![\"Kiyomizu-dera's](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/pixta_132913740_M-1024x682.jpg\")
Picture: KAKU<\/a>\u00a0\/ PIXTA(\u30d4\u30af\u30b9\u30bf)<\/p>\nMUJI\u2019s parent company, Ry\u014dhin Keikaku (\u826f\u54c1\u8a08\u753b), runs two hotel chains. Its first, MUJI HOTEL, focuses on optimized city travel. With the slogan \u201canti-gorgeous, anti-cheap,\u201d it promises to offer optimized (and affordable) city travel starting at around \u00a514,900 ($93) a night. There are only three worldwide: One in Tokyo\u2019s Ginza and two in China (Shenzhen and Beijing).<\/p>\n
Its second line, MUJI BASE, focuses on providing regional experiences by renovating dormant regional assets, such as a shuttered school. It previously touted four hotels across Japan. <\/p>\n
The latest BASE Hotel is MUJI Kiyomizu in Kyoto\u2019s Higashiyama-ku, a short walk from the famous Kiyomizu-dera Temple<\/a> known for its spectacular view of Kyoto. For this latest addition, which opened in May, MUJI renovated the former Amenity Hotel Kyoto. It also added several other twists. <\/p>\n First, 90% of the products in all rooms are from the brand\u2019s home products line. While the brand\u2019s name (it literally means \u201cno brand\u201d) implies a plain-jane approach, its product line adheres to an art-directed philosophy curated by famous designers, including original designer Tanaka Ikk\u014d and art director Hara Kenya. <\/p>\n Second, the new hotel offers an \u201couting kit.\u201d It includes a MUJI water bottle, tote, and a map to nine local neighborhood experiences, including kintsugi (\u91d1\u7d99\u304e) pottery repair, a tofu shop, and more. The hotel also offers a morning Kiyomizu walk at 5:40 am that goes to Kiyomizu-dera before the crowds arrive. For those who want a full Japan experience, you can also do radio calisthenics (\u30e9\u30b8\u30aa\u4f53\u64cd; rajio tais\u014d)<\/a>.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\tGet the free Japan trip prep guide we send our Tours clients\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n Cash or card? How does the train system actually work? What\u2019s the first thing to do when you land? Get our free 5-day Japan Travel Prep Guide – based in ours and our clients\u2019 experience – delivered straight to your inbox.<\/p>\n Finally, there\u2019s the food. Long-established Kyoto roaster Ogawa Coffee<\/a> occupies space on the 1st floor. It provides breakfast in the Kyoto obanzai (\u304a\u3070\u3093\u3056\u3044) style, featuring a series of frugal side dishes made with seasonal vegetables.<\/p>\n What\u2019s so \u201canti-tourism\u201d about Kiyomizu?!<\/p>\n I have to admit that this actually sounds sort of cool. For those who\u2019ve never been to Kyoto before, a visit to Kiyomizu-dera is something you should do at least once. Being at a nearby hotel that also works to connect you to local experiences and cuisine is a step above what most hotels offer. <\/p>\n However, some are questioning how MUJI is marketing its latest foray into the hospitality space. <\/p>\n A recent NIKKEI article, for example, touted the hotel as an \u201canti-tourism\u201d hotel. This drew scoffs from many Japanese social media commenters. After all, if there\u2019s a location in Japan that typifies \u201covertourism\u201d right now<\/a>, it\u2019s Kyoto. <\/p>\n As Japan welcomes over 40 million visitors every year<\/a>, multiple locations are struggling to accommodate the crowds and the damage they cause to local attractions<\/a>. The city of Kyoto itself has taken several measures to alleviate transit congestion, such as adding tourist-only buses<\/a> and raising transit fees for non-residents<\/a>. <\/p>\n The hotel differs radically from other MUJI BASE concepts, which are in more rural areas. MUJI BASE KAMOGAWA, for example, is in a renovated 100-year-old farmhouse in Chiba Prefecture. MUJI BASE OIKAWA, also in Chiba, is in an old school.<\/p>\n In addition, KAMOGAWA requires a minimum two-night stay to rent out the house and get a truly \u201clocal\u201d experience. <\/p>\n Planning a trip to Japan? Get an authentic, interpreted experience with Unseen Japan Tours<\/a> and see a side of the country other travelers miss.<\/p>\n A cool experience \u2013 or an intrusion on residents?<\/p>\n On a Yahoo! News thread about the hotel<\/a>, most of the comments took jabs at MUJI\u2019s attempt to paint hotel stays as an \u201ceveryday experience.\u201d <\/p>\n \u201cYou can\u2019t get the real experience of living somewhere without staying multiple nights,\u201d said one commenter, who said that MUJI should make three-night stays the minimum. <\/p>\n Others said the hotel would just be another intrusion into the daily lives of residents who are already feeling the impact of overtourism. <\/p>\n \u201cThis isn\u2019t anti-tourism,\u201d shouted one. \u201cIt\u2019s full-on sightseeing. Why here of all places??\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s an odd choice indeed. As we reported recently, Japan\u2019s \u201covertourism\u201d problem is actually a dispersion problem. There are plenty of unique places in the country to visit. The issue is that tourists crowd into <\/a>just seven of Japan\u2019s 47 prefectures<\/a>. 25 of the country\u2019s prefectures have no entry on the top 100 list. <\/p>\n If you truly want to help address overtourism, a better idea is to include more remote locations,\u00a0such as rural mountain towns<\/a>, on your trip. You can also work with a custom Japan tours provider<\/a> to design an itinerary that takes you off the beaten path.<\/p>\n \t\tKeep reading<\/p>\n Sources<\/p>\n \u7121\u5370\u826f\u54c1\u300c\u30a2\u30f3\u30c1\u89b3\u5149\u300d\u3067\u30aa\u30fc\u30d0\u30fc\u30c4\u30fc\u30ea\u30ba\u30e0\u306b\u4e00\u77f3\u3000\u4eac\u90fd\u306b\u5bbf\u3001\u58f2\u308a\u306f\u65e5\u5e38\u4f53\u9a13 \u65e5\u7d4c\u30d3\u30b8\u30cd\u30b9<\/a><\/p>\n 5\/20(\u6c34) \u5730\u57df\u4f53\u9a13\u578b\u5bbf\u6cca\u65bd\u8a2d\u300cMUJI BASE KYOTO kiyomizu\u300d\u30aa\u30fc\u30d7\u30f3 \u826f\u54c1\u8a08\u753b\uff08\u516c\u5f0f\u30cb\u30e5\u30fc\u30b9\u30ea\u30ea\u30fc\u30b9\uff09<\/a><\/p>\n MUJI BASE KYOTO kiyomizu\uff08\u516c\u5f0f\u5bbf\u6cca\u30da\u30fc\u30b8\uff09 MUJI STAY \/ \u826f\u54c1\u8a08\u753b<\/a><\/p>\n \u4eac\u90fd\u30fb\u6e05\u6c34\u5bfa\u5f92\u6b69\u570f\u5185\u306b\u7121\u5370\u826f\u54c1\u306e\u30db\u30c6\u30eb\u300cMUJI BASE KYOTO kiyomizu\u300d\u958b\u696d\u3002\u5bbf\u6cca\u8005\u9650\u5b9a\u306e\u5730\u57df\u4f53\u9a13\u3082 \u30c8\u30e9\u30d9\u30eb Watch<\/a><\/p>\n \u7121\u5370\u3001\u4eac\u90fd\u30fb\u6e05\u6c34\u5bfa\u306b\u5bbf\u6cca\u65bd\u8a2d\u300cMUJI BASE KYOTO kiyomizu\u300d Impress Watch<\/a><\/p>\n \u4eac\u90fd\u30fb\u6e05\u6c34\u306b\u8a95\u751f\u3057\u305f\u7121\u5370\u826f\u54c1\u306e\u30db\u30c6\u30eb\u300cMUJI BASE\u300d\u306b\u6cca\u307e\u3063\u3066\u307f\u305f\u3002\u51684\u30bf\u30a4\u30d7\u306e\u5ba2\u5ba4\u3068\u9928\u5185\u30b5\u30fc\u30d3\u30b9\u3092\u307e\u308b\u3054\u3068\u7d39\u4ecb \u30c8\u30e9\u30d9\u30eb Watch<\/a><\/p>\n \u300c\u30aa\u30fc\u30d0\u30fc\u30c4\u30fc\u30ea\u30ba\u30e0\u300d\u5bfe\u7b56\u3092\u4eac\u90fd\u5e02\u304c\u767a\u8868\u3000\u4eba\u6c17\u89b3\u5149\u5730\u3060\u3051\u306b\u505c\u8eca\u300e\u7279\u6025\u30d0\u30b9\u300f\u306e\u5c0e\u5165 \u95a2\u897f\u30c6\u30ec\u30d3\u653e\u9001\uff08\u30ab\u30f3\u30c6\u30ec\uff09<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Besides running one of Japan\u2019s most popular home goods retailers, the company behind the MUJI chain also operates…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":53523,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[3392,8,151,35731,919,481],"class_list":["post-53522","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-kyoto","tag-hotels","tag-japan","tag-kyoto","tag-muji","tag-overtourism","tag-tourism"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53522","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53522"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53522\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/53523"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53522"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53522"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53522"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Dusk](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/image-2-1024x683.jpg\")
Picture: Ry\u014dhin Keikaku<\/p>\n![\"Unseen](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/tours-ad-yamanashi-shrine-1080.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Two](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/image-2-1-1024x683.jpg\")
Picture: Ry\u014dhin Keikaku<\/p>\n