Miyamasou

Miyamasou began in the 1890s as a guesthouse for pilgrims walking to the remote Bujō-ji temple, deep in the Hanase mountains, and the same family has run it ever since — fourth-generation chef Hisato Nakahigashi now carries it forward. He trained in France, including at a three-star kitchen, before coming home at 26 to take it on. His cuisine is tsumikusa — "freshly picked" — a style descended from the Heian aristocracy's pastime of gathering wild herbs to welcome spring, and Nakahigashi forages most of it himself: wild mountain vegetables in spring, river sweetfish in summer, mushrooms in autumn, bear and boar and venison in winter. You dine, and can stay the night, in a quiet wood building set among trees and a murmuring river. In the 2026 Michelin guide it was promoted to three stars — Kyoto's first new three-star in six years. Few meals taste this completely of the place around them.