Day 1

3:00 p.m. — Check-in
At check-in, we will share stories about the architecture and the renovation process led by New Material Research Laboratory—founded by artist Hiroshi Sugimoto and architect Tomoyuki Sakakida—as well as insights into Sugimoto’s art, the heritage of Tamba black soybeans, and the charm of the Tamba-Sasayama region. You’ll also receive tips on how to spend your time in our four distinctive guest rooms, each designated as a cultural property, and ideas for tomorrow’s itinerary.

3:30 p.m. — Welcome Sweets
Begin your stay with ohagi (sweet rice cakes) or an original dessert served with roasted black soybean tea, while gazing at the stone garden from the heritage tearoom adjoining Mameya.

4:00 p.m. — Optional Experience: Black Soybean Factory Tour & Roasted Tea Making (reservation required)
At Odagaki Shoten, a local merchant operating for over 150 years, observe the hand-sorting process of Tamba black soybeans—a daily craft passed down for generations. Learn why these beans are so large and precious, then try roasting them yourself. Feel the warmth of the beans, hear the gentle popping sound of their skins, and immerse yourself in the fragrant aroma filling the air.

6:00 p.m. — Dinner
We will drive you to the restaurant of your choice. Depending on the venue, special Mameya-exclusive courses or dishes using black soybeans may be served. Enjoy exquisite pairings with local sake or wine.

9:00 p.m. — Evening in the Lounge
After returning from dinner, unwind in the lounge with a drink in hand, watching the softly illuminated stone garden. Surrounded by the serene atmosphere of the historic merchant town and the quiet beauty of nightfall, spend a tranquil evening embraced by architectural elegance.

Day 2

7:30 a.m. — Zazen Meditation on the Noh Stage (reservation required)
Experience a morning zazen meditation on the Noh stage designed with a folding screen by Hiroshi Sugimoto. Guided by a local monk, focus your mind while facing the serene stone garden—an ideal way to awaken your senses before breakfast.

8:30 a.m. — Mameya’s Japanese Breakfast
Enjoy a traditional breakfast featuring simmered Tamba black soybeans, fish marinated in black soybean miso, and seasonal vegetables from the region, accompanied by black soybean coffee. Breakfast is served in the adjoining tearoom or the café Mamedo, where you can welcome the morning amid the crisp air and view of the stone garden.

10:00 a.m. — Visit the On-site Shop
The shop is housed in a late-Edo period building that once served as a sake brewery. Imagine its past as you browse through black soybean products, sweets, and local crafts, surrounded by traces of its history such as the old maid’s quarters and well.

11:00 a.m. — Check-out
As you depart with memories and local treasures in hand, we hope the spirit of mame—mindfulness and warmth—will continue to accompany you in your days ahead.

Located in Tamba-Sasayama, a town with deep ties to Noh theatre—where performances are held twice a year at the historic Kasuga Shrine Noh Stage—Mameya offers a special cultural experience. Just a short walk away, the Machiya district is home to a Noh Museum, preserving the region’s long-standing Noh traditions.

For this program, we invite Mr. Yoshiteru Ueda, a distinguished shite-kata performer of the Kanze School of Noh, to introduce the world of Noh through an intimate cultural experience. Guests will have the rare opportunity to see authentic Noh masks and costumes up close and try simple Noh movements under his guidance.

The experience takes place on a former reception room that now serves as a Noh stage, where a folding screen painted by Hiroshi Sugimoto stands. Here, guests may dress in precious historical costumes that have been carefully preserved since the period, and take commemorative photographs. In the adjacent Meiji-era kura (storehouse), Noh costumes will be on display, offering a chance to appreciate the layered histories of Noh and architecture together.

The evening culminates in a mesmerizing Noh performance by Mr. Ueda, set against the illuminated stone garden—a truly unforgettable sight.

After the experience, guests will enjoy Tamba-Sasayama’s traditional winter specialty, botan nabe (wild boar hotpot), at a 400-year-old long-established ryokan in the castle town. Breakfast will be served privately in either the tea house (a Registered Tangible Cultural Property) or the adjoining café “Mamedo,” featuring our signature Mameya Japanese breakfast.

We would be delighted to welcome you to Mameya, where history, culture, and art harmoniously intertwine for a profound encounter with the world of Noh.

Sample Schedule
15:00–16:00 Check-in
16:30–18:30 Noh Experience
18:30–20:00 Dinner

Rate: From ¥365,000 per night per room for two guests (tax and service charge included)

Limited-Time Plan: Savor the Flavors of Autumn with Japanese Matsutake

This exclusive seasonal plan offers a dinner lavishly featuring premium Japanese matsutake mushrooms. At a historic ryotei-ryokan with a 400-year legacy in the castle town, you will enjoy matsutake prepared in a variety of ways, including dobin-mushi (steamed in a clay teapot), grilled matsutake, and matsutake sushi. Relish the refined taste, deep fragrance, and crisp texture of this rare delicacy with all five senses.

Dinner Course (9 items)

• Steamed Tamba shrimp with matsutake

• Fried matsutake

• Matsutake dobin-mushi

• Matsutake sushi

• Savory egg custard (chawanmushi)

• Grilled matsutake

• Sukiyaki with local Sasayama beef and matsutake

• Matsutake rice

• Seasonal dessert

Breakfast
The following morning, breakfast will be served in our tea room overlooking the stone garden, featuring an array of local specialties. Dishes include grilled mackerel marinated in black soybean miso, Japanese rolled omelet made with local Tamba eggs, simmered black soybeans, freshly cooked Sasayama Koshihikari rice in an earthenware pot, miso soup with black soybean miso, and about a dozen other seasonal items.

Depending on the season, weather, and number of guests, breakfast may instead be served privately at our adjoining Café Mamedo. Menu items are subject to change depending on availability.

For children of lower elementary school age and preschoolers (when meals are requested), a children’s menu will be provided. Meals are not available for children under 2 years old.

Price
From JPY 275,200 per night per room for 2 guests (including tax and service charge).

This plan includes both dinner and breakfast.
Dinner is served at Auberge Seme, an Italian restaurant set in a renovated old townhouse with a view of Tamba-Sasayama’s fields and farms. Delight in dishes crafted with local wild game, mountain herbs, and wild plants.
A car ride to the restaurant will be provided.
Our breakfast, highlighting local ingredients, is served with a view of our elegant stone garden.
*The menu is subject to change depending on availability.

From ¥134,000 per night per room for 2 guests (tax and service charge included)

This plan includes both dinner and breakfast.
Dinner features a miso-based boar hot pot made with the highest quality boar loin meat, served at Kinmata, the traditional culinary inn where the dish originated. Enjoy this local mountain dish, long cherished in Tamba-Sasayama.
A car ride to the restaurant will be provided.
Our breakfast, highlighting local ingredients, is served with a view of our elegant stone garden.
*The menu is subject to change depending on availability.

From ¥134,000 per night per room for 2 guests (tax and service charge included)

This plan includes both dinner and breakfast.
Dinner is a Japanese kaiseki multi-course meal featuring fresh seafood and carefully selected seasonal ingredients from Tamba-Sasayama, served at Hogyoen, a fresh fish cuisine restaurant boasting over 50 years of history. Take your time savoring dishes made with daily-sourced fresh fish, local vegetables from Tamba-Sasayama, and locally grown koshihikari rice.
A car ride to the restaurant will be provided.
Our breakfast, highlighting local ingredients, is served with a view of our elegant stone garden.
*The menu is subject to change depending on availability.

From ¥134,000 per night per room for 2 guests (tax and service charge included)

This plan includes both dinner and breakfast.
Dinner is served at Tamagawaro, a traditional culinary inn with over 200 years of history, offering a refined and timeless atmosphere. Savor a course exclusively prepared for our guests featuring tempura, meat dishes, and more. Drinks, including alcoholic beverages, are also available for your enjoyment.
A car ride to the restaurant will be provided.
Our breakfast, highlighting local ingredients, is served with a view of our elegant stone garden.
*The menu is subject to change depending on availability.

From ¥134,000 per night per room for 2 guests (tax and service charge included)

We offer multiple-night plans for guests staying in Tanba Sasayama for two nights or more.
Enjoy the history of Tanba Sasayama and the architecture of the nationally registered tangible cultural property to your heart’s content with a relaxing stay.
You can choose from four restaurants for dinner (transportation included).
① Tamagawaro Ryokan (Closed on irregular days)
At this charming ryokan built about 200 years ago, we will prepare a course meal exclusively for guests using local ingredients including Sasayama beef. (Includes one toast drink. The meal consists of about eight dishes, including three kinds of sashimi, teppanyaki of Sasayama beef, teppanyaki of mountain yam, tempura, grilled wild boar salad, and rice in a pot.)
② Live Fish Restaurant Hougyoen (Closed on Mondays and Tuesdays)
At this live fish restaurant, which has been in business for over 50 years, you can enjoy a Japanese kaiseki course made with fresh seafood and carefully selected seasonal ingredients from Tanba Sasayama. (The meal consists of about 11 dishes, including sashimi, grilled buttonfish, red sea bream shabu-shabu hotpot, and eel chazuke.)
③ Italian Cuisine Auberge SEME (Closed on irregular days)
The meal is served at an Italian restaurant renovated from an old house, located in a place overlooking the fields of Sasayama. Enjoy each and every dish made with locally caught game, wild vegetables, and wild plants. (The course consists of about seven dishes, including appetizers, pasta, and a main course)
④ Kinmata, Tanba Sasayama (Closed on irregular days)
At this inn, where boar hotpot originated, you will enjoy the finest wild boar loin meat in a miso-flavored hotpot. Enjoy the local Satoyama cuisine that has long been popular here in Tanba Sasayama. (The course includes appetizers, boar meat and vegetable peony hotpot, etc.)
The next morning, you will enjoy a breakfast made with plenty of local ingredients in the tea room attached to the inn, while looking out at the rock garden. (The course consists of about 12 dishes, including mackerel marinated in black bean miso, rolled omelet made with Tanba eggs, boiled Tanba black beans, rice cooked in a clay pot with Tanba Sasayama koshihikari rice, and miso soup with black bean miso)
*The course may be subject to change due to procurement circumstances, etc. *Depending on the season, weather, and number of guests, breakfast may be served exclusively at our attached cafe “Mamedo.”
*This rate is offered at a 10% discount off the 1 night, 2 meals plan.
*There is no cleaning between the 1st and 2nd night.

From ¥114,600 per night per room for 2 guests (tax and service charge included)