Fukui’s Echizen: A Land Shaped by the Sea

Facing the Sea of Japan, Fukui’s Echizen has long lived in harmony with the sea. Until the year 1190, it provided seafood directly to the imperial court, and the underwater treasures guarded by its rugged waves remain a source of local pride to this day.

Fukui’s Echizen is also home to over a millennium of craftsmanship, including Echizen pottery and Echizen washi paper. It’s a land where nature and culture have walked side by side for centuries. The sea and mountains, the skills of artisans, the rhythms of daily life: all of these contribute to the unique nature of the land. Each encounter with Fukui traditions brings you closer to a regional culture cultivated for generations.

Savoring and Relaxing in Fukui

Fukui’s cuisine and its scenery change with the seasons, revealing new facets of the prefecture throughout the year. All it takes is one visit to become a lifelong fan of this corner of Japan.

Made up of just five rooms, the inn is a relaxing showcase of artisanal craftsmanship. Another highlight of Yamazaki is its cuisine, which highlights the bounty of Fukui that has long captivated travelers. The inn’s warm, heartfelt hospitality creates an experience that is both intimate and deeply rooted in local tradition.

A Stay with a Sense of Place

Breathe, Relax, and Enjoy Calming Garden and Seaside Views

Upon entry, you’ll find yourself in a spacious lobby with exposed wooden beams radiating a quiet, refined elegance. The faint scent of wood lingers in the air, creating a uniquely calming atmosphere of a traditional Japanese house. After checking in, you’ll have plenty of time to take it all in.

The tides of time carved into Yamazaki’s beams and fittings tell the story of a cherished and well-maintained home. In the garden, transplanted pines and crape myrtles have made the greenspace their own nurtured by the sea breeze passing through and adding to the tranquility of the inn.

The sea right before the inn shifts with the seasons, from clear Echizen Blue in summer to calm, white-crested waves in the winter. Enjoy the seaside view from the veranda or stroll straight from the garden to the shore. In this gentle traditional-house setting, your time is yours. Use it to craft your own world of relaxation and connection with Fukui’s Echizen.

Shion: Combining Traditional Japanese Charm with the Comforts of a Bed

The Wabunka plan offers the first-floor Shion room: a calm, Japanese-style accommodation with comfortable beds and a private hot-spring bath where sea breezes join in to create a space of complete relaxation. (Please note that this room has no seaside view.) If Shion is fully booked, you will be welcomed to Kyara, another Japanese–Western room with as much to offer.

Whichever room you choose, you’ll find yourself surrounded by understated elegance paired with contemporary comforts. The room’s tatami straw mats have been left in place and are complemented by the presence of a bed, ushering guests into a world of quiet luxury.

Shion

During your stay, you’ll be wrapped up in the calming tranquility of a soothing space where time flows more slowly. The Shion is especially popular with guests seeking to relax both their mind and body in home-like comfort. Dinner is served in-room, combining local flavors with privacy to create the height of leisure and luxury.

Kyara

Kyara's modern beds guarantee a good night’s sleep in a refined atmosphere that preserves the authentic spirit of a traditional Japanese house. Dinner is served on the first floor at the spacious Rikyu restaurant where you can savor each course while taking in panoramic views of the Echizen coast. Although Kyara doesn’t overlook the sea, it does offer tranquil mountain scenery.

Enjoy the Silky-Smooth, Healing Waters of the Echizen Kuriya Onsen

Beyond its cuisine and calm ambience, Yamazaki is known for its silk-like hot-spring waters. A thorough soak in the Echizen Onsen is said to warm the body down to the core, leaving the bathers in a state of total relaxation.

Step into the large communal bath and behold the vast horizon of Fukui’s sea and sky unfold before your very eyes. Stretch out, look across the waters beyond, and feel the fatigue from your travels slowly melt away. As the sun sinks into the ocean, bathers are treated to a majestic show of the sky’s amazing changing of colors from the comfort of healing hot-spring waters. Guests can use the onsen as many times as they like 24 hours a day.

Moments at the Table

The Flavors of Fukui: A Tapestry of Local Sake and Fine Cuisine

The guiding principle of Yamazaki is to let the quality of every ingredient speak for itself. This is aided by the inn’s location in Echizen, one of the most productive port areas on the Sea of Japan side of the country. Here, a wide range of traditional fishing methods, from fixed-net to trawling, squid fishing, and more, bring in an abundance of seafood all year round. Every morning the proprietor of Yamazaki personally visits the seafood market, selecting only the day’s best catch to bring back for their guests.

Dinner at the inn showcases this fresh bounty of the Sea of Japan, which is prepared to perfection and becomes a feast for the eyes as well as the palate. From Echizen crab, the area’s signature winter dish, to squid, monkfish, and a variety of other seafood available year-round, the menu reflects the freshness and richness of Fukui cuisine.

A sake-pairing experience available exclusively through Wabunka enhances the dining experience. Three carefully selected varieties of sake from Echizen breweries are served alongside appetizers that echo the aroma and rich flavors of its pairing. You will choose your own dinnerware from a selection of Echizen pottery cups and plates, connecting you to the region’s traditional craftsmanship.

The dinner also invites the proprietor of Yamazaki to the table, who will share the inn’s story, talk about the culture of the region, and give insights about the area’s sake-making traditions. Through this, the food and drink before you will transform from mere fare into expressions of Fukui’s soul.

* Non-alcoholic pairings are available for guests who do not drink.

* A staff member will provide guidance when necessary.

Dinner

Dinner is served in your room and showcases the bounty of the Sea of Japan. Seasonal menus feature the best of Fukui, from snow crab in winter to tilefish in spring, abalone and squid in summer, and trawl-caught fish in autumn. Through Yamazaki’s 8 – 10 dinner dishes, including sashimi as well as grilled and fried selections, you’ll be able to savor the seasons of Fukui at your leisure.

Breakfast

Breakfast is served at the inn’s on-site restaurant Rikyu and features a Japanese menu centered on fresh seafood. Inspired by a fisherman’s morning meal, it highlights dishes unique to a port town, including a hearty monkfish hotpot, depending on the season. A meal at Rikyu is an excellent start to the day that brings the full richness of Fukui’s coast to the table.

Deepen Your Connection to the Region

Savoring and Relaxing in Fukui

For a special glimpse into the culture and natural beauty of this secluded region of Izu, Wabunka offers an exclusive tour by private car to guests at Fuji Seiran as an additional option. Your tour begins with a trip through the picturesque region around Shuzenji with its famed wasabi farms and surrounding peaks of the Amagi Mountain Range. You will then visit Osezaki Kamike Pond on a tiny promontory at the northwestern tip of the Izu peninsula with a shrine and torii gate as well as vistas of Mount Fuji.

Your tour will conclude with a drive along the sandspit that shelters the bay in front of Fuji Seiran. As you pass by rows of Japanese black pine trees, gaze over at Fuji Seiran to appreciate its uniquely attractive modern architecture. At the end of the sandspit is Moroguchi Shrine and its striking orange torii gate. 

In the relaxed atmosphere of a restored country home, enjoying Fukui’s seafood, local sake, hot springs, and traditions makes one forget about the troubles of everyday life. When you need to slow down, consider a stay at Culinary Ryokan Yamazaki for a restorative escape into a world of tranquility.