Sanroku

Overview

Sanroku is a spacious two-story detached house set at the very foot of the Arashiyama mountains in western Kyoto, offering around 79 square meters of comfortable living space for up to five guests on a monthly basis. Its name, written 山麓, means “the foot of the mountain,” and the forested hillside rises directly behind the property, lending a sense of calm and seclusion that is rare so close to one of Japan’s most celebrated scenic districts. Inside, the home strikes an easy balance between contemporary comfort and traditional Japanese living, pairing a bright open-plan ground floor with upstairs bedrooms that blend Western beds and tatami rooms.

This is a home for guests who want to live in Arashiyama rather than simply pass through it. Families, remote workers, and anyone settling in for an extended stay will find everything needed to feel at home: a full kitchen, an in-home washer and dryer, multiple bedrooms, two separate toilets, a deep soaking tub, and the genuine luxury of private off-street parking. With the day-tripper crowds gone by evening, Sanroku offers the chance to experience the quieter, more local side of one of Kyoto’s most beautiful neighbourhoods.

Location

Sanroku sits in a quiet residential pocket of Arashiyama, in the Yamanoshitacho district of Kyoto’s Nishikyo Ward, tucked against the green hillside that gives the house its name. Although the area is one of Kyoto’s most famous sightseeing destinations, the immediate street is calm and distinctly local, with the everyday rhythm of a neighbourhood where people actually live. For a monthly guest, it offers the best of both worlds: headline attractions within easy reach, and a peaceful base to come home to once the crowds have thinned.

The icons of Arashiyama are close at hand. The graceful Togetsukyo Bridge and the Katsura River are a short walk away, and the Iwatayama Monkey Park rises from the south bank nearby. Just across the river lie the world-famous Arashiyama Bamboo Grove, the UNESCO-listed Zen temple and garden of Tenryu-ji, and the serene Nonomiya Shrine, while the Okochi Sanso villa and the quiet temples of Sagano are only a little further on.

Beyond the headline sights, the wider district rewards a longer stay. The Sagano Romantic Train winds scenically up the Hozu gorge, the Hozugawa river boat ride drifts back down it, and the hushed temples of Sagano, the moss garden of Gioji, Jojakko-ji, and Adashino Nenbutsuji, reveal a more contemplative Kyoto. To the south lie Matsunoo-taisha and the famous moss temple of Saihoji. Arashiyama is deeply seasonal, framed by cherry blossom in spring and vivid maples in autumn, and living here means you can enjoy these moments in the early morning or evening light, long after the day visitors have left.

Daily life is well catered for, with convenience stores, local eateries, and supermarkets close enough to make settling in straightforward. Hankyu Arashiyama Station offers a direct line south to Katsura, where you can connect onward toward central Kyoto and Osaka, and the JR Saga-Arashiyama Station and the Randen tram also serve the district. With private parking at the house, keeping a car is genuinely practical here, opening up the surrounding Kyoto hills, the Hozu valley, and day trips further afield.

Description

Arriving at Sanroku, the first welcome is a practical one: a private off-street parking space at the front of the house, a genuine rarity in Arashiyama, set behind a low bamboo screen with the wooded mountain rising directly behind. Stepping through the front door, you enter a generously sized tiled genkan with a bench and storage for shoes and outerwear, and a toilet conveniently positioned just off the entrance.

From the entrance, the ground floor opens into a bright, open-plan living, dining and kitchen area finished in warm wood flooring. A deep corduroy sectional sofa faces a large television set against a handsome wood-slat feature wall, with air conditioning and a relaxed, sociable feel throughout. A solid timber dining table seats up to four and doubles easily as a workspace for those balancing remote work with a longer stay.

The kitchen runs along the rear of the ground floor and is fully equipped for genuine cooking over weeks at a time: dark-wood cabinetry, a gas cooktop, a large refrigerator, and all the other required appliances and tools, with a separate breakfast bar and stools alongside. Its most memorable feature is the wall of windows that frames the moss-covered stone retaining wall of the hillside behind, drawing a quiet, ever-green slice of nature right into the heart of the home.

Also on the ground floor are the home’s bathing facilities, arranged in the traditional Japanese way as separate rooms. A washroom holds the vanity and a Sharp washer-dryer, and a sliding door leads through to the unit bathroom, where a deep soaking tub and a walk-in shower await. A comfortable ground-floor bedroom with a small working desk completes this level.

A staircase with a striking dark wood-slat balustrade leads up to the second floor, which holds three rooms that blend contemporary and traditional styles. At one end, a Western-style bedroom pairs a queen bed with a wood-slat feature wall, and directly opposite sits a traditional tatami bedroom laid out with two futons and screened by sliding shoji panels. Between them is a tatami sitting room furnished with relaxed bean-bag lounge chairs, set beneath a dramatic vaulted ceiling with exposed timber beams. A small wooden-floored area opens onto a balcony, and a second restroom, with split air conditioning throughout and nature-themed prints, depicting Arashiyama’s monkeys, Nara’s deer, and vermilion torii, that echo the world just outside.