the forest in each season.
Recognition
Awards and listings.
- Two MICHELIN Keys 2026, the only two-Key hotel around Niseko
Good to know
Before you go.
- Dress Yukata are provided for lounging and for dinner.
- Space Villas start at about seventy square metres, each with two private baths.
Getting there
Flying to Niseko.
New Chitose, Hokkaido's main airport, is about two hours away by car, our estimate based on the 110 kilometre drive to the Niseko resorts. Private jets also land at New Chitose, which has a business aviation terminal with its own customs and immigration.
- Tokyo 1 h 25
- Seoul 2 h 10
- Shanghai 3 h 15
- Hong Kong 4 h 50
- Singapore 8 h 10 long-range jet
Questions
What guests ask first.
- How many MICHELIN Keys does Zaborin have?
- Two, in the 2026 selection for Japan. It is the only two-Key hotel in the Niseko area.
- Does every villa at Zaborin have a private onsen?
- Yes. Each of the fifteen villas has an indoor and an open-air bath, both fed by the ryokan's own hot spring.
- Who cooks at Zaborin?
- The head chef is Yoshihiro Seno, born in Hokkaido, who serves a multi-course kaiseki dinner built on local produce.
- Can SkyCourtage arrange the flight to Niseko?
- Yes. We arrange Business and First Class seats on scheduled airlines and private jet charter to Niseko, with one final price, our margin included. The hotel is booked with the hotel or through our booking partner.
Also in Niseko
Other hotels worth the trip.
- Higashiyama Niseko Village, a Ritz-Carlton Reserve Fifty rooms at the foot of Mount Annupuri, with skis on at the door.
- Muwa Niseko Rooms stacked like building blocks above the piste, and an infinity onsen facing Mount Yotei.
- Park Hyatt Niseko Hanazono A hundred rooms, some suites with their own onsen, and a mountain branch of Sapporo’s Molière.
- Sansui Niseko Fifty-three rooms on the slopes, and sushi from the team behind Miyakawa in Sapporo.
- Setsu Niseko Studios to four-bedroom suites, and five restaurants under one roof.
- SHIGUCHI Five rooms in old farmhouses moved here beam by beam and rejoined without a nail.
Staying at Zaborin?
Book the room, then the flight.
Rates and availability come from the hotel itself. For the journey to Niseko, 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.