NIPPONIA Sasayama Castle Town Hotel is actually a group of historic buildings spread across the town of Sasayama. Among these are certain famous structures such as the Sawashiro Building , which was a Meiji-era private residence before becoming a teahouse and has finally become a unique accommodation. Other important structures include the Syouzi-An guesthouse and Sion guestrooms. More teahouses and even a historic residence of a bank manager have been integrated into the hotel, and some of the structures date back to the Edo and Showa periods. The 100-year-old Onae building hosts the property's restaurant.

Design and Architecture

The hotel's mission is to rejuvenate historic buildings while keeping the history entirely intact, and thus, you'll find many unique aspects of Japanese design at its various buildings. The Sawashiro Building has vaulted earthen floors and original wood beams, while Syouzi-An guesthouse is bound by shoji screens on three sides, and the translucent washi screens lend the sunlight an enchanting hue. The Sion guestrooms are intent on bringing in the castle-like aesthetics, and you're sure to love its beautiful veranda that looks out over the garden.

Decorative features include wooden latticework and wood or charcoal stoves (called kamado). Floors are decked out with tatami mats, and chabudai and tatami chairs are provided for an authentic feel. The restaurant also embraces these aesthetics and is defined by its mushiko-mado (plastered lattice windows) and latticed doors. The gardens spread throughout the property embody traditional Japanese style, especially with their ishidoros (stone lanterns). Some of the structures are entirely crafted out of wood!

Le Un Restaurant

The on-site restaurant is situated in a historic building and is furnished with Western-style dining amenities. The restaurant faces a garden, delighting guests with a beautiful view. The eatery serves French cuisine built heavily upon local ingredients such as matsutake mushrooms, wild boar meat, Tamba beef, black soybeans and chestnuts, and mountain potatoes. The restaurant thus embraces the idea of Terroir Enature.

The restaurant is led by Ishii Noriyuki, who previously worked at La Grande Maison, Switzerland, and has revolutionised Kansai French cuisine after returning to Japan.

The restaurant offers a special proposal package inclusive of the chef's special course, champagne, 12 red roses with the proposal message, services of a proposal planner, and a message plate. If you're entertaining a group here, you have the option of booking a semi-private room that is spacious enough for 5 - 12 guests. For groups of more than 9 guests, make sure to book with the hotel directly over the phone. Reservations aren't required, but are recommended.

Lunch

Three kinds of meals are served for lunch (with optional add-ons), mainly differing in the main dish. All the meals include the appetizer: eggs poached with cherry eggs, sea bream, jambon cru, and salad plantain; the soup: potage of baron potatoes fermented with rice koji, with firefly squid ajillo; dessert: plandamand and strawberry with jasmine aroma; and an after-meal drink. On top of these, the four-course option offers a choice between grilled fresh fish, bamboo shoots barigoule, and a seaweed preparation, or a lightly stewed pork shoulder with mountain vegetables. The five-course option is inclusive of the aforementioned seafood dish and allows you to choose between pork shoulder lightly stewed in balsamic vinegar and mountain vegetables, or sautéed Angus beef with seasonal vegetables and whole grain mustard sauce. Add-ons include sparkling wine and a cake (on which you can put a message!)

Serving hours: 12 pm - 3 pm

Dinner

Dinner has almost similar dishes to lunch, and differs mainly in the number of dishes. The dinner half-course comes with all 5 dishes and an additional amuse-bouche. The 6-course dinner will have both the fish and meat dishes (grilled Tajima beef, assortment of seasonal vegetables), while the luxurious 7-course option will have an additional rice dish (Tanba deer bokkake dashi ochazuke) along with the fish and meat dishes (Tajima beef fillet steak and local vegetables with sauce Périgueux). A children's menu is available as well.

Serving hours: 5:30 pm - 10 pm

The property offers the perfect setting for your wedding with its historic Onae building, where the party venue is located. The banquet can be held in the restaurant area, which still has its Shinto altar and retro glass doors intact, and of course, the meals will have the same grandeur as described before. Detailed consultations are available to plan every detail of your wedding!

Couples have the option of organizing a Shinto ceremony or a public wedding ceremony. The Shinto ceremony is usually performed at shrines, and the property will provide shrine suggestions with proven track records. A highlight of such a program is the bridal procession. The public wedding ceremony is celebrated at the hotel and will have a great degree of freedom as to how the ceremony can be conducted. You can also get married in the Oshoin Palace inside Sasayama Castle, and the ceremony will be a ' shukugen' (the traditional Japanese marriage ceremony). The groom will be adorned in a crested kimono, and armor can be provided by the castle to take it up a notch.

As for the banquet, a maximum of 42 guests can dine at the on-site restaurant, which can be decorated according to your wishes. The entire mansion can be rented out for a more exclusive feel.

Several wedding packages are available here. A Western-style wedding with up to 10 guests can be organized for a fee of 605,000 JPY (4,014 USD), while a Japanese-style wedding can be organized for 726,000 JPY (4,817 USD). Additional guests can be added at a charge of 19,800 JPY (131 USD) per person. The package will include a banquet with a full 5-course French meal, welcome drinks, toast, free party drinks, a wedding dress and a tuxedo or a white wedding kimono, or a colored wedding kimono, and crested hakama. Makeup services are included as well, as is access to the reception hall, a waiting room for the bride and groom, a waiting room for relatives of both families, and a changing room.

For organizing a wedding at Sasayama Castle, the price tag is 1,331,130 JPY (8,832 USD) for 10 people and 1,989,784 JPY (13,202 USD) for 30 people. The package will have some additional inclusions over the basic wedding package, such as a photography session, wedding favors, table decorations (main and guests), a bouquet and a boutonniere, and facilities for the after party that includes sound and lighting costs, a presenter, an original cloth projector and a screen.

Photo weddings (photography sessions in wedding attire) are also available. For Western-style weddings, the price is pegged at 440,000 JPY (2,919 USD), while for Japanese-style weddings, it's 539,000 JPY (3,576 USD). Hair and makeup services and a family dinner are included, and wedding attire is provided as well. Wedding fairs are also organized, but make sure to check with the property for updated schedules!

Cultural Experiences

The property offers several curated experiences, including a guided bicycle tour that lasts two to three hours. The tour can be customised to include your preferred temples and landmarks. Guests can also participate in popular local festivals such as Dekansho Festival in which guests can make a unique hand towel, visit the Dekansho museum, take part in the local festival dance, and end the day with fireworks! There's also the Kasuga Shrine Autumn Festival, which has a history of 350 years and is designated as an Intangible Folk Cultural Asset of Tamba-Sasayama. The festival mainly revolves around a parade composed of colorful floats and portable shrines that make their way through the streets of Tamba-Sasayama.