Hannyaji-cho, Nara星のや奈良監獄
Hoshinoya Nara Prison
HOSHINOYA Nara Prison is a 48-suite hotel in the former Nara Prison, completed in 1908 to designs by Keijiro Yamashita, the only one of the five great Meiji prisons that survives whole, on the northern edge of Nara. Each suite joins nine to eleven of the old five-square-metre cells, with hand-laid brick walls, vaulted ceilings about 3.5 m high and the old high windows, and the prison's third wing is a museum open to the public.
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About the property
- Rooms
- 48
- Dinner
- Private dining room
- Recognition
- National Geographic Best of the World 2026, 20 best new hotels; ELLE DECO International Design Awards (EDIDA) 2027, Japanese Social Design Project award
- Owned by
- The building belongs to the Ministry of Justice; Hoshino Resorts won the public tender to run it in 2019
Rooms and suites
The 9-Cell
Nine cells joined into a suite with bedroom, living room, dining area and bathroom · Hollywood twin beds.
The 10-Cell
Ten cells · exposed brick, vaulted ceiling, steel seismic columns and wood panelling.
The 11-Cell Deluxe
The largest, of eleven cells, with a large living area and a dressing lounge.
Dining and wellness
Gastronomy Chronicle: the course served on a clock face
A dish of Gastronomy Chronicle
A semi-private dining room in the former prison
Japanese breakfast
- Dining
- Japanese-French restaurant · separate building · breakfast and dinner
- Dining Lounge
- aperitif and late bar
- Main Lounge
- lounge · tea salon daily 3pm–4.30pm
- Nara Prison Museum café
- museum café
- Wellness
- No spa or baths; a morning exercise class with Yoshino cedar dumbbells.
Where it is
- Kintetsu Nara station
- 6 min by taxi
- JR Nara station
- 10 min by taxi
- Kyoto station
- 40 min by train
- Osaka Itami Airport
- 1 h by car
- Kansai International Airport
- 1 h 30 by car
Q&A
Tell us your dates and our team in Japan books it for you, at the hotel’s own rate. We ask for the room we would choose and look after everything else with the hotel on your behalf: your preferences and requests, any special arrangement, from a celebration to a car from the station, and whatever you need before and during your stay. The price and cancellation terms are confirmed with you first.
Osaka Itami, about 1 hour by car; Kansai International, about 1 hour 30 minutes by car.
