A ryokan & tea house since 1924
Eight rooms above a moss garden in Higashiyama. No lobby, no schedule, no noise — only the sound of water finding its way down stone.
SEI was built in 1924 as a resting place for travellers arriving by the Tokaido road. A century later, the house still measures time by the garden: camellia in February, fireflies in June, the first red maple in November. We keep eight rooms so that the quiet is not shared with a crowd.
Each room looks onto the same moss garden from a different angle. All have a cedar bath, a reading alcove, and nothing you do not need.
Garden suite
A low room of cedar and paper that turns silver at dusk. The bath looks directly into the old pine; in autumn, the leaves arrive before the water does.
Tea suite
The smallest and the quietest, with a private tea room and a window positioned for the evening sky. Breakfast is left outside your door at the hour you choose.
Garden suite
A long, open room beside the stream that marks the southern edge of the garden. Best for two, or for one person who prefers not to be found.
Three small ceremonies, offered each day. None are compulsory. All are best approached without a phone.
A private bowl in the tea room with our host, Kimura-san. No demonstration, just the making and drinking of one cup.
Two private baths, one of stone and one of cedar. Drawn from the same spring, at exactly 41 degrees.
A slow walk with the gardener before the gates open. He will tell you the names of things, or nothing at all.
Kaiseki arrives with the season, not the menu. What follows is a recent evening in late October.
“We came for two nights and stayed for five. I have never been so grateful to have nothing to do.”
旅の記録よりA guest, in the register · November 2025
We take a small number of guests each week. Tell us roughly when, and our host will write back within one working day.
+81 75 555 0124
stay@sei-kyoto.jp
京都府京都市東山区