Japan
Chugoku and Shikoku
The Seto Inland Sea is a calm water of small islands between Honshu and Shikoku, with art islands such as Naoshima, old ports, the canal town of Kurashiki and the shrine of Miyajima off Hiroshima.
Our places are spread out and each is a reason to go: Benesse House, a museum with rooms on Naoshima; Azumi Setoda, in a merchant's house on an island on the Shimanami Kaido; Sekitei, across the strait from Miyajima; and further west, Bettei Otozure at Nagato Yumoto Onsen. We know 9 places to stay here, 5 of them ryokans. At Bettei Otozure and Simose Art Garden Villa, every room has its own hot-spring bath.
How to choose
For art
Benesse House: rooms in Tadao Ando's museum on Naoshima, its art on the walls
For an island ryokan
Azumi Setoda: an 1876 merchant estate on Ikuchijima, with its bathhouse across the street
For Miyajima, with children
Sekitei: kaiseki in your room, across the strait from Miyajima, and pre-school children stay free
For a hot spring of your own
Bettei Otozure: a free-flowing open-air spring bath in every room, for guests 13 and over
In Kurashiki's old quarter
Ryokan Kurashiki: a sugar merchant's house and storehouses on the canal
When to go
Spring and autumn are the best seasons, with calm seas and mild days; the rainy season comes in June and early July, August is hot, and some ferries and museums keep shorter hours in winter.
How long
Three to five nights, between Kyoto and Kyushu.
Getting there
The Sanyo Shinkansen reaches Okayama from Tokyo in about 3 hours 15 minutes and Hiroshima in about four hours, and Okayama from Shin-Osaka in about 45 minutes; the ferry from Uno to Naoshima takes about 20 minutes. Hiroshima airport is about an hour by car from Setoda, and Matsuyama airport about 30 minutes from Setouchi Retreat Aonagi.
Ready to stay here?
Tell us where and when. Our team in Japan books the room we would choose, at the inn’s own rate, settles your requests with the inn, and stays in touch before and during your stay. Price and cancellation terms are confirmed with you first.
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Have it reviewed for USD 85Ryokans and hotels
Naoshima
HotelBenesse House
ベネッセハウス
Rooms in Tadao Ando's museum, its art on the walls
Miyahama Onsen, Hatsukaichi
RyokanSekitei
庭園の宿 石亭
Garden pavilions on a pond, looking across to Miyajima
Setoda, Onomichi
RyokanAzumi Setoda
The Horiuchi merchants' 1876 estate, bathhouse opposite
Nagato Yumoto Onsen
RyokanBettei Otozure
別邸 音信
Walnut and tatami rooms, each bath a different shape
Naoshima
RyokanNaoshima Ryokan Roka
直島旅館 ろ霞
Eleven suites with open-air baths, art in the Naoshima hills
Yanaidani, Matsuyama
HotelSetouchi Retreat Aonagi by Onko Chishin
瀬戸内リトリート 青凪 by 温故知新
Seven suites in a Tadao Ando building over the Inland Sea
Harumi, Otake
AubergeSimose Art Garden Villa
SIMOSE ART GARDEN VILLA
Ten Shigeru Ban villas facing Miyajima across the sea
Bikan Historical Quarter, Kurashiki
RyokanRyokan Kurashiki
旅館くらしき
An Edo sugar merchant's house and storehouses on the canal
Higashimachi, Kurashiki
AubergeYoruya
撚る屋
A 16-seat counter in a Meiji kimono merchant's annex
Sample trips through Chugoku and Shikoku
Routes we have drawn up that stay in Chugoku and Shikoku: starting points for a trip we build around your dates and pace.
13 nights · Autumn
Two weeks in autumn: Tokyo, Nikko, Kyoto and the Inland Sea
A route that follows the autumn leaves south and west: a garden hotel in Tokyo, the Spacia X to the shrines of Nikko, then Kyoto by Nanzen-ji and Arashiyama, a restaurant inn in Kurashiki and Shigeru Ban's villas on the Inland Sea facing Miyajima.
9 nights · Spring
The Inland Sea in spring: art islands, Guntû and Miyajima
A trip across the Seto Inland Sea, from the art museums of Naoshima to an island on the Shimanami Kaido and three nights at sea on Guntû.
9 nights · Spring or autumn
The Inland Sea by train and ferry: Sasayama, Kurashiki, Naoshima and Matsuyama
From Kyoto west through the castle town of Sasayama and the canal quarter of Kurashiki to the art island of Naoshima, then across to Matsuyama in Shikoku.
Collections for Chugoku and Shikoku
Elsewhere in Japan
Q&A
Benesse House, by Tadao Ando, has rooms inside and beside the museum, with free entry to it until 23:00. Naoshima Ryokan Roka, in the hills near Honmura, has an open-air bath in every suite and takes guests 12 and over.
Three to five, moving every night or two: Naoshima, Setoda on the Shimanami Kaido and Miyajima are each a day apart. Kurashiki, at Ryokan Kurashiki or Yoruya, fits a night between Okayama and the islands.
Sekitei welcomes children and lets pre-school children stay free, Azumi Setoda welcomes families, and Benesse House takes any age in Park and the Beach Suites. Naoshima Ryokan Roka, Yoruya and Bettei Otozure take no young children.
At Azumi Setoda small one-point tattoos are fine at the yubune bathhouse, and at Setouchi Retreat Aonagi guests with tattoos may use the pools. Many of our places here, among them Naoshima Ryokan Roka and Simose Art Garden Villa, have no shared baths.