A Walk to the Bath
This covered walkway extends west from the office wing and leads to the large bath, a passage eighteen metres long and one and eight-tenths metres wide. It is a timber structure with a gabled roof, finished in sheet iron.
At Hanaya the route to the bath is not an interior corridor but a covered walk through the open air. The buildings stand apart across the grounds in Bessho Onsen, and passages like this one carry guests between them, garden on either hand.
The Agency for Cultural Affairs dates the walkway to the early Showa period. Its role is simple, but it is built with enough care to earn a place on the national register in its own right.
Open Sides, Chosen Timber
Listed in 2006 as a structure contributing to the historic landscape, the walkway shows the sukiya sensibility applied to a working passage. The choice of timber is the first thing to note.
The posts are menkawa-bashira, columns that keep a strip of the log's original bark-edged surface rather than being squared off, prized in tea architecture for their natural character. The purlins are left as round logs, and a single line of struts down the centre carries the ridge above.
The sides are left open, a fukihanachi treatment that lets the garden pass straight through. Spare and settled, the walkway reads as a quiet, deliberately understated part of the garden scene.
What to Look For
Look at the posts. Where a plain column would be squared, these keep a rounded, bark-edged face, so no two are quite alike. That natural irregularity is the point, a tea-house taste carried into a garden passage.
With the sides left open, the walk offers an uninterrupted line into the garden as you move toward the bath. Notice how the single central row of struts keeps the structure light while carrying the ridge.
This is a walkway guests use on the way to bathe, so it is experienced in passing during a stay. Taken slowly, it turns a short walk into a measured transition from room to water.
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Q&A
- What are menkawa-bashira posts?
- They are columns that keep a strip of the log's bark-edged surface rather than being squared off, prized in tea architecture for their natural character.
- Why are the sides open?
- The open-sided fukihanachi treatment lets the garden pass straight through, tying the walkway into the garden scene.
- Where does it lead?
- From the office wing west to the large bath, a passage about 18 metres long and 1.8 metres wide.
- When was it built?
- In the early Showa period, and it is listed as a structure contributing to the historic landscape.
Basic Information
| Name | Hanaya Hotel South Covered Walkway |
|---|---|
| Location | 169 Bessho Onsen, Ueda, Nagano Prefecture |
| Category / Listing | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Structure), listed 18 October 2006 |
| Registration No. | 20-0285 |
| Count | One structure |
| Structure | Timber, gabled sheet-iron roof, open sides; approx. 18 m long, 1.8 m wide; footprint approx. 32 sq m |
| Period | Early Showa period |
| Owner | Hanaya Hotel Co., Ltd. |
| Access | About 5 minutes on foot from Bessho Onsen Station (Ueda Electric Railway) |
| Note | Connecting walkway to the bath within a working ryokan |
References
- 国指定文化財等データベース — 花屋ホテル（管理対象ID 00005867）
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00005867
- 別所温泉旅館組合 — 別所温泉観光案内
- https://www.bessho-spa.jp/
- 旅館花屋 公式サイト — 館内・沿革のご案内
- https://www.hanaya.ne.jp/
Last verified: 2026.07.03