ANABUKI TEI

Takamatsu / 高松

When generations have lived in a home, it is woven into the weft of the neighborhood through threads

THE STORY

When generations have lived in a home, it is woven into the weft of the neighborhood through threads of human connection. Pieces of local history gather under its roof like slow growing moss, lush with the beauty of perseverance. It becomes a landmark, an axis around which locals can orient stories from their daily lives.

ANABUKI TEI is just such a home and a stay there is a privileged experience of residential life in the historic town of Takamatsu, Kagawa. Eitaro Anabuki, the third-generation owner, invites just one group a day to stay in the home where he grew up, lovingly renovated but still rich in history.

The story of ANABUKI TEI begins with Eitaro’s great-grandfather Kisaku, a carpenter who taught his son Natsuji the craft. Natsuji went on to found Anabuki Construction, a company that helped rebuild Takamatsu after the destruction of World War II, becoming one of Japan’s leading firms in the process.

Natsuji built a family home in 1970 on a large plot of land that is now part of central Takamatsu. There, he raised his children and eventually his grandchildren, Eitaro and his older brothers. After that youngest generation left the nest, the property, once full of life, sat empty. Following 2009’s global financial crisis, the family business went bankrupt and there was huge pressure to sell the home, which sat on valuable land and had become costly to maintain.

Eitaro, however, just returned from studying hospitality abroad, couldn’t bear to see the family home disappear. He convinced the family to renovate the building and turn it into a unique inn: not quite a ryokan or hotel, more like a stay with a cosmopolitan family friend. Now Anabuki-san welcomes guests to his former home, as part butler, part guide, helping to foster another generation of happy memories within its walls.

ROOMS

ROOM Private Villa Suite ANABUKI TEI has five bedrooms in total, a master king, three twin rooms, and a single. Each is …

FACILITIES &
SERVICES

Cuisine ANABUKI TEI provides a highly customizable experience of Shikoku cuisine. A stable of local chefs is available to prepare meals in house, drawing on seafood from the warm waters of the Seto Inland Sea, citrus and olives grown on its sun-drenched isles, and diverse produce from the mineral-rich soil. These include kaiseki chef Katsumi Nishioka, a native of nearby Megijima Island, and washoku breakfast specialist Junji Yoshioka, creative chef of long-running local restaurant Mikuriya Club. Other chefs from 5-star hotel backgrounds serve up French and Italian fare. Each guest’s interests and needs are discussed in advance with Anabuki-san. Some nights, guests may prefer to explore Takamatsu’s restaurant scene with Anabuki-san snagging reservations anywhere from fine dining hotspots to tiny dining bars known only to locals. Another option is grilling in the garden, where a wood-fired teppan is perfect for searing steaks of Kagawa wagyu.
Baths There are two main baths at ANABUKI TEI. The indoor bath, found on the first floor, features an elegant ceramic soaking tub in the Goemonburo style. It is surrounded by a field of rough Aji stone, also called granite diamond, which sparkles attractively in the soft light, evoking a moonlit mountaintop escape. The outdoor bath, clad in weathered Japanese cedar and stone, is concealed from the neighborhood through the use of a chic canopy while allowing bathers to relax in the open air. The bath is large enough for a full house and ANABUKI TEI allows the use of swimsuits if preferred. A small minibar and lounge area adjoin, as does a wood-fire sauna. There is also an additional full shower on the second floor of the residence.
Sauna Next to the spacious outdoor bath is a custom-designed, Finnish-style sauna, housed in a renovated storehouse once used for Natsuji’s hobby of koi breeding. The wood-fired stove is crowned with a jumble of Kagawa’s famous Aji stone, which radiate a comfortable heat and therapeutic steam when ladled with water. Interior benches provide plenty of room to stretch out while muscles unknot and breathing slows. Emerging into the invigorating fresh air, guests can cool down at a pillow-strewn lounge area, shielded from surrounding eyes by a chic canopy, until ready to dive back into the soporific steam.
Living and Dining The heart of ANABUKI TEI is the sprawling open-plan living, dining, and kitchen space, centered around a classic wood-burning stove. It is filled with curved warm-wood Scandinavian furniture and fresh-cut flowers arranged by Anabuki-san’s wife, the natural materials mirroring the Japanese garden visible from floor-to-ceiling windows on the south wall. The kitchen, raised a step from the dining area, provides a stage for the private chefs to present their skills and serve course after course showcasing Shikoku’s rich culinary tradition. In between meals, the kitchen is stocked with complimentary drinks, fruit, and snacks from local makers, as well as a selection of international wines.
Tatami Room The first floor also has a spacious tatami-floored room facing the garden, left largely empty in the classic Japanese style. Without cumbersome furniture to move around, the space is perfect for yoga practice, meditation, or just boneless sprawling on the cool woven-rush flooring, a quintessential summertime pleasure in Japan. A single pendant lamp crafted from washi paper and delicate bamboo levitates like a gentle sun over the room. It is an original piece by Japanese-American artist Isamu Noguchi, one of his ever-popular series of Akari lamps.
Library Amid the bedrooms of the second floor is a common area designated the library. As the name suggests, it is stocked with a collection of books focused on local art and culture, as well as low-slung chairs for casual perusing. The books share the shelves with artistic objets drawn from the same world: Kagawa’s traditional uchiwa fans, antique molds used to shape wagashi sweets, bookends carved from Aji granite. Beautiful as they are to look at, the real pleasure is hearing Anabuki-san share the stories behind each and how they connect to his family. Even the humble zaru, the woven bamboo strainer used at Japanese noodle shops, is elevated to art in this space, comprising an instillation on the ceiling that references Natsuji Anabuki’s passion for cold soba.
Japanese Garden ANABUKI TEI has the footprint of a traditional Japanese home: a house and garden encircled by a high wall for privacy. The garden, a tidy space of carved stone and sculpted plants, provides a verdant locus for daily life, visible from nearly all the rooms, dotted with loungers and hammocks, and dramatically illuminated at night. Just inside the gate, a stout black pine stretches a single arm, not up towards the sky but across, to shelter the path and welcome each guest. This centenarian is a relative of nearby Ritsurin Garden’s famous Tsurukame-Matsu and, indeed, has to be tended by one of the garden’s pine specialists. Unlike bonsai, which uses wires to force trees to grow in a particular direction, the master gardeners of Ritsurin carefully harness their charges’ natural inclinations to achieve fanciful shapes or impressive horizontal reach, crafting living artworks in collaboration with each other and with nature over successive centuries.
Art Although the nearby island of Naoshima is perhaps more famous in the art world, Takamatsu has a long art history. As a former castle town with a prosperous port, the city developed many unique craft traditions including Kagawa lacquerware, wagasa umbrellas, Aji granite stonework,　wooden molds for wagashi and wasanbon sugar, and bonsai. Quite a few craftspeople recognized as Living National Treasures have called Takamatsu home. During the 1950s and 60s, the city became a hub for contemporary artists while then governor Masanori Kaneko commissioned a slew of public works by leading architects like Kenzo Tange and artists like Masayuki Nagare. Others, like Isamu Noguchi, came on their own , to collaborate with their peers and learn to work with Japanese materials. The things they created are still very much a part of Takamatsu’s urban life today.

EXPERIENCE

Culture of Takamatsu, Kagawa More

Map &
Transportation

Closest Train Station	Takamatsu Station	ROUTE
Closest Bus Station	N/A	ROUTEs
Free pick-up service	Yes

Key Gate Way Int'l Airport and Train (Shinkansen) Station

Route details

Ryokan Data

Area	Takamatsu / 高松
Name of Ryokan	ANABUKI TEI / 穴吹邸
Address	1-7-15, Jyotocho, Takamatsu city, Kagawa, Japan 香川県高松市城東町1丁目7-15
Total Number of Rooms	rooms
Check-in Time	15:00
Check-Out Time	12:00
Credit Card	Yes

Guest Rooms

In-Room Internet Connection
Internet Access in Public Area
Foreign TV Channels
English Newspapers
Child Rate

Meals

Dinner Start Time	18:00 ~ 19:00 (Private chef)
Breakfast Start Time	7:00 ~ 9:00 (Private chef)
In Room Dining Available	N/A
Bar	N/A
Special Dietary Arrangements	Yes (including vegan, vegetarian, and halal)
Vegan Friendly	Yes
Western Breakfast Available	Yes

Other Facilities & Services

Communal Bath	N/A
Family Bath	Yes
Private indoor bath in room	N/A
Private open-air bath in the room	Yes

Room Rates

ROOM RATES

Room Type	Number of guests (JPY)
	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
Private Villa Suite (With breakfast)	386,000	404,000	422,000	440,000	458,000	476,000	494,000	512,000
Private Villa Suite (With dinner & breakfast)	450,000	500,000	550,000	600,000	650,000	700,000	750,000	800,000
Private Villa Suite	386,000	386,000	386,000	386,000	386,000	386,000	386,000	386,000

Note:

No-smoking room: YES
Barrier Free: NO

The ryokan rate above is for renting out the ryokan, including one night accommodation, dinner (and breakfast), service charge, and tax. Please note that the rate will change depending on the number of guests and seasonality. Please contact us for the further details.

Please contact us for more information about the rates.

- The mentioned rates and service are available only for LRC Members who book through LRC's website.

- The rates are subject to change without any prior notice.