Shiraume Ryokan was our first and only ryokan experience, and what better place to experience one than in Kyoto! Our stay at Shiraume Ryokan was part of our trip to Japan in March 2019. Ryokan is a type of inn/guesthouse that is central to Japanese culture. They typically contain elements such as tatami-mat flooring (reed floors), shoji (paper sliding doors), zabuton (sitting pillows). A stay at a ryokan is a cultural experience not to be missed!
Table of Contents
Background
Shiraume Ryokan is located in the Gion district, which is Kyoto’s famous geisha district. Traditional teahouses, shops, and restaurants fill the streets, preserving the allure of this area. The Shirakawa Stream flows in front of the ryokan, and the adjacent areas are full of cherry trees and willow trees.
In the late Edo period (1600-1868), the ryokan started out as an ochaya, where geiko and maiko live, study, and work. Geiko are geishas, whereas maikos are apprentice geishas still in training. In 1949, the female manager Ochaya Oyagi transformed the ochaya into the ryokan we know today. She named the ryokan “shiraume” (白梅), which means “white plum”, after the red and white plum trees that welcome you at the entrance of the bridge to the ryokan. A female manager, Tomoko Okuda, still heads the ryokan today.
Shiraume Ryokan contains only five rooms, with their largest room accommodating up to four guests. Rooms range from 340 sqft to 580 sqft. Each room is unique, and the website provides a detailed description of the differences. Rooms are priced per guest, and includes daily dinner and breakfast.
Besides the guest rooms, Shiraume Ryokan also has two communal bath tubs filled with natural groundwater. The bath space is private once in use. The guesthouse also contains a small library.
Booking
Bookings are made through the “Inquiry” section of their website. There, you will provide check-in, check-out dates, as well as number of guests, and room preference. I inquired about my March 2019 stay in August 2018 because this ryokan is popular. Once their team received the inquiry, they confirm room availability, as well as the total cost for the stay. We elected to stay in their Umesono room, which is 420 sqft and fits a maximum of 3 guests. In their email response, they also ask you to select the type of dinner and breakfast for the stay. For the one night in the Umesono room, we paid 78408yen through their secure payment form.
Check-in
An entrance bridge crosses the stream that led to the doors of Shiraume.
Once through the doors is the agari-kamachi, a small area where guests take off their shoes. We were provided with cute slippers to wear throughout the ryokan. The agari-kamachi is also where you store your shoes and retrieve them when heading out. Ms. Okuda was at the entrance to greet us, and gave us a tour around the property and our room.
In our room, she explained how we could change in the yakuta they had provided. A yakuta is a casual version of the kimono, and is typically used for relaxing. I was feeling slightly motion sick after the Shinkansen ride from Tokyo, so Ms. Okuda said that she would prepare a plum tea for me to enjoy in the room.
Umesono Room
Umesono is a very private room situated on the second floor, and is accessible through this staircase.
At the top of the stairs is the door to the room.
Upon entering, there is a small area for you to remove your slippers before entering the room.
The rooms had views of the inner garden, as well as views of the Shirakawa Stream. The flowing sounds of the stream made the space feel even more charming. The room contained a living room, a bedroom, and a private bathroom. The exact floor plan is shown below:
A low wooden table flanked by two zabuton on each side (sitting cushions) is prominently centered in the living room. Ms. Okuda prepared a small matcha biscuit with some green tea as our welcome amenity.
On the other side of the table, is the large window facing the street.
And next to the window is the mini bar and fridge. Mini bar comes with a kettle, as well as a Nespresso. Everything inside the mini fridge comes complimentary with the stay, including orange juice, Coca Cola, bottled water, beer, and some cold yuzu tea.
The bathroom has a single sink, and comes stocked with Shiraume branded bath towels, hand towels, and face towels.
And of course the traditional Japanese soaking tub.
Adjacent to the bathroom is access to the bedroom. The bedroom contained two futons (sleeping quilts), as well as a large closet that stored the safe, and our luggage.
The bedroom has views of a small garden.
A pair of drawers inside the closet stored two yakutas for us to change into.
Just like Ms. Okuda promised, she brought a delicious teapot of plum tea for me. Although it didn’t do much to alleviate the motion sickness, the tea was delicious, and was a perfect start to the stay.
In-Room Dinner
Stays at Shiraume Ryokan include dinner. Prior to arrival, Ms. Okuda sent an email to us requesting meal choices:
- Kaiseki traditional full course (start with appetizer, clear soup, sashimi, baked fish, dish of the day, deep fried dish, sour dish, rice and pickles, and dessert)
- Kobe beef steak dinner (start with appetizer, clear soup Kobe beefsteak, deep fried dish, rice and pickles and dessert)
- Sushi dinner (start with appetizer, clear soup, assorted sushi plate, deep fried dish, rice and pickles and dessert)
We decided a on a kaiseki meal, and a Kobe steak meal at 7:30pm.
Ms. Okuda came in at around 7:20pm to setup the table in preparation for dinner. Table setting included a large red ceramic plate, a hot towel, chopsticks, a Shiraume branded napkin, and a glass of water.
The meal started off with something I have never tried before, a tofu made from sesame, topped with a cherry flower. The texture was denser, and the flavor was richer and earthier.
Next came the assorted plate with a variety of bite sized foods, including mountain potato, spring bean with egg, mochi cake and octopus with egg, salmon sashimi, clams with miso, and radish with yuzu-orange flavor. The presentation was beautiful.
The soup course was next, and this included a soup containing steamed millet wheat cake with lily root and young leaves.
For the sashimi course, we got spring snapper, half beak, and squid. The sashimi was served in cute little bamboo containers.
The next course consisted of a whole raw scallop served on a slice of lemon, topped with some salmon roe eggs and seaweed.
Next was the Kobe steak, served with three types of sashimi slices, and a bit of wasabi.
Kyoto bamboo shoot was grilled right in front of our eyes over a charcoal flame. I definitely give this dish a 10/10 for presentation. Three types of salt accompanied the dish, resulting in a different flavor with each bite.
Slowly wrapping up our ginormous meal was the hot pot dish, containing spring mountain vegetables, ostrich ferns, Japanese parsley, bracken fern, wild rocambole (type of allium), and chunks of Kyoto beef. This dish was so hearty and delicious even though we were very full.
The final savory course was the rice course. This contained a bed of steamed rice with spring beans, fried tofu, and carrots, served with miso soup and a selection of pickles.
Finally, we arrived to the dessert course, which was a Japanese spring orange jelly.
Overall, we were incredibly impressed by the variety and presentation of all the foods. Most dishes were memorable, and certainly one of the most amazing food experiences I have ever had (including high end restaurants).
In-Room Breakfast
For breakfast, we were given an option between the Western meal, and the Japanese meal. We chose one of each to share amongst the two of us. We chose a 9am start for the breakfast service.
The breakfast spread was impressive, and I still think of it to this day. The Western breakfast was great, despite being in a ryokan. We asked for a pot of plum tea, as well as a cup of coffee to go with breakfast.
Western breakfast came with two poached eggs (with insanely orangey yellow yolk), a selection of fruits, and an insanely rich and creamy yogurt.
The bread basket contained a large variety of pastries and bread. Three types of jams were served as an accompaniment.
The Japanese breakfast, however, was the best hotel breakfast I have ever had. There were small cold side dishes, warm soup served with a bowl of rice, grilled fish, tamago, hot spot full of hot broth, noodles and veggies, as well as a side of pickles, and seaweed. What an amazing spread!
Service
We only interfaced with two staff members during our stay. The head manager Ms. Okuda was polite, and friendly. She had told us that she started in the hospitality business after working for Japan Airlines. The service was proactive, like when Ms. Okuda brought me the plum tea for my motion sickness. She also spent time explaining the history of the ryokan, and giving us ideas of activities to do during our stay.
I don’t know how Ms. Okuda had time to attend to everything. She was also the person that brought the entirety of the dinner to our room, as well as explaining every single dish. Ms. Okuda was also the person that sends out the emails to the guests to confirm reservations and other requests. I can definitely understand how Shiraume Ryokan can only handle five rooms. The level of personalized service really made us feel comfortable.
Summary
Overall, our stay in Shiraume Ryokan was memorable, and I still think and talk about it to this day. The location in Old Gion, surrounded by traditional architecture and ambience, made our stay feel like we were transported into another era. Everything was perfect, from the room, to the food. I wish we could have stayed at the ryokan for one extra day.
The stay at Shiraume Ryokan was so special to me that I would make the journey to Kyoto again just to experience all this again. I highly recommend Shiraume Ryokan to anyone thinking of staying in a ryokan in Japan. Just consider staying more than one day!
