Yorii, Saitama · the whole house to yourselves · up to 8 guests
About
muku （無垢） — solid wood, left as it is
muku is a whole-house rental inn in Yorii, a town in Saitama. The floors are solid cedar, the walls lime plaster, and the bathroom is lined in hinoki cypress — walls and floor alike. We rebuilt an ordinary house into a place where you are always touching solid wood.
The riverbank is a few minutes’ walk away, and the station is walkable too. Yorii is a quiet, unhurried town. Come not to fill a schedule, but for the luxury of doing nothing at all.
Barefoot
The ground floor is a single nineteen-mat space. Open the partitions and you can see straight through, from the kitchen to the low table at the far end.
You needn’t worry about running footsteps, because there are no other guests in the house. Bare feet are what we recommend, though slippers are here if you want them.
Beyond the living room’s full-height window is the wooden deck. There is no step down, so you can walk out barefoot. Garden trees stand in front, so no one can see in from the road.
Eat breakfast outside; take your coffee out and nothing else. It is meant to be used that lightly.
The dining table seats six and was made to order in solid wood for this house. The 5cm top is heavy and substantial, and cool and pleasant under your hands.
It is very heavy indeed. Several adults together can move it, but please take care not to scratch the floor.
The kitchen is open to the living room. Standing at the island counter, you can see everyone — the children playing, the people talking.
Pots, frying pans, a bamboo steamer, a rice cooker, a microwave, a toaster. The fridge is a commercial under-counter model. For shopping, there is a supermarket nearby open until midnight.
Besides the dining table there is a low round one. Sit down at it and both hands and feet are resting on the cedar floor. Soft light comes through the shoji, and the smell of wood is close.
Once you have sat down here, it is hard to get up again.
The bathroom is finished in solid hinoki cypress boards, walls and floor alike. The scent rises the moment you open the door.
The hinoki bathtub is scheduled for installation in autumn 2026; until then the bathroom is shower-only. Even with just a shower, a hinoki room fills with the scent of the wood.
Two beds in the main bedroom. There are also two tatami rooms, each of which takes up to three futons. Arrange them however suits your group.
The covers, sheets and pillowcases are by sinso, a bedding maker in Yamanashi: a densely woven plain weave in 100% cotton, breathable and hard-wearing, yet supple and soft against the skin. The mattresses are Airweave on the beds and Kumo-no-Yasuragi Premium in the tatami rooms. Bedding chosen with this much care makes for a comfortable, deep night’s sleep.
For families
Plenty of places say children are welcome. We gathered what we actually wanted ourselves, as the parents of small children.
So that you don’t have to carry a child up to the bedroom every time, the children’s futon is kept in the ground-floor living-room closet. Two waterproof bed pads as well.
Crockery and cutlery for eight, and separately, children’s sets for two. There are two children’s high chairs as well.
A changing mat is always here. Baby wash and shampoo are in the bathroom.
Wooden toys are waiting in the living room. If everyone falls asleep with them spread over the floor, the tidying can wait until morning. There is a baby playpen as well, so the very youngest are safe too.
Check-in runs from 15:00 to 23:00. Caught in traffic, or leaving after the children are settled — either way, no one is kept waiting for you.
There are no other guests in the house, and no one to pass in a corridor. We think that is the best thing about renting a whole house.
Rooms & facilities
| Ground floor | Living and dining room, 19 mats (solid cedar) / wooden deck / kitchen / bathroom / washroom / WC |
|---|---|
| First floor | Main bedroom (2 beds), two tatami rooms (up to 3 futons each), WC |
| Capacity | Up to 8 guests (primary-school age and above). Infants sharing a bed are not counted. |
| Kitchen | Three-burner gas hob with grill / under-counter fridge-freezer / microwave / toaster / electric kettle / rice cooker / knives, chopping board, frying pan, pots, bamboo steamer / Brita water filter / crockery and cutlery for 8 (plus children’s sets for 2) / hand soap (kitchen) |
| Screen & sound | XGIMI Elfin Flip laser projector with an 80-inch screen / Marshall ACTON III |
| Bath & washroom | Bathroom finished in solid hinoki (shower only until the hinoki bathtub is installed in autumn 2026) / bath towels and face towels for every guest / shampoo / body wash / baby wash (bathroom) / hand soap (washstand) / baby oil (washroom) / bath mat / hairdryer |
| Laundry | Washer-dryer and detergent |
| For children | Children’s chairs (2 high chairs, 4 low chairs), children’s crockery for 2, one children’s futon set, 2 changing mats, 2 waterproof bed pads, wooden toys |
| Other | Air conditioning on both floors, free Wi-Fi, one free parking space (30 seconds’ walk) |
| Check-in | 15:00–23:00 (self check-in by QR code; the 4-digit key-box code is sent to you once you have checked in) |
| Check-out | 10:00 |
| Meals | Room only — no meals are included. The kitchen is yours to use freely. |
| House rules | No smoking anywhere / no pets / no open flames / no musical instruments / quiet after 21:00 / please avoid strong fragrances |
Around
Step outside and there is the river, the hills, and the ruins of a warring-states castle.
Places worth seeing
A steam locomotive runs through Yorii, the station nearest the house. It is the Chichibu Railway’s SL, linking Kumagaya and Mitsumineguchi, running mainly on weekends and holidays from late March to early December; the down train leaves Yorii Station just after 11am. Children remember it even if all you do is wave it off from the platform.
8 min walk to Yorii Station
A deep pool in the Arakawa whose name is said to come from “a still water as beautiful as a jewel”. It was designated a Place of Scenic Beauty by Saitama Prefecture in 1935. The riverbank runs a long way, and a few minutes’ walk from the house you are already at the water — paddling in the shallows, picking up stones. On the first Saturday of August it becomes the stage for the fireworks of the Yorii Tamayodo Suitengu Festival.
5 min walk (about 15 min to the busy riverside park)
The grounds of a villa that belonged to the seventh Matsumoto Koshiro, a kabuki actor, opened up as a public park. It is a garden on the slope above the Arakawa, and from mid-November to early December the whole of it turns red.
6 min walk
A warring-states castle built on the cliff above the Arakawa, known for holding out for more than a month against Toyotomi Hideyoshi’s Odawara campaign. It is a broad park where the baileys and earthworks remain as they were, with dogtooth violets and edohigan cherry in spring. From inside the grounds you look out over the town of Yorii and the hills.
5 min by car
A spring chosen as one of Japan’s hundred finest waters, and the stream that runs down from it. It stays cool even in summer, and you can put your feet in the shallows. A 3.4km walking trail, the “Path of the Wind”, follows the river. In autumn this becomes mandarin-picking country.
15 min by car
A viewing deck at the top of a mountain road, taking in the whole town of Yorii. On a clear day the 180-degree panorama reaches Mount Tsukuba, Mount Nantai, and Tokyo Skytree far off. The wild azaleas in May and the autumn colours are worth the drive on their own.
25 min by carOther ways to spend the day
Imaiya (tare-katsudon, in business for more than a hundred years) / Yorii yakitori (here the skewers are grilled pork cheek, and this is simply what they are called) / Kadoguchi Yorii / Carinho / Shoki Bar / Kiraku, Japanese cuisine (booking required) / Chinryuso Kyotei (booking required, sweetfish)
Besides the places above: a wander through the town centre (the street running south from Yorii Station still has the look of the Showa era) / Munakata Shrine (known as the shrine where candidates do not “fall” an exam) / Sainenji and Gokurakuji temples (of the Bushu Yorii Seven Lucky Gods) / Mount Kanetsukido (330m, with the whole Kanto plain from the summit)
The Yorii Tamayodo Suitengu Festival fireworks, the first Saturday of August / kayaking and SUP on Lake Tamayodo / mandarin picking (mid-October to mid-December) / grape picking (mid-August to mid-October) / blueberry picking (July–August, in Misato)
Nagatoro and Chichibu by car / the Saitama Museum of Rivers / a Belc supermarket nearby, open until midnight. Foods Hearz, about ten minutes by car, is strong on fresh fish and additive-free food.
Access
| Address | 787-10 Yorii, Yorii-machi, Osato-gun, Saitama 369-1203, Japan Open in Google Maps → |
|---|---|
| By train | 8 minutes’ walk from Yorii Station, or 4 minutes from Tamayodo Station. Three lines serve Yorii Station: the Tobu Tojo Line, the JR Hachiko Line and the Chichibu Railway Chichibu Main Line. |
| From Ikebukuro | About 90 minutes (Tobu Tojo Line: Ikebukuro to Ogawamachi about 70 min, then Ogawamachi to Yorii about 20 min) |
| From Kumagaya | About 25 minutes on the Chichibu Railway |
| By car | About 10 minutes from Hanazono IC on the Kan-Etsu Expressway, or 15 minutes from Yorii Smart IC. One free parking space is reserved for you, 30 seconds’ walk from the house, on the lot directly across the road. If you come in two or more cars, there is a car park two minutes’ walk away (6 spaces, free). |
FAQ
Reservation
This is the best rate we can offer. Check availability and book in the same place.
We are glad to answer questions or talk through dates by email. Please tell us the dates you have in mind, the number of guests (adults, and the ages of any children), and roughly when you expect to arrive.
Send us an emailDo get in touch any time, even during your stay. We post day-to-day things on Instagram too.
