THE STORY

The lovely Shinsen ryokan is nestled serenely in the rolling hills on the flanks of Mt. Aso, in the center of the main Japanese island of Kyushu.
With its mix of tradition and comfort, Shinsen gives its guests a taste of old Japan, while offering all the luxuries and conveniences of the modern world. All the rooms feature beautiful Japanese gardens with artfully arranged rocks, trees and raked gravel, as well as high-end furnishings and amenities.
Kumi Sato, the okami, or proprietress of the ryokan, says, “Our goal is to offer the highest quality of traditional hospitality, along with a light and playful atmosphere to help her guests relax and leave their serious lives and worries behind.” Arising from this philosophy is the most striking feature of Shinsen – the individuality of the rooms. Each has its own unique style and personality, presented with flair, and outfitted with the highest quality furnishings and decorated with beautiful art, traditional ceramics and other crafts.
This and the staff’s unsurpassed omotenashi, or traditional Japanese hospitality, have earned Shinsen a reputation as one of the finest ryokan in Kyushu, drawing repeat customers from around the world. The Satos have formed numerous close relationships with their guests, many of whom come seeking a more authentic Japanese experience in regional Japan.
Above every entrance at Shinsen is a shimenawa, a braided rope often seen all over Japan at New Year’s, and traditionally invites the gods to live in the houses. As per Takachiho tradition, Shinsen keeps the shimenawa up all year round, to bring prosperity and purity to the ryokan and its guests.
With its beautiful surroundings, immersed in ancient local culture and timeless omotenashi, Shinsen is a very special place, which The Ryokan Collection is proud to welcome as a member.

ROOMS

  • ROOM Japanese-Western Style Room with Japanese Garden and Open-air Bath Villa - Manyo One of Shinsen’s five luxurious suites in free-standing villas with interior designs tha…
  • ROOM Japanese-Western Style Room with Japanese Garden and Open-air Bath Villa - Tsukuyomi One of Shinsen’s five luxurious suites in free-standing villas with interior designs tha…
  • ROOM Japanese-Western Style Room with Garden and Open-air Bath Villa - Waraku One of Shinsen’s five luxurious suites in free-standing villas with interior designs tha…
  • ROOM Japanese-Western Style Room with Open-air Bath Villa - Kumano One of Shinsen’s five luxurious suites in free-standing villas with interior designs tha…
  • ROOM Japanese-Western Style Room with Open-air Bath Villa - Hourai One of Shinsen’s five luxurious suites in free-standing villas with interior designs tha…
  • ROOM Main Building Maisonnette Suite with Open-air Bath - Aisome One of 4 rooms in the main building that feature Shinsen’s signature gardens, with grade…
  • ROOM Main Building Japanese Style Room with Open-air Bath - Asuka One of 4 rooms in the main building that feature Shinsen’s signature gardens, with grade…
  • ROOM Main Building Japanese Style Room with Open-air Bath - Shara One of 4 rooms in the main building that feature Shinsen’s signature gardens, with grade…
  • ROOM Main Building Western Style Room with Open-air Bath - Ruri One of 4 rooms in the main building that feature Shinsen’s signature gardens, with grade…
  • ROOM Annex Japanese-Western Style with Cypress Bath - Tachibana The room is the newest in annex area, called "Kanba"It .has a beautiful cypress bath and…
  • ROOM Annex Japanese-Western Style with Cypress Bath - Toyotama The room is the newest in annex area, called "Kanba"It .has a beautiful cypress bath and…
    ROOM Japanese-Western Style Room with Japanese Garden and Open-air Bath Villa - Manyo One of Shinsen’s five luxurious suites in free-standing villas with interior designs that reflect and reference the history of the surrounding area. The room has a big, beautiful rotemburo open-air bath, and all have individual designs that contribute to their unique sense of place.
    Manyo is spacious 100 sq. meter suites suitable for up to six guests relaxing in comfort. They feature a nicely balanced mix of Japanese- and Western-style accommodations, each with one room with twin beds and another with futons on tatami mats in a big, 10-mat living room.
    ROOM Japanese-Western Style Room with Japanese Garden and Open-air Bath Villa - Tsukuyomi One of Shinsen’s five luxurious suites in free-standing villas with interior designs that reflect and reference the history of the surrounding area. The room has a big, beautiful rotemburo open-air bath, and all have individual designs that contribute to their unique sense of place.
    Tsukiyomi is spacious 100 sq. meter suites suitable for up to six guests relaxing in comfort. They feature a nicely balanced mix of Japanese- and Western-style accommodations, each with one room with twin beds and another with futons on tatami mats in a big, 10-mat living room.
    ROOM Japanese-Western Style Room with Garden and Open-air Bath Villa - Waraku One of Shinsen’s five luxurious suites in free-standing villas with interior designs that reflect and reference the history of the surrounding area. The room has a big, beautiful rotemburo open-air bath, and all have individual designs that contribute to their unique sense of place.
    Waraku is a suite devoted to the concept of playfulness for adults, and features a game room with various games such as unique chess, go, cards and others, as well as a guitar and other relaxing play items. The bathtub has an unusual quarter-circle shape set into a wide wooden veranda, enclosed by floor-to-ceiling windows that can be opened to make a true rotemburo, overlooking a pretty Japanese garden with huge boulders standing guard. The room is a spacious 80 sq. meters, and can accommodate up to three guests.
    ROOM Japanese-Western Style Room with Open-air Bath Villa - Kumano One of Shinsen’s five luxurious suites in free-standing villas with interior designs that reflect and reference the history of the surrounding area. The room has a big, beautiful rotemburo open-air bath, and all have individual designs that contribute to their unique sense of place.
    Kumano is 60 sq. meter rooms with double beds, which can be converted into triples on request. It has lovely gardens, dominated by substantial boulders and finished with raked gravel.
    Kumano, is a double that is convertible to a single. Its interior emphasizes earthy brown and fresh green to evoke the surrounding mountainous nature, and in the garden is an ume Japanese plum tree, whose flowers, blossoming in March, herald the coming of spring. The bathtub, an unusual quarter-circle shape, is made of amakusa-ishi stone from the Kyoto district of Amakusa.
    ROOM Japanese-Western Style Room with Open-air Bath Villa - Hourai One of Shinsen’s five luxurious suites in free-standing villas with interior designs that reflect and reference the history of the surrounding area. The room has a big, beautiful rotemburo open-air bath, and all have individual designs that contribute to their unique sense of place.
    Hourai is 60 sq. meter rooms with double beds, which can be converted into triples on request. It has lovely gardens, dominated by substantial boulders and finished with raked gravel.
    Hourai has white canopy beds, and its bath is an exceptionally beautiful seven-sided granite tub lined inside with swirly sandstone.
    ROOM Main Building Maisonnette Suite with Open-air Bath - Aisome One of 4 rooms in the main building that feature Shinsen’s signature gardens, with graded gravel, boulders and multi-seasonal foliage. Interesting works of art by local artists join the elegant antique Japanese and Chinese ceramics and paintings that grace these rooms.
    This room is a 60 sq. meter maisonnette suite, suitable for two or three groups of guests – up to six persons – who want to stay together in comfort. The suite features a big oval stone bath, a large garden, and a floor-level living room table with sunken floor for legs, as well as an inviting massage chair.
    ROOM Main Building Japanese Style Room with Open-air Bath - Asuka One of 4 rooms in the main building that feature Shinsen’s signature gardens, with graded gravel, boulders and multi-seasonal foliage. Interesting works of art by local artists join the elegant antique Japanese and Chinese ceramics and paintings that grace these rooms.
    Asuka is Japanese-style rooms, 55 sq. meter, suitable for up to five guests. The living room features a view of the garden beyond through floor-to ceiling windows overlooking the bath. This room converts, Japanese-style, into the bedroom, and guests sleep in cozy futon on fragrant tatami mats. Both rooms have a set of steps that give access to a spacious, private sun deck, and the baths are big, beautiful tubs made of fine-grained Hinoki wood.
    ROOM Main Building Japanese Style Room with Open-air Bath - Shara One of 4 rooms in the main building that feature Shinsen’s signature gardens, with graded gravel, boulders and multi-seasonal foliage. Interesting works of art by local artists join the elegant antique Japanese and Chinese ceramics and paintings that grace these rooms.
    Shara is Japanese-style rooms, 55 sq. meters, suitable for up to five guests. The living room features a view of the garden beyond through floor-to ceiling windows overlooking the bath. This room converts, Japanese-style, into the bedroom, and guests sleep in cozy futon on fragrant tatami mats. Both rooms have a set of steps that give access to a spacious, private sun deck, and the baths are big, beautiful tubs made of fine-grained Hinoki wood.
    ROOM Main Building Western Style Room with Open-air Bath - Ruri One of 4 rooms in the main building that feature Shinsen’s signature gardens, with graded gravel, boulders and multi-seasonal foliage. Interesting works of art by local artists join the elegant antique Japanese ceramics and paintings that grace these rooms. Ruri is a Western-style room, 60 sq. meters and suitable for two guests, featuring comfortable easy chairs and big twin beds. This room features a big bath made of green-glazed ceramic, set into a spacious deck. (Mrs. Sato, the proprietress, says many guests feel like a goldfish while bathing in it.)
    ROOM Annex Japanese-Western Style with Cypress Bath - Tachibana The room is the newest in annex area, called "Kanba"It .has a beautiful cypress bath and a tatami room suitable for small group relaxing in comfort. Warm your heat in the room where you can view lovely Japanese garden in Kanba.
    ROOM Annex Japanese-Western Style with Cypress Bath - Toyotama The room is the newest in annex area, called "Kanba"It .has a beautiful cypress bath and a tatami room suitable for small group relaxing in comfort. Warm your heat in the room where you can view lovely Japanese garden in Kanba.

FACILITIES &
SERVICES

  • Entrance & Lobby All around Shinsen’s grounds are traditional gardens, graced by a great stone stupa, a stone pagoda and other interesting stonework.
    Next to the front desk is the shop, which offers yukata cotton summer kimono, which the guests can use free of charge; the staff are delighted to help with putting them on and wearing them properly. The shop also sells unique kaleidoscopes, made of Arita-yaki exclusively in Miyazaki, on the east side of the island of Kyushu, and ceramics and other artworks by local artists, as well as high quality brushes for cosmetics and shodo calligraphy.
    In the entrance hall of the main building is another playful element that adds charm and atmosphere to the ryokan – a sui kin kutsu. When water is poured onto the rocks with a little scoop, it emits a lovely musical sound as the water drips onto a large flower pot concealed inside.
  • Dining The dining rooms in the main building have traditional seating, with low horigotatsu tables with leg wells in the floor for comfort. The view through the windows is optimized to be admired from floor level, a technique called Yukimi shoji – the diners look from the bottom half of the windows only. In addition, there are Western-style rooms and the Takachiho dining room, large tatami-floored space that can seat 26 people comfortably. Mrs. Sato is a licensed sommelier, and she has stocked Shinsen’s cellar with a wide variety of wine and sake, as well as a selection of shochu, the delicious distilled beverage for which Kyushu is famous.
  • Cuisine The cuisine at Shinsen is exquisite kaiseki ryori traditional Japanese haute cuisine – healthy and seasonal, with an emphasis on fresh vegetables and local produce, deliciously cooked and artistically presented. The meals are expertly prepared and served on gorgeous porcelain, including Arita-yaki, the famous pottery from northwestern Kyushu, as well as bone china and other fine ceramics.

EXPERIENCE

  • Explore the Mystical Land and Cultures of Takachiho More

Map &
Transportation

Closest Train Station N/A
Closest Bus Station Takachiho Bus Center
Free pick-up service N/A
Complimentary transfer from/to Takachiho Bus Center (5min)
Key Gate Way Int'l Airport and Train (Shinkansen) Station

Ryokan Data

Area Takachiho / 高千穂
Name of Ryokan Shinsen / 神仙
Address 1127-5 Oaza-mitai, Takachiho-cho, Nishiusugi-gun, Miyazaki 882-1101
〒882-1101宮崎県西臼杵郡高千穂町大字三田井1127-5
Total Number of Rooms 15 rooms
Check-in Time 14:00
Check-Out Time 11:00
Credit Card Yes

Meals

Dinner Start Time 17:30 - 21:00
Breakfast Start Time 7:00 - 10:00
In Room Dining Available No
Bar
Special Dietary Arrangements Yes
Vegan Friendly Yes
Western Breakfast Available Bread, salad, soup, eggs and fruit

Other Facilities & Services

Communal Bath No
Family Bath No
Private indoor bath in room Yes
Private open-air bath in the room Yes

Room Rates

ROOM RATES
Room Type Description Seasonality Number of guest per room (JPY)
1 2 3 4
Japanese-Western Style Room with Japanese Garden and Open-air Bath Villa - Manyo 100㎡ A 154,000 77,000 74,800 71,500
12/31-1/3 176,000 88,000 85,800 82,500
Japanese-Western Style Room with Japanese Garden and Open-air Bath Villa - Tsukuyomi 100㎡ A 154,000 77,000 74,800 71,500
12/31-1/3 176,000 88,000 85,800 82,500
Japanese-Western Style Room with Garden and Open-air Bath Villa - Waraku 80㎡ A 132,000 66,000 63,800 N/A
12/31-1/3 143,000 77,000 74,800 N/A
Japanese-Western Style Room with Open-air Bath Villa - Kumano 60㎡ A 110,000 55,000 52,800 N/A
12/31-1/3 121,000 66,000 63,800 N/A
Japanese-Western Style Room with Open-air Bath Villa - Hourai 60㎡ A 110,000 55,000 52,800 N/A
12/31-1/3 121,000 66,000 63,800 N/A
Main Building Maisonnette Suite with Open-air Bath - Aisome 60㎡ A 110,000 55,00 52,800 49,500
12/31-1/3 121,000 66,000 63,800 60,500
Main Building Japanese Style Room with Open-air Bath - Asuka 55㎡ A 88,000 49,500 46,200 44,000
12/31-1/3 99,000 60,500 57,200 55,000
Main Building Japanese Style Room with Open-air Bath - Shara 55㎡ A 88,000 49,500 46,200 44,000
12/31-1/3 99,000 60,500 57,200 55,000
Main Building Western Style Room with Open-air Bath - Ruri 60㎡ A 88,000 49,500 N/A N/A
12/31-1/3 99,000 60,500 N/A N/A
Annex Japanese-Western Style with Cypress Bath - Tachibana 60㎡ A 110,000 55,000 52,800 49,500
12/31-1/3 121,000 66,000 63,800 60,500
Annex Japanese-Western Style with Cypress Bath - Toyotama 60㎡ A 110,000 55,000 52,800 49,500
12/31-1/3 121,000 66,000 63,800 60,500
Note:
Non-smoking room: NO
Barrier free: NO

Ryokan rate is for one person, includes one night accommodation, Japanese full course dinner, breakfast, service charge and taxes.

- 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.
- Please note that a particular room cannot be guaranteed in advance unless otherwise stated by The Ryokan Collection