For $9,400 per night, travelers can live like a Japanese warlord in the country's first-ever castle hotel
Melissa Wiley
Courtesy Value Management Co., Ltd.
- Travelers can now rent out one of the few remaining castles from Japan's Edo period for a day and night.
- Restored in 2004 and located on a hilltop in western Japan's Ehime prefecture, Ozu Castle looks much the same as it did 400 years ago when it was occupied by feudal lords.
- The stay includes access to the entire castle after hours, as well as a 17th-century-themed welcome ceremony, breakfast in a historic tea house villa, and a moon-watching sake experience.
- Rates start at 1 million yen, or $9,400 per day, for two guests with a maximum of six guests.
- Take a look inside Ozu Castle town, which is part of a new decentralized boutique hotel concept called Nipponia.
Wood-framed castles were once prevalent throughout Japan, but only a handful of original structures remain today.
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Source: Ozu Castle
Now, for the first time ever, visitors can stay in one overnight.
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Source: Ozu Castle
In July, the four-story Ozu Castle in western Japan's Ehime prefecture began offering "castle stays" starting at 1 million yen, or about $9,400 per night for two guests.
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Source: Ozu Castle
Built in 1331, the castle was home to feudal lords for 250 years beginning in the 17th century. Fittingly, the castle stay starts with an Edo period welcome ceremony.
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Source: Ozu Castle, Jcastle
During the ceremony, a reenactor playing a feudal lord from 1617 rides in on horseback ...
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Source: Ozu Castle
... and gunshots, flag waving, and conch-shell blowing follow. Guests will have the option to don warrior costumes themselves.
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Source: Ozu Castle
Over the course of the day, guests can explore the surrounding town, which includes a temple, shrine, and historic samurai residences, and book one of two experiences: a theater performance or cormorant fishing demonstration.
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Source: Ozu Castle
After public visiting hours, guests have the castle completely to themselves. Restored in 2004, the castle looks much the same as it did centuries ago, with a few luxury upgrades like an attached bathing area.
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Source: Ozu Castle, JNTO
The castle can accommodate up to six people. For each guest upwards of two people, the experience costs an additional 100,000 yen, or about $942.
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Source: Ozu Castle
Following a full-course dinner, guests can head to one of the castle's turrets to 'contemplate' the moon while sipping sake as warlords once did.
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Source: Ozu Castle, CNN
The next morning, a transfer service will take them to Garyu Sanso, a historic villa with a teahouse overlooking the Hiji River, for breakfast.
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Source: Ozu Castle
The Ozu Castle stay is just one part of the Nipponia Hotel, a new decentralized boutique hotel concept designed to revitalize the city of Ozu.
View of the Nipponia Hotel.
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Source: Ozu Castle
Eleven other hotel rooms are scattered throughout the town and available for a lower cost than the castle stay, starting at 17,000 yen, or about $160 per night.
View of a Nipponia Hotel room.
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Source: Ozu Castle
While Nipponia's castle town hotels will be available year-round, the Ozu Castle is limiting its "castle stays" to just 30 groups for 30 nights in its first year.
View of a Nipponia hotel room.
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Source: Ozu Castle
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