Morning sun across the tatami of a tea room, indigo noren curtains hanging in the doorway to the veranda

Eight rooms above the river.Tea at four.

A small ryokan in the hills west of Kyoto. Cedar baths, a kaiseki counter for six, and nothing to do until dinner.

¥68,000per guest, with dinner and breakfast15:00check-inReserve

Shoes off at the door. Then twelve tatami to cross.

Through the noren. Dyed in Tokushima, in the same indigo vat for forty years.

The garden. Moss, a stone path and nothing you need to do.

Kumo sits where the Hozu river leaves the mountains. Most mornings the valley fills with mist and for an hour the house seems to float, which is where the name comes from. We keep eight rooms so that the tea, the bath and the dinner are made for the people who are actually here.

Ten minutes on foot from Saga-Arashiyama station, up a lane behind Tenryū-ji. Run by the same family since 1952 and rebuilt by the third generation in 2024.

RoomsEight rooms in three kinds.

All face the valley. Futons are laid while you are at dinner and folded away while you are at breakfast.

A tatami room with a low black table and an indigo cushion, shoji open onto a misty river valley

KawaRiver room, five of them, 10 tatami

Shoji open straight onto the Hozu valley. A low table, two cushions and a futon, and the shared cedar baths down the hall.

from, per guest¥68,000

A futon with an indigo kasuri cover on tatami, bamboo shadows moving on the shoji

TakeBamboo room, two of them, 12 tatami

On the grove side of the house. In the afternoon the bamboo throws its shadow across the paper screens.

from, per guest¥84,000

A tatami suite opening onto a rain-wet moss garden with stepping stones and a stone basin

KokeMoss suite, only one, 18 tatami

A corner suite on its own moss garden, with a private hinoki bath and tea served in the room.

from, per guest¥142,000

Four o’clock. The kettle has been on since three.

Forty strokes. Then the bowl is turned twice and set down in front of you.

Tea at four, and the hours around it.

An afternoon at Kumo has a shape. You can ignore all of it, but most guests don’t.

A folded indigo linen yukata with a white sash and towel on tatami

15:00

Arrival

到着

Your yukata is folded on the tatami: linen, dyed with indigo in Tokushima, softer every year.

A host's hands in an indigo sleeve whisking matcha in a black raku bowl

16:00

Tea

茶の湯

Usucha in the four-and-a-half mat room. The host whisks one bowl at a time, and there is no hurry.

17:30

Garden

庭

Moss after rain, the stone basin, the first maple turning. Geta are by the door.

Grilled river fish with a red maple leaf on an indigo-glazed dish, on a black lacquer tray

18:30

Kaiseki

懐石

Nine courses at a cedar counter for six, made from what came out of the river and the hills that week.

A square hinoki cedar bath brimming with spring water, cedar trunks in dawn mist beyond the open wall

A cedar bath, filled from the spring at dawn.

Spring water, sodium bicarbonate: 41°C
Shared baths, one cedar, one stone: 2
Private hinoki bath in the Koke suite: 1
Open every day: 05:30 to 24:00

Kumo's dark cedar entrance and indigo noren in the first snow

Four seasons, four menus.

The kitchen changes with the hill behind the house. Book by the season you want to eat.

March to May

Spring

Bamboo shoots dug that morning, cherry blossom along the Ōi river.

June to August

Summer

Sweetfish from the Hozu, and the cormorant boats on the river at night.

September to November, now

Autumn

Matsutake, chestnuts and the maples on Ogura hill.

December to February

Winter

Snow on the roof, simmered tofu at the counter and a longer bath.

Ask for your nights.

We answer every request by hand within a day, in English or Japanese. Nothing is charged until we confirm.

Dinner and breakfast are included in every rate
Children over six are welcome in Kawa and Koke
Free cancellation up to 14 days before arrival