{
 "slug": "sanso-murata",
 "name": "Sanso Murata",
 "url": "https://ryokancatalog.com/inn/sanso-murata",
 "location": "Yufuin",
 "prefecture": "Oita",
 "region": "Kyushu",
 "geo": {
  "lat": 33.2644,
  "lng": 131.3583
 },
 "tier": "S",
 "score": 9.0,
 "score_scale": "1-10",
 "unscored": false,
 "confidence": "med",
 "evidence": {
  "units": 4,
  "op_stays": 2,
  "member_stays": 0
 },
 "kinrt_rank_claim": {
  "claim": "top10",
  "quote": "the sum of its parts adds up to it being a Top 10 property in Japan as judged by experts as well as word of mouth in the country. After our experience here, we cannot agree more."
 },
 "rooms": 12,
 "property_type": "Onsen ryokan",
 "style": "Luxury ryokan",
 "features": {
  "in_room_onsen": "Yes (convertible indoor/open-air)",
  "meals_in_room": "Yes (dedicated server)"
 },
 "summary": "A 12-room Yufuin inn whose plain grounds hide the best service KI-NRT has encountered anywhere in Japan (four staff rushing out with umbrellas in a storm, a butler dedicated exclusively to your room for every meal) and a spectacular kaiseki kitchen that shows off Kyushu's meat, fish and produce. After two nights of \"pure bliss\" he agrees without hesitation with Japan's own word of mouth that this is a top-10 property in the country. The magic is all indoors, and each of the 12 rooms has its own character.",
 "aspect_scale": "1-5",
 "aspects": {
  "cuisine": {
   "label": "Food",
   "score": 5,
   "text": "The kaiseki dinner was spectacular on both nights, authentically Japanese but gorgeously presented and prepared to bring out the best in the local, seasonal meat, fish and produce, from the subtle yet complex clear soup (KI-NRT is sure there is something secret in the dashi) to the incredible marinated Oita wagyu. Dinner can be served in your room, and your butler explains each course in detail. He calls it a place that will delight any foodie."
  },
  "onsen": {
   "label": "Bath",
   "score": 4,
   "text": "Each of the 12 rooms has its own onsen bath fed by natural hot spring water. KI-NRT's, in Hou, was technically indoors, but the glass doors slide open so it becomes semi open-air, and since it was relatively warm during his April stay it was good to have a breeze flow in from outside while soaking. He calls the onsen wonderful, and for onsen buffs he suggests following a night here with a ryokan in nearby Beppu."
  },
  "service": {
   "label": "Service",
   "score": 5,
   "text": "KI-NRT gives Murata first place for service of every ryokan he has stayed at, with Takefue a close second. Arriving in a storm, four staff rushed out, three with umbrellas and one to park the car (all of 30 meters away), and the next day three more met them in pouring rain. One butler, Aika Goto (with her trainee Aki Nagashima), served their room and only theirs at dinner and breakfast, with no rotation between rooms."
  },
  "room": {
   "label": "Room",
   "score": 4.5,
   "text": "Hou is a 155 m2 two-story maisonette (Sou next door is 130 m2): a Western living and dining room, a separate tatami room and the onsen bath downstairs, and the bedroom with two Western beds upstairs. It is tastefully decorated, though the Western furnishings \"don't scream high end,\" and each of the 12 rooms has its own character, Hou and Sou the most modern and Western, so choose carefully. A later guest called Gyo divine."
  },
  "setting": {
   "label": "Place",
   "score": 3.5,
   "text": "The grounds are nothing to write home about, serene but neither manicured nor full of character, and there is no great view. The inn sits on a small hill a five-minute drive above Yufuin (one of the top onsen towns in Kyushu) in a sleepy, secluded pocket with few tourists. Galleries and cafes surround it, several owned by Murata, including a soba restaurant a short walk away, and a later guest called the lounge's sound system incredible."
  }
 },
 "transit": {
  "cities": [
   {
    "city": "Fukuoka",
    "hours": 2.17,
    "time": "2h10",
    "transfers": 0,
    "estimated": false,
    "text": "Reverse of: Ltd Exp back toward Hakata (~2h10)."
   },
   {
    "city": "Kagoshima",
    "hours": 3.2,
    "time": "3h10",
    "transfers": 1,
    "estimated": false,
    "text": "Kyushu Shinkansen Kagoshima-Chūō→Hakata (~1h20), ~4-min platform transfer, then the JR 'Yufu' Ltd Exp Hakata→Yufuin (~2h15). ~3h11 total, all-rail."
   },
   {
    "city": "Nagasaki",
    "hours": 3,
    "time": "3h",
    "transfers": 0,
    "estimated": false,
    "text": "Reverse of: By car (~210 km, raw ~2h25 per NAVITIME; budget ~3h): Yufuin IC → Oita Expwy → Tosu JCT → Nagasaki Expwy → Nagasaki IC (~¥5,060). Budget 3h+ in January — the Yufuin IC–Hita IC stretch (~45 km) is an official winter-tire-regulation zone (last winter: 7 days of regulation, 2 of closure); past Hita it's plains, and the Nagasaki Expwy has no regulated section at all. (Transit: Ltd Exp 'Yufu'→Hakata ~2h15 + 'Relay Kamome'/'Kamome' via Takeo, ~3.5h total, 2 changes — 2026-07 audit; rare January snow on the Kyudai line's pass.)"
   },
   {
    "city": "Kumamoto",
    "hours": 2.4,
    "time": "2h25",
    "transfers": 1,
    "estimated": false,
    "text": "Reverse of: Ltd Exp 'Yufu'/'Yufuin-no-Mori' Yufuin→Kurume (~1h40, ~5/day), Shinkansen Kurume→Kumamoto (~25 min). Scenic alt: the Kyushu Ōdan bus through Kurokawa/Aso, one seat, ~4h15, 3/day. By car ~2.5h via the Yamanami Highway."
   },
   {
    "city": "Tokyo",
    "hours": 4,
    "time": "4h",
    "transfers": 1,
    "estimated": false,
    "text": "Fly to Yufuin: Tokyo→Haneda (~30 min), HND→Oita (OIT) ~1h30 nonstop (frequent ANA/JAL/Solaseed; 2026-07 audit vs flightsfrom/sakuratravel timetables), then a pre-booked FIXED-FARE taxi straight to the inn (~55 min, ¥18,320 incl. tolls — Oita Taxi Assoc., say '定額で') — no bus-schedule or shuttle sync. (Budget alt: airport bus→Yufuin Stn ~55 min, 6/day, ¥1,550pp + the inn shuttle — Enowa's needs reserving ≥3 days ahead.) Far saner than the ~5h45 all-rail haul."
   },
   {
    "city": "Kanazawa",
    "hours": 6,
    "time": "6h",
    "transfers": 3,
    "estimated": false,
    "text": "Airport bus Kanazawa→Komatsu + KMQ→Fukuoka (~1h40) into Hakata, then Ltd Exp 'Yufu'/'Yufuin-no-Mori' Hakata→Yufuin (~2h10). ~6h door-to-door. (Oita is Yufuin's own airport but has no Komatsu flight — Hakata is the gateway.)"
   }
  ],
  "note": ""
 },
 "photos": [
  {
   "url": "/img/sansomurata-0-9c6cf980.jpg",
   "tag": "bath",
   "width": 400,
   "height": 266
  },
  {
   "url": "/img/sansomurata-1-02776e63.jpg",
   "tag": "room",
   "width": 400,
   "height": 266
  },
  {
   "url": "/img/sansomurata-2-8cf17767.jpg",
   "tag": "setting",
   "width": 400,
   "height": 266
  },
  {
   "url": "/img/sansomurata-3-27183ab3.jpg",
   "tag": "interior",
   "width": 400,
   "height": 266
  },
  {
   "url": "/img/sansomurata-4-cc1c2ba1.jpg",
   "tag": "food",
   "width": 400,
   "height": 266
  }
 ],
 "links": {
  "website": "https://sansou-murata.com/en/",
  "map": "https://www.google.com/maps?cid=4078359148277287254",
  "jp_site": {
   "source": "Ikyu",
   "score": 4.74,
   "reviews": 17,
   "url": "https://www.ikyu.com/00003248/review/",
   "as_of": "2026-07-10"
  },
  "flyertalk_reviews": [
   {
    "post": 1,
    "author": "KI-NRT",
    "url": "https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/34617783-post1.html"
   }
  ],
  "flyertalk_discussion": [
   {
    "post": 475,
    "author": "KI-NRT",
    "url": "https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/36886625-post475.html"
   },
   {
    "post": 624,
    "author": "KI-NRT",
    "url": "https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/37275703-post624.html"
   },
   {
    "post": 679,
    "author": "KI-NRT",
    "url": "https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/37429987-post679.html"
   }
  ],
  "tripadvisor": [
   {
    "rating": 5,
    "stay": "April 2022",
    "url": "https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g1023445-d787957-r837056000-Sanso_Murata-Yufu_Oita_Prefecture_Kyushu.html"
   }
  ]
 },
 "as_of": "2026-09-07"
}