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Our four guest rooms!

We’ve finished putting together the room details, lodging rates, and envisioned layouts for our new guest rooms. With this, we have begun accepting reservations for February, March, and April 2020.

We’ll be updating the Guest Room section of the website at a later date, so make sure to refer to the content posted below first. That said, following our renovations, there won’t be any major changes to the information in other sections on the website (Facilities, Access, etc.), so feel free to consult it for any other information.

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Tsuchi private room (10.7 m²)
A private room for up to two guests

What greets you⁠ is this: traditional earthen plasterwork walls that speak to the natural texture of soil and straw; the silky feel of virgin Japanese cedar flooring; light softly diffused by a ceiling done in local Echizen Washi handmade paper; a spacious king-sized bed on raised tatami straw mat flooring; and a vintage sofa with table. Tempered by the season and the changing weather, let the light of dawn wake you naturally as it gently cascades through the paper screen at the head of your bed. From the window at the bed’s head, you are presented with lustrous black tiling and the ample greenery of the courtyard—from the opposite window, you look down past the sturdy beams of the open ceiling into the rustic ground floor entranceway below.

In a space defined by its expertly-layered earthen plasterwork, we welcome you to experience for yourself life in a traditional renovated machiya townhouse.

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Ki private room (12 m²)
A private room for up to two guests

Entering this room, you step upon floorboards of virgin hiba cypress sourced from the Noto Peninsula with its softly-figured wood grain and delicate, natural scent. You see posts in a wood-framed window with antique latches and frosted glass panes looking down to the courtyard below—all encompassed by natural and white colors of the room’s walls. The two-level bunk bed is built into the wall and features privacy curtains and night lights. It’s a place for time alone or with a friend, for chatting while sipping tea or losing yourself in a project at the window-side desk. We have made this a space rich in the natural beauty of wood. 

Our hope is for you to pass many pleasant hours here, whatever you choose to do.

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Hari private room (13.2 m²)
A private room for up to four guests 

This guest room features floorboards of virgin hiba cypress sourced from the Noto Peninsula with its softly-figured wood grain and delicate, natural scent. Encompassed by the gentle greys of the room’s walls, the light here softly diffuses against a ceiling done in local Echizen Washi handmade paper. The two-section bunk beds are built into the wall and feature privacy curtains and night lights. Open wide with a clatter the antique wood-framed windows and drink in the seasonal scenery of Kuromon-mae Ryokuchi Park—cherry blossoms in spring, rich greenery in summer, red and yellow foliage in fall, or snowy landscapes in winter.

In this room, rich with accumulated history, take a seat on the rattan sofa or on the floor, open the window, and allow yourself to feel the breeze, the perfume of the seasons, and the gentle flow of time.

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Kumo private room (6.6 m²)
A private room for up to two guests

A queen-sized mattress, filling the straw tatami flooring of the room; the deep, summer sky blue of teahouse-style handmade paper wainscotting; traditional earthen plasterwork walls that speak to the natural texture of soil and straw; light softly diffused by a ceiling done in local Echizen Washi handmade paper—the compact size of this room complements this teahouse-inspired minimalist arrangement. Open the antique wood-framed windows with a clatter and drink in the seasonal scenery of Kuromon-mae Ryokuchi Park: spring’s cherry blossoms, summer’s rich greenery, fall’s red and yellow foliage, and the snowy landscape of winter.

Or slide open the paper screen window and stretch out on the mattress to feel the gentle breeze and watch the clouds roll by.

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We hope you will find your favorite from our rooms!

Grand Opening: Guest House Shiro’s Journey has Now Begun!

Finally this special day has come. On August 28th, 2014, Guest House Shiro has opened its doors.

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Since the completion of the renovation, we didn’t have a chance to share the interior of Shiro, so here is a sneak peak.

Stepping inside, you will be greeted by a breezy entrance hall.

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There are large cross beams, a skylight that brings in warm daylight, and rustic mud walls that remind us of the long history of 115 years.

This is our beautiful patio next to our kitchen.

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We will shortly introduce our living room, kitchen and shared lounges.

Just two steps away from the beautiful Kanazawa castle, we will be waiting for your arrival at Shiro Guest House.

Annual Night Festival at Kenroku Park and Kanazawa Castle

In mid April, Kenroku-Garden and Kanazawa Castle were lit-up on a special occasion.
The two sites are located right next to each other and are connected by a bridge. So you can enter from either premises.

From Shiro, our guesthouse, Kanawaza Castle Park is only ten minutes walk away. A perfect location to enjoy the scenery is accessibly day and night.

Usually, we cannot see these premises in the dark.

The fully-blossomed sakura trees were glowing in the dark on a chilly night of an early spring.

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Not only sakura, palm trees were also lit-up, revealing their majestic torso.

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Overall, the trees were dimly lit but that created a surprising effect – it looked like trees were floating in the dark.

The parks were bustling with many street food stalls out that night.

However, unlike chaotic festivals in big cities, there weren’t too many people and hence we were able to keep our own space and enjoy the beautiful light-ups in a relaxed environment. This must be a charm of quiet Kanazawa.

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This is Kanazawa Castle. The stone walls and sakura make us wanting to imagine what the life used to be back in the past.

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Can’t emphasize enough how beautiful sakura trees were.

This is a picture of sakura when the flowers just started blooming.

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There were many people ‘sakura-watching’ under the trees.

Drivers and cyclers who usually speed through the street slowed down on this particular day, unable to resist the beauty of sakura.

The scenery of Kanazawa is getting greener and greener everyday as the Sakura season comes to end.

Sakura at Shiro has Fully Blossomed

The long long winter is over!

The sakura trees at the Kuromonmae Ryokuchi located right in front of Shiro have fully blossomed!

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Some walked by and picked up some sakura petals.

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Looks like some petals did not fall naturally by the wind.
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Looking up, the sky was filled with the beautiful sakura.

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There it was…

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It was this bird that was dropping the petals. 

This is a view of the road  that leads into the Kanazawa castle from the black gate. The road stretches straight.

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There was a lane of cute little yellow flowers flourishing at the canal.

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At the park right next door, red ume was making its appearance.

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White plums as well.
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At the large park, people were spending their own relaxed time, invited by the warm spring weather. Far far away, we see the mountains still covered by snow.

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The castle is lovingly surrounded by sakura as well.

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Sakura at some places are not fully blossomed yet. There were many that were still waiting for the best timing to flourish.

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This is a view from a pedestrian bridge that connects the Kenrokuen Park and the castle. The sakura season had just started. Imagine cycling this road when all sakura have fully blossomed.

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The season is just perfect. Very relaxing and chill after a long winter.

Shiro will not be open this spring yet, but please do visit Shiro to enjoy sakura, ume, and the gracious touches of spring next year.

We hope to enjoy the sakura that leads from Shiro to the black gate, and forget the time at the Kanazawa park and happily watch the world goes by amongst sakura trees.

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Renovation Day 49

Our renovation work had restarted after a break.

From today, they are digging the ground and flattening the soil base equally.

While measuring the angle with a level gouge, they dig the soil with a power shovel. Later they fill the gaps with a concrete.

At first they strengthen the soil base.

By the way these were things we found in the storage which we hadn’t posted online. 


Inside a wooden box there were many old newspapers and books.
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Amongst them, there was a box with no label.

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Inside this box…

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We found a set of door nob key holes and keys.

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We can guess that the owners loved the door knob. It’s so shiny after so many years.

Which door for which room was the lock located? Maybe the room itself had been a special place.

 

Renovation Day 9(2)

Hi again, let’s take a look into the second floor.

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The ceilings are walls are all gone, exposing the window frame.

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Here we can view the beam. Beam speaks of its old history as well.

A wall shown below is quite rustic as well.

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So this is how the renovation started; we stripped off to view the structure.

We are making a baby step toward the opening of Shiro. Wonder how the construction begins.

Days pass by as we squeeze our brains to come up with a great interior design and finding the best furniture.

Shiro’s DM is coming up pretty soon!

Renovation Day 9

Though a little late, let us update about Shiro on the 9th day of the renovation (February 5th 2014).

Practically the first floor was stripped clean including the walls.

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Now we see a clay wall that was hidden behind the walls.

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Remember that handsome vault? We had to take it away sadly.

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They had a lot of trouble moving this heavy object. They ended up using a cart.

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So we got our hands dirty in a forbidden storage and encountered some great founds, including this:

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Can you guess what this it?

It’s so-called ‘air-raid hood’ if to translate directly from Japanese.

Like the name suggests, people used to protect their heads with this thin piece of cloth during the war. We found a helmet as well.

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And we found this unknown object made out of white ceramic tiles.

We wonder what it is…Was this used during the war as well? 

We also found old magazines from hundred years back that were published in Meiji, Taisho, and Showa period, some ceramics, a door knob.

There were some work-related things that may had been used by the prior owners.

We will introduce some other treasures we have found on some other occasion.

The corridor with three bathrooms and water sinks was stripped like this as well.

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It’s almost like a different space comparing to the picture taken below before the renovation.

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Of course the second floor.

I couldn’t believe my eyes how it changed so much.

We will catch up on that later.