A Wing Built Around Its Upper Hall
The middle wing joins onto the west end of the building the inn calls the Fifty, forming part of the continuous run of structures at Hanaya Hotel. It measures ten ken along the front and five ken deep, a two-storey timber building under a gabled roof of unglazed pantiles.
It dates to around 1920, in the later Taisho years when the inn was extending across its hillside plot in Bessho Onsen. Hanaya had opened in 1917, built by a hot-spring company that local residents had formed the year before, and wings like this one added guest capacity as demand grew.
The ground floor holds guest rooms of various sizes. The second floor is given over to a single generous hall, and that hall is the reason the wing stands out.
A Ceiling Worth the Listing
Added to the register in 2006 as a structure contributing to the historic landscape, the middle wing is valued above all for the quality of its upper room. The ceiling there combines two treatments that are usually kept apart.
Part of it is coffered, a grid of raised timber ribs framing recessed panels, the formal ceiling type reserved for important rooms. Part of it is a flat mirror ceiling, a single broad expanse of smooth boarding. Setting the two side by side lifts the hall above an ordinary banquet space.
Both gable ends are sealed in plaster, a finish that gives the fairly large building a clean, solid outline. The result is a wing that reads as substantial from outside and lavish within.
What to Look For
Climb to the upper hall and look up first. Trace where the coffered grid gives way to the smooth mirror panel; the join is the point the craftsmen wanted you to notice.
From the grounds, the plastered gable ends are the easiest identifying mark. Compared with the open eaves of the walkways and smaller huts, these sealed white ends signal a more formal building.
The wing is part of a working ryokan and connects directly to neighbouring buildings, so it is best experienced as a guest moving through the linked interiors rather than viewed as a standalone structure.
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Q&A
- What makes the upper hall special?
- Its ceiling combines a coffered grid, normally reserved for formal rooms, with a flat mirror ceiling, two treatments rarely placed side by side.
- When was it built?
- Around 1920, in the later Taisho period, as Hanaya expanded across its grounds.
- What are the white gable ends?
- Both gable ends are sealed in plaster, a finish that gives the sizeable building a clean, solid outline and marks it as a formal wing.
- How is it connected?
- It joins onto the west end of the neighbouring Fifty Building, part of Hanaya's continuous run of linked structures.
Basic Information
| Name | Hanaya Hotel Middle Wing |
|---|---|
| Location | 169 Bessho Onsen, Ueda, Nagano Prefecture |
| Category / Listing | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Structure), listed 18 October 2006 |
| Registration No. | 20-0290 |
| Count | One structure |
| Structure | Two-storey timber, gabled pantile roof, plastered gable ends; footprint approx. 296 sq m |
| Period | About Taisho 9 (c. 1920) |
| Owner | Hanaya Hotel Co., Ltd. |
| Access | About 5 minutes on foot from Bessho Onsen Station (Ueda Electric Railway) |
| Note | Within a working ryokan; connected to adjoining wings |
References
- 国指定文化財等データベース — 花屋ホテル（管理対象ID 00005874）
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00005874
- 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