Nagano · Hotel
BYAKU Narai
BYAKU Narai
- From
- ¥90,200+ / 2 guests, 1 night
- Stay reports
- 7
- Videos
- 1
Photos: Rakuten Travel
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About this hotel
An inn in Narai-juku, in Shiojiri, Nagano. Narai-juku sits exactly halfway along the 69 stations of the Nakasendo road and survives as the longest post town in Japan, its Edo-period streetscape intact. The inn occupies four historic buildings, each given back the trading name it carried from the Edo period. The main one, Toshiyoshi-ya, was the Suginomori sake brewery, founded in 1793; the others are Uehara-ya, Shimamo-ya and Kanekami-ya. There are 16 rooms, and because the existing structures were kept, no two have the same layout. The bathhouse, San-sen, draws spring water from the headwaters of the Shinano River — it is not a hot spring. The restaurant, Kura, occupies what was the brewery. Five minutes on foot from Narai Station on the JR Chuo Line.
Who it suits
A stay whose point is being inside the post town’s buildings. They are around two hundred years old and have been kept as they were, which means steep stairs, changes in level, and timber that carries sound. Pre-school children are not normally accepted, and of the rooms that take primary-school children there are only six. Dinner runs two to three hours, and guests are asked to keep it quiet through that. The bath is not a hot spring but spring water from the mountains, in what used to be the brewery’s storehouse, finished in the five timbers of Kiso: cypress, sawara, hiba, koyamaki and nezuko. A sake brewery and a bar next door are open to people who are not staying, so there are places in the building where you meet others. Narai Station is five minutes away, and the old street is easy to walk.
Basic information
- Address
- 551-3 Narai, Shiojiri, Nagano
- Rooms
- 16
- Check-in
- 15:00
- Check-out
- 11:00
長野県塩尻市大字奈良井551-3
Features
- Direct station access
What this place is like
Checked against the hotel’s own site. Anything we could not confirm is left out — that does not mean it is not there.
Rooms: 16 across four buildings, under their old trading names
There are 16 rooms across four buildings, numbered from 101 to 116. The main building, Toshiyoshi-ya, was the Suginomori sake brewery, founded in 1793 and once counted among the five great sakes of Kiso. The others are Uehara-ya, Shimamo-ya and Kanekami-ya. Rather than inventing new names, the inn returned each building to the trading name it carried in the Edo period. Because the structures were kept as they were, every room differs in layout and in what it once was.
From the editors
Keeping the old buildings means steep stairs, changes in level, and timber that carries sound. That is the reason the inn gives for not normally accepting pre-school children.
Source: byaku.site (checked 29 September 2026)
Bath: San-sen, spring water rather than a hot spring
San-sen draws water from the mountain springs at the head of the Shinano River. It is not a hot spring. The bath occupies what was the brewery’s storehouse, finished in the five timbers of Kiso — cypress, sawara, hiba, koyamaki and nezuko. It is open 6:00–10:00 and 15:00–24:00. Bring a towel from your room.
Source: byaku.site (checked 29 September 2026)
Dining: Kura, in the old brewery — dinner 17:30–22:30, breakfast 7:30–9:30
The restaurant, Kura, is in the building where Suginomori brewed its sake. The name means the rock that lies beneath a ridge, and it was kept because the water from those mountains — the source of the Narai river — is where the cooking starts. The menu works from local ingredients and customs: heritage vegetables from Shiojiri, river fish, rice cooked in an earthenware pot, and pairings with local sake, served on Kiso lacquerware. Dinner is 17:30–22:30 and breakfast 7:30–9:30.
Source: byaku.site (checked 29 September 2026)
Getting there: five minutes from Narai Station
Five minutes on foot from Narai Station on the JR Chuo Line. By car it is 35 minutes from the Shiojiri interchange or 40 from Ina, with free outdoor parking for ten cars. Check-in is 15:00 and check-out 11:00. Reception is open 8:00–22:00 on weekdays and 9:00–21:00 at weekends and on public holidays.
Source: byaku.site (checked 29 September 2026)
Ratings
Collected by the booking sites and by Google. We do not rate hotels ourselves.
- Breakfast
- 4.55
- Cleanliness
- 4.36
This place was amazing from start to finish. The area this place is located feels like your going back in time, and the room itself was so nice. It’s quiet and comfortable, and the staff were friendly, helpful, and accommodating. Then there were the meals. The dinners were exceptional, with all ingredients being sourced locally. The breakfasts were also very good, with a nice variety of dishes. I also needed to change my booking and the business manager was willing to work with me on it. 5 out of 5.
Read the full review on Google MapsBYAKU Narai was pure magic. It wasn’t just the beautiful rooms or the historic setting—it was the countless thoughtful details, from the medicinal bath herbs and handcrafted tea ware to the house coffee blend that I ground by hand each morning. The food was some of the best I’ve ever had, showcasing the flavors of the Kiso Valley in such an elegant and meaningful way, and the local sake was unforgettable. Every meal, every cup of tea, every walk through Narai felt intentional and deeply connected to the place. More than any hotel, BYAKU made me slow down, appreciate the beauty in small things, and fully immerse myself in the culture and traditions of rural Japan. I was genuinely sad to leave. 🌲🍶☕🏔️✨
Read the full review on Google MapsThe room furnishings were great and the house looks really well-preserved. The sofa was really good to lie on. I love uji green tea so that was a plus too. Being able to drink freshly ground coffee in the morning was really good too. Some minus points for the room, the wiring was quite bizarre and it took a while to figure out which switches controlled which lights. There is no way to block the skylight so you will definitely get woken up as soon as the sun is up. With regard to food, the vegetable items were really good. The asparagus soup was top notch and the tempura + rice was a good finish. The fried tofu at breakfast the next day was also really good. The fish, deer and beef items were passeable but not really what I was expecting from such a hyped restaurant. The gin from the alcohol pairing was a real standout, it was a real pleasure to savour the essence of the various trees in Kiso valley. Service was excellent. The staff did their best to accomodate various dietary requests, and all issues were responded to prompty
Read the full review on Google Maps
The ratings and reviews were posted to the services named above. They are not our assessment, and we do not rate hotels ourselves. We show the three most recent reviews from Google Maps; read the rest there.
Room tours and stay videos
These videos are in Japanese. We embed them as published and do not translate them.
【ミノログ宿評価編 木曽路 奈良井宿にあるモダン旅館「BYAKU narai」～古民家をオシャレにリノベ～】
ミノチャンネル · July 2024 · 26:30 · 17K views
What guests wrote
2 of these are written in English and listed first. The rest are in Japanese. We link to the originals and do not translate or reproduce them.
- Byaku Narai, Japan | Luxury Travel Review | Walk into Luxury Insider Journeys
Walk into Luxury
- Hotel Review: BYAKU Narai – Is It Worth It? — Bronwyn Townsend
Bronwyn Townsend · 28 October 2025
- 秘境に来た気分になれるBYAKU NARAI，宿泊記①，百四のベッドルーム : 僕と彼氏の旅行記
僕と彼氏の旅行記
- 長野☆高遠城址公園＆奈良井宿「BYAKU Narai」宿泊記 (木曽・塩尻) - 旅行のクチコミサイト フォートラベル
旅行のクチコミサイト フォートラベル
- 『奈良井宿巡り-（BYAKU Narai）』
かっちゃんのブログ · 10 February 2024
- 【宿泊記】BYAKU Narai 本館・歳吉屋 百二 - ♡
♡ · 13 January 2024
- 『『BYAKU Narai』宿泊記①』
標高1500mの暮らし〜八ヶ岳の中腹から · 20 December 2023
Before you book
Only questions we could answer from the hotel’s own site.
- Can we stay with children?
- Pre-school children are not normally accepted, because of the steep stairs and changes in level and because the timber carries sound. Only six rooms take children of primary school age or older.(source, checked 29 September 2026)
- Is the bath a hot spring?
- No. San-sen draws spring water from the mountains at the head of the Shinano River. It is open 6:00–10:00 and 15:00–24:00, and you bring a towel from your room.(source, checked 29 September 2026)
- Is there parking?
- Yes, free outdoor parking for ten cars.(source, checked 29 September 2026)
- What time is dinner?
- At Kura, 17:30–22:30. It runs two to three hours, and guests are asked to keep it quiet through that. Breakfast is 7:30–9:30.(source, checked 29 September 2026)
Compare booking sites
Rates shown are reference rates in Japanese yen, retrieved from each service as of 23 September 2026. The actual rate depends on your dates, party size and plan. Links marked “Ad” are affiliate links, and we may earn a commission if you book after following one. The order they appear in is not affected by that.
Other places written up in English
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Links marked “Ad” are affiliate links. We may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. The order they appear in is not affected by that.