Japan’s first botanical garden for overnight stays opens in Ibaraki

Botanical Resort Co., Ltd. will open “THE BOTANICAL RESORT RINNE” next month as Japan’s first “overnight” botanical garden. The facility is located in Naka, Ibaraki Prefecture, will offer an immersive nature experience that blends accommodation, wellness and local cuisine to support regional revitalisation.

The resort sets out to be “a place where you naturally smile,” a phrase with a double meaning: the effortless smiles that come with deep relaxation and joy drawn directly from nature, including plants, forests, wind and sunlight. The company, citing its own research, says the concept is a first in Japan. Set within a botanical garden that was formerly a paid-entry attraction, the grounds will be free to enter when the resort opens.

THE BOTANICAL RESORT RINNE will offer 45 units of accommodation. It will come with 27 glamping tents and 18 cottages, including two dog-friendly units. A centrepiece is “RINNE no Yu,” a hot-spring facility built with locally sourced Ibaraki timber. It will offer herbal baths made with herbs grown on site, plus several saunas.

Dining will lean heavily on local sourcing to support the region’s agricultural economy. The restaurants and cafes will serve Ibaraki ingredients: an Italian restaurant, a cafe in the tropical greenhouse, a casual eatery in the spa and a barbecue area with full facilities.

For recreation, the “RINNE Boken no Mori” (RINNE Adventure Forest) will use the surrounding prefectural forest for activities including a treetop adventure course featuring a 150-metre zip line, an augmented-reality target game and a grass-sledding slope. The resort can also host school trips and other educational programmes.

By using local timber and produce and opening the garden to the community, the development offers a model for regional revitalisation, turning an existing natural asset into a multifaceted destination and aiming to deliver lasting economic and social value for Ibaraki.

The development of THE BOTANICAL RESORT RINNE echoes one of the models for regional revitalisation, taking an existing natural asset and transforming it into a multifaceted, sustainable tourist destination.