35°00′N 135°46′E · 62 M
Machiya on Ishibe-koji
A 1920s merchant house, restored down to the door pulls.
Tour coming soon
We film each house room by room. Machiya on Ishibe-koji is in the schedule — until then, the photographs are all honest.
On the stone lane
Ishibe-koji is closed to cars. What you hear at night is the gravel, and occasionally geta.
A real tsuboniwa
The interior courtyard is four metres square and does all the work — light, air, and the sound of rain.
Hinoki bath
Cypress, deep enough to sit upright in, refilled fresh each evening.
Built in 1924 for a textile merchant, this machiya kept its bones through a century and two bad renovations before Aiko took it apart and put it back correctly. The ceiling beams are original. The tatami is replaced every three years. The brass door pulls were cast from the two that survived.
It is a narrow house — about four metres wide and twenty deep, in the classic 'eel's bed' proportion — organised around a tiny interior garden that turns out to be the whole point. In the afternoon the courtyard throws light down the full length of the house.
Gion is a six-minute walk. Kiyomizu-dera is eleven. But the best thing to do here is stay in and listen to it rain.
Where you’ll sleep
What’s here
- Hinoki soaking tub
- Interior courtyard
- Tatami rooms
- Floor heating
- Fast wifi
- Kitchen
- Washer
- Green tea service
- Futon bedding
- Bicycle for two
Aiko Mori
Trusted hostRestoration architect · hosting since 2018
“My grandmother lived in a machiya two streets from here. I restore them so that they keep being houses rather than becoming museums.”
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4.94
· 168 reviews
- Accuracy
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- 4.9
- Cleanliness
- 5.0
- Location
- 5.0
- Value
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Reviews on Lumen are fictional, written for this concept.
House rules
- Shoes off at the genkan
- Check-in after 4:00 PM
- No smoking anywhere on the property
- Maximum 4 guests
- Please be quiet on the lane after 9:00 PM