TENRI, Nara -- A 128-year-old wooden train station building in this western Japan city was renovated into a hotel and is now open to guests.

The hotel, located at JR Sakurai Line's Ichinomoto Station, is named "CEUEU Ichinomoto Station." Using the slogan, "Stay over in a station building and feel like you're on a night train," the hotel is likely to draw rail fans, with trains passing right beside the room's windows.

The station was built in 1898 (Meiji era year 31) with the opening of the section between Kyobate and Sakurai on the former Nara Railway, and it became an unmanned station in 2002. As the building deteriorated, West Japan Railway Co. donated the building to the Tenri Municipal Government in September 2025. The city called for ideas from the private sector on how to make use of the station building and adopted a proposal from Risshisha Co., a hotel development and management company based in Kyoto.

The total cost of renovation work was about 35 million yen (about $216,000). The one-story building, formerly used as an office and waiting room, was renovated into a loft-style facility. Locally produced cypress from the prefecture was used for both the interior and exterior, and the design features a calm color scheme based on white and brown tones. The facility is also full of playful touches, such as strap handles that have been installed in the loft, and a clock that does not work hangs on the wall, meant to convey the wish that guests "forget the time and relax."

According to Risshisha representative Koji Maeda, the hotel's name, is a play on the historical kana orthography of "shoyo," a word meaning to wander about freely. It had originally been scheduled to open in May, but the construction period was extended as plumbing parts did not arrive due to a naphtha shortage caused by worsening conditions in the Middle East.

Asuka Mirai High School's Nara main campus, a correspondence high school next to the station, also cooperated on the project. Led by the student council, students created a map of the area around the station for guests. Their idea for a food vending machine at the site was also adopted and it is scheduled to be installed soon in the station's waiting room.

On July 4, about 40 people involved in the project attended an opening ceremony and celebrated with a ribbon-cutting event. "Guests can listen to the sounds of the railroad crossing and the rumble of the tracks, while enjoying the quiet of the platform at night and the bustle of the morning. I hope visitors will experience this unique luxury," Maeda said. Tenri Mayor Ken Namikawa commented, "It is a convenient location for traveling anywhere. I hope it will serve as a gateway connecting the World Heritage sites across the prefecture."

The hotel only accepts stays without meals and accommodates only one group of two or more people per day. Rates start at 13,200 yen (about $81) per person and vary depending on the season and other conditions. Reservations and details are available on the hotel's website.

(Japanese original by Yasuyoshi Mochizuki, Sakurai Local Bureau)