Kiunkaku: Atami's 1919 Villa with Stained-Glass Sunrooms & a Garden

Kiunkaku is a 1919 villa in central Atami, built around a 10,000-square-metre garden you can see from nearly every room. Walk through sunrooms glowing with rare stained glass, early-Showa Western rooms added by a railway magnate, and quiet Japanese rooms where some of Japan's most celebrated writers once stayed. It is at its quietest on the rainy weekdays most visitors skip — the moss deepens, the stone darkens with rain, and the corridors fall silent. One thing to check first: Kiunkaku is closed every Wednesday (open when Wednesday is a public holiday). More than one traveller has walked up from the station only to find the gates shut.

What to See at Kiunkaku

You experience Kiunkaku on foot — slowly, room by room, with the garden always close at hand. Give yourself about an hour. Here is what to look for, roughly in the order most visitors love it.

The Garden

The garden is the heart of Kiunkaku, and for most visitors it is the reason to come. A railway magnate spent five years from 1925 laying out its 10,000 square metres, shaping the grounds around a central stream and a single massive stone at its heart. It's a strolling garden, so you're meant to walk its winding paths — and you can also take it in framed from the wooden corridors and the windows of each room, where it shows a slightly different face from every angle. Most visitors do both: a slow loop through the grounds, then the changing views from within.

It was built to drain well, so puddles are rare even in the rain — and rain brings out its colours, the moss glowing deep green and the stone darkening with water. Cherry blossoms arrive in spring, and maples turn in autumn.

The Stained-Glass Sunroom

If one detail stays with visitors, it is the stained glass in the sunroom. The panels came from a Tokyo studio that also made glass for Japan's National Diet Building, and one small window carries an unusual mado-gai (windowpane-oyster) design. The floor is laid with Taizan tiles — a prized Kyoto art tile of the era, glazed in deep, glowing colours — and on a bright day, coloured light filters through the stained glass across the room. It is a quiet, luminous room that photographs beautifully.

The Early-Showa Western Rooms

The Western wing blends different styles on purpose. One room sets a floor of inlaid woodwork beneath an ornate coffered ceiling, its walls covered in washi paper made to imitate 17th-century European gilt leather. Another — the first Western room built here — hides a small joke above its fireplace: playing-card suits, hearts and clubs and diamonds, inlaid in mother-of-pearl, and a pane of stained glass bearing a lucky character, set deliberately upside-down by its makers. A third turns English again — a Tudor-style mountain-lodge look, with window catches borrowed from railway engineering.

The Japanese Rooms and the Writers Who Stayed

The older Japanese wing, built in 1919, is calmer and more intimate. Each room wears a colour — deep indigo walls in one, deep purple in the room above, red-ochre in a third. The villa's first owner built these rooms as a quiet retreat for his mother, who had difficulty walking; their step-free corridors wrap the rooms so she could move between them without a single stair — a design quietly ahead of its time. This wing is also where literary history sits lightly: during its years as a ryokan, several of Japan's most celebrated writers stayed at Kiunkaku, among them Osamu Dazai, author of No Longer Human. You do not need to know their names to feel the hush they came here for.

Tea at Café Yasuragi

Before you leave, the on-site tearoom, Yasuragi, occupies what was the bar in the villa's ryokan days and looks straight out over the garden. This is the one place you're meant to sit and stay a while: order a matcha set with a seasonal sweet, the villa's own house-blend coffee, or an Atami black tea, and take in the same garden the villa's ryokan guests once did. It is open 9:30–16:30 (last order 16:00) and closed Wednesdays with the villa; seating is limited, and visitors touring the villa come first.

And a Roman bath: tucked beside the Western wing is a 1929 "Roman-style" bathroom, lit through a stained-glass window with a stylized aspidistra-leaf motif. It is for viewing only — no one bathes here now — but design lovers linger over its two tubs and the tilework once threaded with hot water through tiny holes.

The Villa's Story — From Private Villa to Public Landmark

Kiunkaku grew in the hands of three owners. In 1919 a shipping magnate built the first Japanese wing as a retreat for his mother. From 1925 a railway magnate expanded the grounds, added the Western wing and the Roman bath, and created the garden. After the war, in 1947, it reopened as one of Atami's most prestigious ryokan inns, which ran until 1999. In 2000 the city of Atami acquired the villa and opened it to the public as a cultural property. That layered history — a private home, a luxury inn, and finally a place anyone can walk through — is part of what gives each room its distinct character.

When Kiunkaku Is Quietest — Rainy Days and Weekdays

Kiunkaku is popular, especially on weekends. If you would rather have the corridors to yourself, come on a weekday — and don't be put off by rain. The garden was engineered to shed water, so its paths stay walkable underfoot even after rain; you can still stroll it, or take it in from the covered wooden corridors. On a wet weekday the moss is at its greenest, the reflections in the stream sharpen, and you may have the stained glass to yourself. Rain here is no reason to change your plans.

How Long to Spend, and How to Get the Most Out of It

Plan for about 40 minutes to an hour. A natural loop is to start in the garden to get your bearings, move up into the stained-glass sunroom while the light is good, continue through the Western and Japanese rooms, and finish with tea at Yasuragi overlooking the garden. Three shots worth slowing down for: the coloured light falling through the sunroom glass, the moss and stream after rain, and the mother-of-pearl playing cards above the fireplace in the first Western room.

Getting to Kiunkaku

Kiunkaku is about a 10-minute bus ride or a 20-minute walk from JR Atami Station. See the full station guide here: Atami Station bus stops.

Essential Information

While you're exploring Atami's heritage, you might also visit the MOA Museum of Art — another fine choice on a rainy day — or nearby Kinomiya Shrine.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can you bathe in the Roman bath?

No. The 1929 Roman-style bathroom is preserved for viewing only — it is no longer in use. It's worth a look for its stained-glass window and tilework, but bring your onsen plans elsewhere.

Is Kiunkaku worth visiting on a rainy day?

Yes. The garden drains quickly, so its paths stay walkable and you can also admire it from covered corridors. Rain deepens the moss and sharpens the reflections in the stream, and the crowds thin out — it's a genuinely good rainy-day option.

How long does a visit take, and is it accessible?

Most visitors spend 40 minutes to an hour. The ground-floor Japanese rooms include a step-free corridor originally built by the villa's first owner for his mother, who had difficulty walking, though some upper-floor and Western rooms have steps; ask staff at the entrance about the easiest route.

Which days is Kiunkaku closed?

Kiunkaku closes every Wednesday (unless that Wednesday is a public holiday) and from December 26–30. Every other day it's open 9:00–17:00 (last entry 16:30) — so as long as you avoid Wednesdays, you're fine.

Which famous writers stayed here?

During its years as a ryokan, several of Japan's most celebrated novelists stayed at Kiunkaku, among them Osamu Dazai (author of No Longer Human) and Junichiro Tanizaki. The rooms are kept much as they were, so you can sit where they once did.