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木の根ペンション (Kinone pension) is a very special hotel, right in the middle of Narita Airport:

enter image description here

It seems to have no website and no phone number, it can't be found on booking websites. It is on Google Maps though. This Excite article says it costs 1000 yen per night (yes very cheap), the article talks about a tunnel to go there without giving precise directions, and instructs readers to ignore the "No entrance" signs.

QUESTION: How can I walk to this hotel from a Narita airport terminal?
Anything special I should be aware of if I want to stay there?

This Yahoo Answers page asks the exact same question, but the answers don't give directions, only talking about the heavy police surveillance.

Kinone pension pool

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    Fascinating question, and I look forward to seeing an answer. Note, though, that this picture you have above is not the same building as the one at the location shown on Google Maps. Google Maps puts the hotel here, while the picture above is of a different structure about 900 meters NNE, here. I have no idea, though, which one is actually the hotel.
    – Michael Seifert
    Commented Oct 16, 2015 at 19:56
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    I think this may be the entrance to the structure in the posted picture, but I'm not sure. I can't read Japanese; can anyone translate the sign in the link?
    – Michael Seifert
    Commented Oct 16, 2015 at 20:04
  • This hotel was set at the time of 1960s when Narita airport was started construction. It acts as symbol of anti-narita-airport movement more than the hotel itself.
    – Him
    Commented Oct 16, 2015 at 21:34
  • @MichaelSeifert: It is written "*Around 700 meters to <some address>"
    – nic
    Commented Oct 17, 2015 at 2:37
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    Some years later, Kinone Pension appears to have a Facebook page. There's also this blog post which describes the place. I would turn these links into an answer, but I don't speak Japanese and I don't trust Google Translate to get it quite right.
    – Michael Seifert
    Commented Nov 17, 2021 at 18:35

2 Answers 2

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Sadly, aside from very occasional events, the pension is not open to the public. From their Facebook homepage:

イベント時以外は関係者以外立ち入り禁止となっており宿泊営業はしておりません。

Except for events, entry is prohibited except for related parties, and there is no accommodation available.

Eyeballing the homepage, they seem to put on various art-slash-party events roughly twice a year. At time of writing their last event was on November 11, 2023, featuring a line-up of psychedelic trance DJs and tickets going for ¥8000/9000 in advance/at the door, plus ¥3000 if you want to pitch your own tent.

If an event is happening, it's 18 min on foot from Shibayama-Chiyoda station on the Shibayama Railway, with through services from Keisei Narita, or a 10 min taxi ride from the airport.

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Google Maps places the pension slightly differently than the buildings you located. This appears to be the route on Google Maps.

Pension Location Google Maps

Google Maps satellite photo also seems to match the pictures found under this link about a festival that took place at the pension. You can see a garden and solar panels in the pictures that seem to also be visible in the satellite photo. If I understand correctly, you enter a tunnel at Higashi-Narita Station, and will find the pension on your left as you exit the end of the tunnel, and there is also a pedestrian tunnel from the Airport to Higashi-Narita station.

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    This article, along with this one, sheds some light on making it there on the street level.
    – Krazer
    Commented Oct 16, 2015 at 21:46
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    Sorry I had the wrong picture indeed, I fixed the question, thanks!
    – nic
    Commented Oct 17, 2015 at 2:44

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