THE RYOKAN COLLECTION

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.