Nikko Kanaya Hotel

What it is

The Kanaya began as a house. Kanaya Zenichirō, a shō player at the shrine of Nikkō Tōshō-gū, offered lodging to the missionary James Curtis Hepburn, and at Hepburn's suggestion turned his home into an inn. It opened in June 1873, and Wikipedia calls it the oldest Western-style resort hotel in Japan.

The buildings grew in stages: the main building dates from 1893, the New Building from 1901 and the Annex from 1935. The page does not give a room count or name a restaurant, so we have not listed either.

A guest book

The hotel's guest list is its own record of the place. Harry Parkes stayed in 1874, Isabella Bird in 1878 and Ulysses S. Grant in 1879. Albert Einstein came in 1922, Charlie Chaplin in 1932, Helen Keller in 1937 and Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1946, and Hirohito and Akihito stayed in 1957 and 1967.

A list like this says something about how long Nikkō has drawn visitors. It does not tell you what the room you are offered is like today.

Where it sits

The main building is next to Nikkō Tōshō-gū, the shrine complex that is the town's main sight, on about 14 acres. That is the reason to choose it: you wake up beside the shrines, and the walk to them takes minutes.

Our Japan autumn itinerary spends two nights in Nikkō, timed for the autumn colour.

Rooms and the rate

The rate in our autumn itinerary is US$126 a night, a listing figure, and the page does not say which room it covers. With a main building, a New Building and an Annex, the room you are given may sit in any of them, so ask before you accept a quote.

Who it suits

It suits travellers who like old hotels and want a night or two in Nikkō beside the shrines. It makes a contrast with the city hotels on the rest of a Japan route.

It is a poor fit for anyone who needs facts we could not source here. The pages we read give no count of rooms and name no restaurant, so check what is offered before you book.