Bella Vista Spa & Marina Onomichi is a resort destination wedding venue in Onomichi, Japan, hosting 10 to 80 guests in the $$$$ price range, reached from Hiroshima (HIJ), ~90 minutes by car. Best months: July, August, September, December.
Bella Vista Spa & MarinaOnomichi
The Ribbon Chapel is the reason this hotel is on the list.
Bella Vista Spa & Marina Onomichi in Onomichi, open July – September, December.
The Ribbon Chapel is the reason this hotel is on the list.
Finished in 2014 to a design by Hiroshi Nakamura, it is two spiral staircases wound around each other, each holding the other up, climbing 15.26 metres above the Seto Inland Sea.
A couple starts at the bottom on separate stairs, crosses paths on the way up and meets at the top, and the staircases themselves form the walls and roof of a cone of glass with wooden seating for 80 below.
The hotel under it is small, 44 rooms, first opened in 1973 for visitors to the shipyard next door and rebuilt as a resort in 2007, with a marina that is the base for Setouchi Seaplanes and the cruise ship Guntu.
4 notes of our own.
Ribbon Chapel by Hiroshi Nakamura, completed 2014, 15.26 m tall
Two interlocking staircases forming the chapel walls and roof
Wooden seating for 80 under a cone of glass
44-room hotel with a marina on the Seto Inland Sea
Best held in July, August, September.
The months the weather, and the local rhythm, is kindest to a stay at Bella Vista Spa & Marina Onomichi.
Ask about a date.
Choose a day from the calendar.
Nothing is reserved until the venue confirms. A first note comes back within two business days.
How the weekend usually runs.
Yours will be different, nothing below is required. Every planning begins with the three meals you most want to eat, and builds outward.
- 17:00Arrival by car or boat, drinks at the marina
- 11:00Morning on the water, islands and a seaplane loop
- 15:30Ceremony in the Ribbon Chapel, the two staircases up
- 16:30Photographs on the chapel ramp above the Inland Sea
- 18:30Dinner at the hotel, Setouchi fish and Hiroshima sake
- 10:00Cycling the Shimanami Kaido, or cars to Fukuyama
Things worth knowing.
HIJ · ~90 minutes by car
Guests fly into Hiroshima. Our team arranges every transfer.
$26,000
The hotel publishes the chapel capacity but no wedding prices, so every cost figure here is ours, built from Japanese resort-wedding norms and converted at about 155 yen to the dollar.
See the full figure+
4,000,000 to 8,000,000 yen for 60 guests, about $26,000 to $52,000 (estimated)
$2,600
A one-time licence and setup fee, paid to the venue.
See the full figure+
Not published; chapel ceremonies at this tier commonly run 400,000 to 800,000 yen, about $2,600 to $5,200 (estimated)
20,000 to 35,000 yen a head for food and drink / head
A seated dinner with wine and service, by headcount.
See the full figure+
20,000 to 35,000 yen a head for food and drink (estimated)
$450 / night
A standard room in the wedding window. Group rates on request.
See the full figure+
Rooms from roughly 70,000 yen, about $450 (estimated)
July – September, December
The 4 months the weather is kindest. Shoulder dates soften the light and the rates.
Figures are estimates, modeled from regional rates and public sources, not a quote from the venue. Once the venue claims this page, their own rates take precedence.
Asked along the way.
How many guests fit in the Ribbon Chapel?+
Eighty. The chapel furniture, including the altar and the seating, is wooden and fixed at that number, so the ceremony caps your guest list here even though the hotel could seat more for dinner.
What makes the Ribbon Chapel unusual?+
The structure is the ceremony. Two spiral staircases wind around each other and each one supports the other, so the couple walk up separately, cross on the way and meet at the top, 15.26 metres above the Seto Inland Sea.
How do guests reach Onomichi?+
Hiroshima airport is roughly 90 minutes by car. The Shinkansen to Fukuyama and then a 30-minute drive is the usual route from Tokyo or Kyoto, and the hotel arranges transfers, because there is no useful public transport to the door.
Can guests stay at the hotel?+
Some of them. The hotel has 44 rooms, which is enough for the immediate party but not for 80 people, so a larger guest list spills into Onomichi town or Fukuyama, 30 minutes away.
What does a wedding here cost?+
The hotel does not publish wedding prices. Japanese resort weddings at this tier commonly land between 4,000,000 and 8,000,000 yen for a party of 60 once ceremony, banquet and attire are counted, and the hotel quotes on enquiry.
Others to weigh.
Ask about dates at Bella Vista Spa & Marina Onomichi.
A note to us with a rough season and guest count. Nothing is reserved until the venue confirms. A reply comes within two business days, from a person by name.