Auberge Homachi Mikuniminato (オーベルジュほまち 三國湊), a dispersed-style lodging in Sakai, Fukui Prefecture, has been listed as a "Selected" hotel for the third consecutive year in the MICHELIN Guide Hotel Selection 2026, announced in September 2026.
MICHELIN Guide official website: Auberge Homachi Mikuniminato listing page
Now in its third year since opening, the lodging describes this as a "year of evolution," deepening its ties to cuisine, food culture and the local community as it aims to be an inn that continues to be chosen. Chef Tateru Yoshino, who has expressed the local ingredients of Mikuni-minato through French cuisine since the opening, is taking on a "new crab dish that fuses Japanese and French cuisine" using Echizen crab, one of Mikuni-minato's signature ingredients.
What Is the MICHELIN Guide Hotel Selection?
The MICHELIN Guide Hotel Selection evaluates distinctive accommodations that are destinations in themselves against five criteria: (1) experiences unique to the destination, (2) architecture and interior design, (3) quality of service and comfort, (4) value for money, and (5) uniqueness. In Japan in 2026, 253 Selected hotels are featured alongside 145 MICHELIN Keys (as announced by MICHELIN, as of September 2026). "Selected" is the category for accommodations that the MICHELIN Guide recognizes as being of good quality.
Three Years of Being Chosen: A Stay That Lives Alongside the Town
Since opening, Auberge Homachi Mikuniminato has offered a new kind of travel value through a dispersed-style layout that revives historic machiya townhouses of Mikuni-minato, and through gourmet cuisine that makes the most of local ingredients.
The lodging sees this third consecutive selection as proof that it has delivered, with reliable quality, the "new Japanese style of stay" that the world is looking for. This is in line with the "latest trends in hospitality" cited by the MICHELIN Guide: "travel that deeply savors a single place," "a redefinition of luxury," and "experiences that touch the individuality and essence of a region."
Three Highlights of Auberge Homachi Mikuniminato
- Accommodation: The 16 rooms in 9 buildings are renovated machiya townhouses. Guests can stay as if living in Mikuni-minato, where the culture of the townspeople lives on.
- Dining: At the restaurant "Tateru Yoshino Mikuniminato" (タテルヨシノ 三國湊), produced by Tateru Yoshino, guests can fully enjoy the seasonal bounty of Fukui and Mikuni, including Echizen crab, sweet shrimp and Wakasa beef.
- Experiences: Guests can walk through a nostalgic townscape lined with lattice doors, touch the traditions and handwork of long-established shops, and discover the everyday charm of Mikuni-minato.
Corridor leading to the guest rooms
Guest room "Fundo" (分銅)
The name "Homachi" comes from "homachi" (帆待ち), which refers to a Kitamaebune ship waiting for the waves to calm and a good wind to blow before leaving port. While waiting, the sailors earned money by selling the cargo they had brought on board or by doing other loading work, and this pay was called "homachigane" (帆待ち金). In Mikuni, the word later came to mean pocket money or a reward for children, also called "homachi." The lodging was given this name in the hope that a stay here will be a reward (a present) for guests who lead busy everyday lives, as they rest for a while before heading to their next destination.
About Tateru Yoshino Mikuniminato
At "Tateru Yoshino Mikuniminato," produced by French chef Tateru Yoshino, guests can enjoy a blissful dining experience devoted to what is unique to Mikuni-minato. The restaurant draws on the history of Mikuni-minato, which flourished as a port of call for the Kitamaebune trading ships from the Edo to Meiji periods. It makes use of Fukui Prefecture's abundant ingredients and incorporates the food culture carried by those ships, such as kelp, which was said to have been brought from Hokkaido.
Grilled three-star Wakasa beef ichibo (rump cap)
Mi-cuit of Fukui salmon
Facility Information
- Name: Auberge Homachi Mikuniminato (オーベルジュほまち 三國湊)
- Address: 3-4-39 Minamihonmachi, Mikuni-cho, Sakai, Fukui 913-0045
- Phone: 0776-82-0070
- Rooms: 16 rooms in 9 buildings (2 to 4 guests per room)
- Facilities: Front desk building, restaurant "Tateru Yoshino Mikuniminato" (タテルヨシノ 三國湊), gym
- Official website: https://www.homachi.jp/
- Official Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/homachi_mikuniminato/
