Universal Guest Room ─ Coming Soon
A new room at Hifumi Ryokan
Okatotoki
An ancient name for the balloon flower
For wheelchair users, older guests and people with disabilities — a room where you can share your Kyoto stay with family and friends, all under one roof. We are building it now, on our 4th floor.
Completion: January 2027 / Stays begin: February 2027
Read the construction journalOur Wish
“I want to stay at the same inn as everyone else.”
Every year, many school groups stay with us at Hifumi Ryokan, just in front of Kyoto Station, and we have long welcomed students who use wheelchairs. Yet some children who find it hard to sleep away from their families have had to stay at a separate hotel nearby, even when their whole school was staying with us.
Many of our guests from Japan and abroad, too, now tell us they would rather have chairs and beds than floor cushions and futons.
Whatever your age, and whether or not you live with a disability, we want you to be able to enjoy a true ryokan evening in Kyoto in the same room as the people you travel with. We picture a student who once came here on a school trip returning years later with their own family. We want to be a ryokan by Kyoto Station where three generations can relax together. Okatotoki grows out of that wish.
We are converting our 4th-floor banquet hall, which has not been in use, into a single spacious guest room that occupies the whole floor.
The Room
Based on the current architectural plans.
The route from the 4th-floor elevator to the room entrance is kept short, so getting to your room takes as little effort as possible.
There is a step at the room entrance (genkan), with a handrail and a portable ramp for wheelchair access. Beyond the entrance, the room has no steps.
About 89 m² with a living and dining room, a bedroom and a study. The toilet and washroom will have sliding doors, which are easier to open and close.
A bathroom large enough to enter in a wheelchair, with handrails and a slip-resistant floor. You can set the water temperature to suit yourself.
Semi-double beds, and a dining table with armchairs — comfortable for guests who find sitting on the floor difficult.
Cook and do laundry in the room, just as you would at home. This helps guests with food allergies or dietary needs, and the families who accompany them, feel at ease.
Inner windows with the soft look of shoji paper screens bring the calm of a Kyoto ryokan. With only one room on the floor, it will be quiet, too.
Details may change as construction progresses. Exact measurements, such as doorway widths, will be published after we measure the finished room.
The Name
岡止々岐Okatotoki
Okatotoki is an old Japanese name for the balloon flower (kikyō, Platycodon grandiflorus), also known as the Chinese bellflower, whose purple blossoms open from summer into autumn.
The name appears in the Honzō Wamyō, a dictionary of medicinal plants compiled by Fukane no Sukehito around 918, in the Heian period. Its entry for the balloon flower gives the Japanese name arinohifuki, together with a second name, wokatotoki, written phonetically as 乎加止々岐.
For our room, we have written this ancient name with the characters 岡止々岐 — a spelling chosen by the ryokan. It is a gentle-sounding name that has been in use for more than a thousand years.
Source: Honzō Wamyō, vol. 1, entry for 桔梗 (“和名阿利乃比布岐 一名乎加止々岐”), checked in the Honzō Wamyō database (Jisho-goi Database).
Story
Newest updates first. Some updates are in Japanese only.
Today, renovation work began on the 4th floor. Our former banquet hall, unused for some time, is being transformed into a guest room where wheelchair users can stay together with their families.
Information
This room is being built with support from the Japan Tourism Agency’s Universal Tourism Promotion Program for Tourist Destinations and the Tourism Industry.