Wellness Retreat Japan: Inside Maana Kyoto
How two friends restored Kyoto townhouses into the most considered wellness retreat and craft experience programme in Japan — and what the idea of living well actually demands.
Among the growing number of wellness retreats in Japan, Maana occupies singular ground. It is not a spa resort — no treatments menu, no therapies, no wellness branding in the lobby. Instead, what it offers is something closer to the original meaning of the word: restored Kyoto townhouses, a small group of master craftspeople, and the time — unhurried, structured, entirely yours
――― HOW IT BEGAN
The idea came one night in Spain. Two childhood friends, Hana and Irene, both had travelled widely, always looking for the same thing: a feeling of real cultural depth, rare and unhurried — the kind that stays with you long after you’ve come home and quietly changes how you see the world.
Spain was where the conversation began. But the soil, as Irene would later put it, was not quite right. Then one founder — Hana — returned to Japan to care for her mother and proposed Kyoto. Straightaway, Irene understood why: Kyoto offers traditional architecture you can actually work with, craftspeople still practising generational lineages, and a relationship with time that the rest of the world has largely abandoned.
“Kyoto is at the forefront of going deeper. Most of the world is focused on scaling and efficiency. Kyoto chose differently.”
— Irene, Co-Founder of Maana Homes
They named the project Maana — a word meaning senses. Everything they have since built — the restored machiya, the craft experiences, the wellness retreats, the small retail space — is organised around the same invitation: reconnect, through your hands and your senses, with a way of living that is disappearing almost everywhere else.
――― ON RESTORING KYOTO
Maana’s properties are traditional Kyoto machiya — the long, narrow townhouses that once lined every street in the city. Each was restored through what the founders describe simply as: all of it, and more. Inevitably, the spaciousness of well-made things compounds — the extra days given to a craftsman to finish a detail properly always, eventually, show up in the feeling of the room.
“One flower, intentionally placed, can be the only thing a room needs. That became one of our core principles.”
— Irene, Co-Founder
Irene’s training was in Western interior architecture — a discipline of layering, filling, adding. Kyoto asked her to unlearn it. Depth returns through simplicity. One meaningful experience holds more than an itinerary of them. When every object, moment and space is intentional, very little else is needed.
――― WHY CRAFT IS THE WHOLE POINT
The craftspeople changed everything. There are, Irene says, no adequate words for the gratitude she feels — for their dedication and, most unexpectedly, their humility. The workshops, wellness retreats and retail space at Maana exist because these people’s knowledge deserves to be shared.
Once you spend real time with craftspeople, you understand that their work is not mastery for its own sake. In truth, it is a manner of moving through existence — a way of paying attention that most modern life has quietly designed out. And so, Maana exists, its founders say, to protect the human side of living — so that guests remain capable of genuine connection as the world accelerates around them.
“We hope people leave with inspired hearts, reminded to create simple, beautiful moments in their own everyday lives. The new luxury is learning to live better.”
— Founders, Maana
KYOTO UNIQUE EXPERIENCES
Unique Kyoto Experiences at Maana
What makes Maana’s programme genuinely unusual among Kyoto unique experiences is the access it provides. You work in the actual studios of craftspeople who do not ordinarily open their doors to visitors. The intimacy is structural — groups are small because the spaces themselves are small. Each experience can be booked independently or combined around a Maana stay.
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Tea Dye |
Hand-dyeing cloth with natural pigments — tea, bark, plant matter. No two pieces alike. One of Kyoto’s most tactile and meditative unique experiences. |
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Kyoto Botanical Teas |
Forage, blend and steep seasonal Kyoto botanicals with a specialist in the relationship between plant life and intentional living. |
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Earthen Wall (Tsuchikabe) |
Apply traditional clay plaster in the manner of generations of Kyoto craftspeople. Meditative, physical, entirely absorbing. |
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Koji Fermentation |
The ancient science and ritual of koji — the mould underlying miso, sake and soy. Led by a practitioner of many years’ devotion. |
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Tea Ceremony & Breakfast |
A private tea house. One bowl, one morning — the Japanese idea that no meeting repeats. Followed by a seasonal breakfast. |
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Night Tea Ceremony & Dinner |
The same ritual at dusk. Candlelight, a private tea house, seasonal kaiseki dinner. Among the most memorable evenings Kyoto offers. |
WELLNESS RETREATS IN JAPAN
Five-Day Wellness Retreats in Kyoto
For those who wish to go further, Maana offers residential wellness retreats in Japan — each built around a single discipline, pursued over five days with a small group and without rush. Four nights are spent in Maana’s restored Kyoto townhouses, all meals are included, and access to practitioners whose private studios are not otherwise open to visitors is woven through every day.
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Retreat |
What it covers |
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Pottery Retreat |
Five days in Japan’s pottery culture. Private studio visits with master potters, hands-on throwing and glazing using mountain-gathered clay, wild-flower ikebana with antique vessels, exclusive kiln access. Four nights at Maana; all meals, transport and a welcome gift. Early-bird rate through 30 June 2026. |
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Culinary Retreat |
Five days into Japan’s food culture. Dashi philosophy with a renowned Kyoto chef, a sustainable farm visit, traditional knife-care with a master bladesmith, generational koji and miso fermentation. Two to three daily immersions. Four nights at Maana; all meals and transport included. |
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Home Design Retreat |
An immersion in the philosophy of Japanese interior life — traditional architecture, spatial restraint, the single object well placed. For those whose interest in how Maana’s houses feel is inseparable from how they live at home. Studio visits, guided observation, and hands-on material work. |
Photos: courtesy of Maana Homes
COMMON QUESTIONS
Questions About Maana & Japan
What makes Maana different from other wellness retreats in Japan?
Maana is based in restored traditional Kyoto machiya townhouses and focuses on hands-on craft immersion — pottery, tea dyeing, earthen wall-making, fermentation and tea ceremony — led by master craftspeople in their actual working studios. Group sizes are kept deliberately small. This distinguishes it from larger resort-based wellness retreats in Japan, which typically offer treatments and therapies rather than craft immersion and cultural depth.
What unique experiences does Maana offer in Kyoto?
Maana offers six bookable Kyoto unique experiences: Tea Dyeing (¥38,000), Kyoto Botanical Teas (¥18,000), Earthen Wall / tsuchikabe (¥38,000), Koji Fermentation (¥18,000), Morning Tea Ceremony and Breakfast (¥42,000), and Night Tea Ceremony and Dinner (¥47,500). All are led by practitioners in intimate, private settings not ordinarily accessible to visitors.
*Rates as of 03/05/2026
What wellness retreats does Maana run in Japan?
Maana currently runs three residential Japan wellness retreats: a Pottery Retreat (September 10–14, 2026, from US $5,000), a Culinary Retreat (dates TBC, from US $5,000) and a Home Design Retreat (dates TBC, from US $5,500). All include four nights at Maana’s Kyoto properties, all meals, transport and exclusive studio access.
*Rates as of 03/05/2026
How can I book a Maana experience or retreat?
Individual Kyoto experiences can be booked directly at maanahomes.com/book/experiences. Retreat places are filled from a waitlist — write to retreats@maana.jp to apply. Dressarte Paris readers can also enquire through our Journey bespoke travel service at contact@dressarteparis.com for a fully curated Kyoto or Japan wellness itinerary.
What is the best season for a wellness retreat in Kyoto?
Kyoto is extraordinary in spring (late March–May, cherry blossom) and autumn (September–November, foliage). Maana’s restored machiya are beautiful year-round; winter, when the city is quietest, is particularly suited to the intimacy of indoor craft retreats.
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Dressarte Paris has followed Maana’s work since its early days — drawn to it for the same reasons we write about certain ateliers and craftspeople in every issue. The approach is identical: begin with the person, understand what is actually needed, and build something accordingly.
Through Journey, our bespoke travel service, we can help you plan a Maana stay, a Kyoto wellness retreat, a broader Japan itinerary — or all three, woven together into something coherent and genuinely yours. We do not operate as a booking agent. We work as a creative director would: listening first, then putting together an experience around the person making the enquiry.
“We can help with a single week at Maana, a longer journey through Japan, or a programme that combines a wellness retreat with time in Tokyo or Osaka. Every arrangement is made from scratch, around the person making the enquiry.”
— Dressarte Paris, Journey
If you would like to discuss a Maana stay, a retreat booking, or a longer Japan itinerary, write to us at the atelier in the usual way. Tell us, in your own words, what you are looking for and when you are thinking of travelling. There is no wrong place to begin.