Thursday, 22 May 2025
Now Open: cofunia – A Sensory Retreat along the Yamanobe Ancient Trail, Nara
In 2021, It All Began with a simple post on SNS, “We’ve inherited a kofun. Anyone want to use it?”
—and to our surprise, it struck a chord. Many people asked, “You can inherit a kofun?”
In Japan, there are over 160,000 kofun (ancient burial mounds), many of which quietly exist in everyday life—as farmland, parks, or private land.
At the foot of the 114-meter-long Nishiyamazuka Kofun stood a cluster of seven traditional houses, over 100 years old. Long abandoned, they had fallen into ruin.
From Abandoned to Alive Again as accomodation
The houses were nearly beyond repair—leaking roofs, collapsed beams, ghostly silence. It would have been easier to tear them down.
But we felt something here: a presence of time we didn’t want to erase.
While most architects said it was faster to demolish, "Team Clapton"— a group of architects, believed in restoration. Together with volunteers from across Japan and abroad, we began the renovation.
In 2025, cofunia Opened
Three years later, cofunia officially opened in March 2025.
It’s the first accommodation in Japan where guests can stay at the foot of a kofun.
The concept: Five Senses × Five Elements
Each of the four guest rooms is inspired by an element of ancient East Asian philosophy—Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water—and offers a unique sensory experience.
Meals are served in the communal Fire Building, celebrating local ingredients, fermentation, and herbal traditions.
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A Place to Rest—and Reconnect
A portion of each stay helps support the preservation of Nishiyamazuka Kofun.
The mound, once an orchard, is gradually being restored and opened to the community—today, you can even enjoy tea atop it.
Kofun are final resting places—but they also quietly offer wisdom for how we live today.
At cofunia, we hope to continue nurturing a way of life where people and kofun can coexist.
A Garden in Spring
This spring, we harvested tea leaves from the garden during Hachijūhachi-ya, the 88th night of the traditional calendar. With the scent of herbs in the air, we pan-fried the fresh leaves and sipped our own handmade tea.
The garden is waking up—plum blossoms swelling, grasses sprouting—and with it, the rhythm of cofunia as a place of rest has begun.
It’s a quiet, gentle space where the body and spirit can soften.
We look forward to welcoming you.
Chisato Maeda @ cofunia
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cofunia
Email: reservation@cofunia.co.jp
Tel: 0743-20-6393
Address: KAYOCHO, TENRI-SHI, NARA, 632-0042, JAPAN
HP：https://cofunia.co.jp/
IG：https://www.instagram.com/cofunia.nara/
