Chapel on the Water, Hoshino Resorts Tomamu
Tadao Ando built the Chapel on the Water in central Hokkaido in 1988, and it is on every list of the buildings that made his name.
Chapel on the Water, Hoshino Resorts Tomamu is a resort destination wedding venue in Shimukappu, Japan, hosting up to 60 guests (Aisle estimate) in the $$$ price range, reached from New Chitose (CTS), ~100 minutes by car.
About Chapel on the Water, Hoshino Resorts Tomamu
Tadao Ando built the Chapel on the Water in central Hokkaido in 1988, and it is on every list of the buildings that made his name.
A concrete box opens on one side onto an artificial pond, a cross stands in 15 centimetres of water, and the wall slides away so that the congregation looks at the cross against the trees with no glass in between.
Water runs at the altar.
Hoshino Resorts runs it as a working wedding chapel on the Tomamu estate, alongside an Ice Chapel built fresh each winter, and the resort behind it holds two hotels, Risonare Tomamu and Tomamu The Tower, so a guest list sleeps on site and moves by shuttle.
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Capacity, rooms and facilities
Money
- Price
- JP¥500,000 to JP¥1,500,000 as a packageAisle estimate
Getting there
- Nearest airport
- CTS, 100 min by carAisle estimate
The spaces
- Setting
- Mountain, modern, elegantAisle estimate
Venue highlights
- Designed by Tadao Ando, completed 1988
- Cross standing in 15 cm of water, the wall sliding open to the pond
- Winter Ice Chapel rebuilt each season on the same estate
- Two hotels on the estate, Risonare Tomamu and Tomamu The Tower
A sample wedding weekend
See the day-by-day outline+
Use this as a starting point and adapt it to your bookings and guests.
- 16:00Arrival at Tomamu, onsen, dinner at the resort
- 06:30Early photographs at the chapel in the first light
- 14:00Ceremony, the wall open onto the pond
- 15:30Drinks in the woods, the party walking back by the water
- 18:00Dinner for the whole group, Hokkaido produce
- 09:00Unkai Terrace at dawn if the cloud sea shows, then departures
Costs and booking details
- Getting there
- CTS · about 1 h 40 by carAisle estimate
Guests fly into New Chitose.
Questions about the venue
How many guests can the Chapel on the Water hold?+
Hoshino Resorts does not publish a figure. The building is a single small concrete room opening onto the pond, and the resort describes weddings here as gatherings of a few close people, so plan for a ceremony in the tens and confirm the number directly.
What is the Ice Chapel?+
A second chapel built from ice on the same estate each winter, rebuilt every season, which the resort offers alongside the Ando chapel. It exists only in the cold months, so it is a January or February option rather than a year-round one.
Can we visit before booking?+
Yes, and it is worth doing. The chapel opens to visitors in short morning and evening slots between late April and early November, roughly 6:30 to 7:30 and 20:30 to 21:30, so a site visit has to be timed rather than dropped in on.
Where do guests stay?+
On the estate. Tomamu holds two hotels, Risonare Tomamu, whose rooms run over 100 square metres with a jet bath and sauna, and Tomamu The Tower, and shuttles run between them, the restaurants and the chapel.
How do guests reach Tomamu?+
New Chitose airport near Sapporo is roughly 100 minutes by car. There is also a JR station at Tomamu with a resort shuttle meeting trains, which makes it reachable without hiring a car, unusual for a Hokkaido mountain resort.
Could this be your venue?
Ask about pricing and availability for the month you have in mind. You do not need a fixed date.
Still deciding? Elena is Aisle’s AI wedding planner. Give her a month and a guest count and she will forecast the budget, work out how your guests would travel, and put a first plan on paper. No account needed.
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Send your dates or a rough season, your guest count and what you’d like to know. The venue can then confirm availability and pricing.
Sources and booking notes
Confirm your dates, guest numbers, room arrangements and inclusions with the venue before booking. An enquiry does not reserve a date. Figures labelled Aisle estimate are modelled from regional rates and public sources; they are not venue quotes.