Yamaya Communications Co., Ltd. (hereinafter “Yamaya”), a company engaged in the manufacture and sale of spicy mentaiko (seasoned cod roe) and food service businesses, is entering the lodging business for the first time. The company opened “Shirogane Hanare,” a whole-house rental inn in Shirogane, Chuo-ku, Fukuoka City, on April 18.

The concept is “a bathhouse retreat open to the town.” Equipped with a private bathhouse for guests and three bedrooms, the property can accommodate up to 11 guests. While ensuring a high level of privacy through unmanned operation, the design invites guests to explore the surrounding neighborhood and enjoy culinary experiences in collaboration with the company’s flagship store, “Yamaya Sohonten.” Having long promoted Kyushu’s food culture, Yamaya is now proposing a new form of urban stay rooted in food.

In this article, we interviewed Yamaya about the background behind opening “Shirogane Hanare,” the property’s features, its connection to the Shirogane area, and future prospects.

Official website: https://yamaya-shiroganehanare.jp/

――― Could you share the background and aims behind launching “Shirogane Hanare,” Yamaya’s first venture into the lodging business?

“Shirogane Hanare” was launched as our first lodging business, expanding the food culture we have cultivated over the years into a “stay experience.”

In recent years, Yamaya Sohonten has welcomed many guests from overseas as well as domestic travelers visiting for tourism. In that context, we have sensed a growing interest not only in food, but also in experiences unique to the local area.

Unlike the Tenjin or Hakata Station areas, the Shirogane neighborhood where our flagship store is located is a highly attractive district dotted with distinctive street-level shops run by individual owners.

At “Shirogane Hanare,” rather than being self-contained, we want guests to use it as a base to venture out into Yakuin, Shirogane, and indeed the wider city of Fukuoka—enjoying food and meeting people. Through such experiences, we aim to propose a new form of urban stay in which the town and the inn are loosely connected.

――― Within the concept of “a bathhouse retreat open to the town,” could you tell us why you placed the “bathhouse” at the center of the stay experience?

We reinterpreted the memory of the “bathhouse” (yuya)—where people once naturally interacted—as a modern, whole-house rental lodging experience.

Using “Shirogane Hanare” as a base, guests can share their experiences and culinary memories of the town in the private space of the “bathhouse.” We have designed that very time itself to be the value of the stay.

More than just a place for relaxation, we positioned the “bathhouse” at the heart of the stay experience as a space that fosters connections between people, and between people and the town.

――― You designed the inn so that guests venture out to enjoy food and meet people, rather than keeping everything within the property. Could you tell us how you reflected the appeal of the Shirogane neighborhood in the lodging experience?

Unlike the Tenjin or Hakata Station areas, Shirogane is a district where many street-level shops, each filled with the personality of their individual owners, are scattered throughout.

“Shirogane Hanare” deliberately specializes in lodging functions, designing a stay that is not self-contained within the property.

For dining, while we suggest options that include our own “Yamaya Sohonten,” we also want guests to wander among the neighborhood’s coffee shops, bakeries, sweets shops, and even the bars at night, enjoying the town itself as it is shaped by “the people of Fukuoka.”

By using the inn as a base to explore the town, encounters and experiences unique to the area emerge. We want to provide that kind of value of stay.

――― Through food experiences in collaboration with “Yamaya Sohonten” and the breakfast service planned for the future, how do you hope to expand the unique value of the lodging business?

We hope to develop “Shirogane Hanare” not merely as a place to spend the night, but as a venue where guests can experience the food culture of Yamaya Sohonten through their stay.

By collaborating with the adjacent “Yamaya Sohonten,” guests can enjoy a special multi-course dinner in the evening, a Japanese breakfast that restores the body in the morning, and lunch along the Shirogane Komichi alley at midday. With food at the core, we aim to provide a value of stay that enriches the very flow of the day.

The breakfast service, set to begin in the future, is built around the concept of “a tray that prepares you for a Hakata morning.” It will start with warm rice porridge and a probiotic drink, followed by freshly cooked clay-pot rice, Yamaya’s “freshly made mentaiko,” and seasonal dried fish, among other dishes.

By drawing on the ingredients and techniques unique to Yamaya, we aim to refine this further as “an experience of savoring a Hakata morning.”

Furthermore, as a value made possible only through lodging, we want to expand the points of contact with the local food and culture. Guests walk through the Shirogane neighborhood, spend time in the town, return to the inn, and once again enjoy food. We will continue to deepen this kind of stay experience that connects town, inn, and food.

Ultimately, we aim to make it a property chosen by many guests both as “an inn you want to stay at when visiting Fukuoka” and as “the place where you can most deeply savor Yamaya’s food.”

――― Finally, could you share your future outlook—what kind of lodging experiences and value you hope to propose through “Shirogane Hanare”?

Rather than simply launching a new lodging facility, we see “Shirogane Hanare” as a challenge to let guests more deeply experience the “food hospitality” Yamaya has cultivated, within the time frame of a stay.

Through our mentaiko production and food service businesses, we have always cherished the idea of “enriching people’s lives through food.” At Shirogane Hanare, we want to make that value something guests can feel not only during meals, but throughout the time spanning from arrival to the following morning.

Specifically, we will refine a value of stay in which “lodging,” “restoration,” and “savoring” are unified—a space that offers tranquility and a sense of privacy at the heart of the city, time spent slowly soothing the body in the bath, and food experiences in collaboration with the adjacent Yamaya Sohonten.

The Shirogane neighborhood itself is also a major attraction. Beyond merely visiting tourist spots, we want to fulfill the role of an inn connected to the town, allowing guests to feel its everyday life, atmosphere, and even its dining culture.

Over the medium to long term, we hope to grow “Shirogane Hanare” into a special destination for visitors to Fukuoka and, at the same time, into a new platform for communicating the value of the Yamaya brand.

Long known as “Yamaya, the food brand,” we will now take on the challenge of further broadening our points of contact with customers as “Yamaya, memorable down to the stay itself.”

Property Overview

Property name: Shirogane Hanare
Location: 1-6-1 Shirogane, Chuo-ku, Fukuoka City, Fukuoka 810-0012
Building type: Detached whole-house rental
Total floor area: Approximately 102 sqm
Capacity: Up to 11 guests
Operation: Unmanned (non-face-to-face check-in)
Access: 6-minute walk from “Yakuin Station” on the Fukuoka City Subway Nanakuma Line
Official website: https://yamaya-shiroganehanare.jp/