Beniya Mukayu
べにや無何有
Area photo — not the ryokan itself · Sōyu public bath, Yamashiro Onsen · 掬茶 / CC BY-SA 4.0
A calm, design-led ryokan with an onsen on every terrace and a kitchen that wins Japanese critics over — the layout is where it stumbles
Japanese accounts of Beniya Mukayu agree on what makes it special: rooms named after traditional Japanese colours, each with its own open-air bath of source-fed hot-spring water looking onto a mountain garden built around a red pine said to be over 300 years old, and Kaga kaiseki that reviewers call outstanding — one guest singled out charcoal-grilled nodoguro (blackthroat seaperch) with seven vegetables, hairy crab in amber jelly and a Noto beef hot pot. The inn leans into craft and wellness: yukata and slippers designed with textile artist Kozue Hibino, its own 'Yakushiyama' toiletries developed with a University of Tokyo chemist, a library, a spa offering shiatsu and oil treatments, and apple juice on arrival. The criticism is consistent and practical rather than about quality. Scores split by site — 一休 shows 4.77 from 30 reviews, while on 4travel 37 reviews average 3.45 out of 5 — with complaints about stairs just inside room doors, having to step outside the main building to reach some rooms (cold in winter), a very narrow lift, cramped washrooms, and fixed bamboo blinds around the private bath that block the garden view you came for. A few reviewers also found some older staff too chatty, and three 2026 reviews wished the dining room were private: tables are in an open room, close enough to hear neighbours. Book it for the food, the baths and the quiet; ask about stairs and room access if mobility matters.
Latest updates
What newer Japanese stay reports, posts and official notices have added since this review was written
Re-checked against the official site, 一休 and 2025–2026 reviews: the inn holds one Michelin Key for a third year (2026), closed for renovation in summer 2025 and 2026, and does not take children under elementary-school age. The official site says the western-style rooms have 18 entrance steps, and three 2026 reviews wish the open dining room offered private seating.
Room Selection Guide
What the guests who stayed here actually recommendRecommended
Western-style rooms with open-air bath (e.g. Kihada, 60㎡)
Spacious split-level rooms with large windows onto the mountain garden and a water station for coffee and tea — but note the climb: the official site says there are 18 steps at the entrance, and a January 2026 guest counted 8 + 7 steps inside the door. The open-air bath is source-fed and fits two comfortably. A 2021 guest paid ¥91,960 for two with meals, using a booking-site member benefit.
Japanese-Western rooms with open-air bath
A June 2021 guest on the third floor found the private bath, overlooking the garden, '気持ちいい' (simply wonderful), and rated the facilities, service and food all highly; some rooms also have a moon-viewing terrace.
Request To Avoid
Rooms reached by going outside, or with stairs inside the door
Reviewers mention steps just inside the room door and, for some rooms, having to leave the main building and walk outside — uncomfortable in cold weather and hard for anyone with limited mobility. Ask about access when booking.
Rooms booked for the garden view from the bath
One guest found the bamboo blinds around the open-air bath were fixed, so the garden view from the tub was more limited than hoped.
Know which room you want?
Check live rates and availability for Beniya Mukayu.
We may earn a commission if you book through these links, at no extra cost to you. Affiliate disclosure
Dining Deep Dive
Breakfast Consensus
4.3/5Served in the dining room: a fresh leafy-green juice, Ishikawa Koshihikari rice and a spread of small dishes
Yukata are fine in the public areas but pyjamas are not, so change before heading down to breakfast.
Dinner Insights
4.7/5Kaga kaiseki served in the inn's dining room, Hourin. A June 2021 dinner ran from local Kaga vegetables with yuzu and hairy crab in amber jelly to charcoal-grilled nodoguro with seven vegetables — the guest's standout — then a Noto beef and mozuku hot pot, fresh ginger rice and a salt gelato in a crisp wafer, paired with Kokuryū sake. Reviewers repeatedly praise the quality of ingredients and the cooking as unusually high even by ryokan standards. Breakfast can be Japanese or Western. The one recurring 2026 complaint is the setting rather than the food: dinner is served in an open dining room, and three reviews (February and August 2026) wished for private or semi-private seating because neighbouring conversations carry.
Onsen & Wellness Realities
Source-fed Yamashiro hot-spring water from the inn's own source, piped to the private open-air bath in each room; the inn calls it a 'skin-beautifying' spring. There is also a shared open-air bath.
Every room has its own open-air bath, so private bathing is the default; water temperature is adjusted by calling the front desk. Bamboo blinds give privacy but, in one guest's room, couldn't be moved to open up the garden view. Guests who used the shared bath found it quiet.
Not addressed in any source we read. Since the rooms have their own open-air onsen baths, you can bathe privately without using the shared bath.
Local Warnings & Nuances
- 01
The inn stands in the foothills of Yakushiyama, the site historically linked to the Yakuō-in Onsenji temple, and its garden centres on a red pine said to be over 300 years old.
- 02
Free pickup from JR Kaga Onsen Station runs 14:20–18:00 and must be booked. Check-in is 15:00, check-out 11:00. Children must be elementary-school age or older (ages 7–12 have a special rate; 13 and up pay adult rates), groups of seven or more are not accepted, and cancellation charges start at 20% from 21 days before arrival.
- 03
Practical niggles from reviewers: a very narrow lift, cramped washrooms and showers, a single washbasin in some rooms, and a mattress one guest found only so-so.
- 04
The inn's own Yakushiyama skincare and bath products are sold on site (prices were raised in June 2025 and now run from about ¥1,430 for a 50ml shampoo to ¥13,200 for a 250ml emulsion), and there's a Kutani porcelain shop — lovely, but easy to spend more than planned.
- 05
Awards: the inn received the Relais & Châteaux Welcome Trophy in 2013 and has held one Michelin Key in every selection since 2024 (the 2026 selection was announced on its site on 30 September 2026). It closes for about a month each summer for renovation — 23 June to 24 July in 2025 (including a lobby rebuild) and 29 June to 24 July in 2026 — so check dates if you plan a midsummer stay.
Before your stay
Souvenirs from Kaga Onsen and practical help for your trip.
Kaga Onsen souvenirs on Rakuten
Rakuten prices as of Oct 21, 2026 — check the shop for current price and stock. Supported by Rakuten Developers Rakuten links are affiliate links: we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
Sources
The real blog posts and stay reports this article draws on
- べにや無何有 宿泊記 (4travel.jp, by YOU)
- 【石川県】加賀山代温泉 べにや無何有（むかゆう）宿泊記① お部屋編 (おいしいもんが好き！)
- 心を空にするお宿『べにや無何有』（むかゆう）宿泊記 (TRIP NEW JAPAN)
- べにや無何有 クチコミ一覧 (フォートラベル)
- ミッシェラン認定の隠れ家的な温泉旅館 (4travel クチコミ, 2026-01)
- 2025.1石川ぐるめ旅（宿編！べにや無何有・和室） (Ameba, 2025-01)
- べにや無何有 クチコミ・評判 (一休.com)
- 3年連続1ミシュランキー獲得 (べにや無何有公式, 2026-09-30)
- 客室 (べにや無何有公式)
Featured in our guides
Side-by-side comparisons that include this ryokan.
Best ryokan in Kaga Onsen: 9 inns compared on onsen, food and price
Nine Kaga Onsen ryokan in Awazu, Yamashiro and Yamanaka compared from stay reports: room baths, water, Kaga kaiseki, history and value.
Read the guide
Kaga Onsen souvenirs: Yamanaka lacquerware, Kutani porcelain, Kaga bōcha and where to buy them
What to buy in Kaga Onsen: Yamanaka lacquerware, Kutani porcelain, Kaga bōcha roasted stem tea, onsen manju and local sake, and where each is sold.
Read the guide
Japan transport before you fly: Suica, JR Pass and train tickets you can (and can't) buy in advance
What you can sort out from home before an onsen or ryokan trip — an IC card on your iPhone, a JAPAN RAIL PASS, regional passes, shinkansen seats on smartEX or JR-EAST Train Reservation, airport train tickets — and what still has to wait until you land, with the official rules and the inn shuttles you need to book.
Read the guide
What to pack for a ryokan stay in Japan (and what the inn already gives you)
A ryokan packing list based on real inns: what a Japanese inn normally provides (yukata, towels, slippers, toiletries) and the exceptions our research records, what to wear with a yukata, socks for tatami rooms, a small bath bag for onsen towns, the things often missing (toothbrush, hair dryer, sockets, earplugs), cash for bath tax and bath passes, and how to travel light by sending your suitcase ahead.
Read the guide
Japanese skincare and cosmetics: what to buy in Japan, tax-free rules, and how to fly them home
Want Japanese sunscreen, cleansing oil, sheet masks or lotion? Where to buy them today (drugstores, konbini, discount stores), how to read SPF, PA and 医薬部外品 labels, ordering on Amazon.co.jp or Rakuten for delivery to your hotel or ryokan, what inns provide, onsen water and sensitive skin, the tax-free refund system from 1 November 2026, and the liquid and aerosol limits for your flight home.
Read the guide
MICHELIN Key ryokan — what Japanese guests actually say
Twenty ryokan in our directory hold MICHELIN Keys in 2026. The Key tells you a stay is special; Japanese guests' reports tell you the catches — recirculated baths, uneven service, steep stairs and steeper prices.
Read the guide
Ryokan with a private open-air bath in every room — and what's really in the tub
Ten ryokan where every room has its own open-air bath, sorted by what flows into it: free-flowing spring water, or onsen that is heated, recirculated or chlorinated. What Japanese guests report, and the catch at each.
Read the guidePhoto credits
- Hōshi — the entrance and garden pines, Awazu Onsen · 663highland / CC BY-SA 4.0
- Kitaichi lacquerware shop, Yamanaka Onsen · Asturio Cantabrio / CC BY-SA 4.0
- Koiwa Station (JR East), Tokyo · MaedaAkihiko / CC BY-SA 4.0
- Shibu Onsen, Yamanouchi, Nagano · David McKelvey / CC BY 2.0
- Matsumoto Kiyoshi, Himeji Station, Hyogo · Corpse Reviver / CC BY-SA 3.0
- Gora Kadan — the former Kan'in-no-miya imperial villa, Hakone · 663highland / CC BY 2.5
- Ajiro, Atami, Shizuoka · Asturio Cantabrio / CC BY-SA 4.0
More Consensus Reports
Area photoKaga OnsenPremium
Yamashiro Onsen, Kaga, Ishikawa — at the old source of the spa town, beside the Kosoyu public bath
13 sources
Araya Totoan
山代温泉 あらや滔々庵
The 18th-generation keepers of the lord's bath, Rosanjin's patrons, with Yamashiro's most generous spring flowing into most rooms — and winter crab that can cost over ¥200,000 for two
- Historic Ryokan
- Private Onsen Rooms
Area photoKaga OnsenClassic
Yamanaka Onsen, Kaga, Ishikawa — on the Kakusenkei gorge, five minutes' walk from Ayatori Bridge and the Kiku-no-Yu public bath, about 20 minutes by the inn's free shuttle from JR Kaga-Onsen Station
10 sources
Yamanaka Onsen Shirasagiyu Tawaraya
山中温泉 白鷺湯たわらや
The last of Yamanaka's twelve founding inns: a riverside open-air bath on the Kakusenkei gorge and inventive Kaga kaiseki for a fair price — but the building is old, the water is recirculated, staff don't show you to your room, and insects find the in-room baths in late summer
- Historic Ryokan
Area photoKaga OnsenClassic
Yamanaka Onsen, Kaga, Ishikawa — beside Korogi Bridge above the Kakusenkei gorge, at the end of the Yuge Kaidō main street; about 30 minutes by the inn's free shuttle bus from Kaga Onsen Station
9 sources
Yamanaka Onsen Kagari Kisshotei
山中温泉 かがり吉祥亭
A big, cheerful 48-room inn stepped down the Kakusenkei gorge, where dinner comes with free-flowing drinks, all-you-can-eat tempura or pork shabu-shabu, and free coffee, pudding and taiko drumming — but most rooms are dated, only three have their own spring-fed bath, and the baths never swap
Read the ConsensusKaga OnsenClassic
Awazu Onsen, Komatsu, Ishikawa — four buildings around a historic garden, about 20 minutes by the inn's shuttle from Kaga Onsen shinkansen station
9 sources
Houshi
粟津温泉 法師
A family inn said to date back 1,300 years, with a registered Meiji entrance hall and a moss garden laid out in the manner of Kobori Enshu — the history is real, but the buildings are tired and the big baths are recirculated
- Historic Ryokan
Area photoKaga OnsenClassic
Yamashiro Onsen, Kaga, Ishikawa — about ten minutes' walk from the Sōyu and Kosōyu public baths and five from sister inn Hatori; 15–20 minutes by the inn's free shuttle from Kaga Onsen Station
10 sources
Yamashiro Onsen Rurikoh
山代温泉 瑠璃光
Yamashiro's big 116-room inn with a nightly taiko show, free round-the-clock lobby drinks, vast 24-hour baths and winter crab kaiseki — but the shared water is recirculated, the baths sit down a long flight of stairs, and the ageing building draws dust and upkeep complaints
Read the ConsensusArea photoKaga OnsenValue
Kayano, Yamanaka Onsen, Kaga, Ishikawa — at the far upstream end of Yamanaka Onsen beside the Shinsenkyō gorge, a 20-minute walk from the Yuge Kaidō street and 25 minutes by free shuttle from Kaga Onsen Station
10 sources
Yamanaka Onsen Yubatake no Yado Hanatsubaki
山中温泉 湯畑の宿 花つばき
A 48-room value inn at the far end of Yamanaka Onsen, built around the Yubatake — a terrace of mixed-bathing riverside tubs worn with bathing robes — but 2025–2026 guests found the tubs too cool or too hot, part of it shut for works, and 65 steps to climb
Read the ConsensusPhoto credits: Sōyu public bath, Yamashiro Onsen · 掬茶 / CC BY-SA 4.0 / Hōshi — the entrance and garden pines, Awazu Onsen · 663highland / CC BY-SA 4.0
Beniya Mukayu
Compare rates across trusted booking partners · Affiliate disclosure