Newly opened SATOYAMA STAY in Gifu connects travelers with locals

It’s been a while since tourism worldwide started providing hands-on, immersive tours for tourists. But compared to tourism advanced countries like Thailand and Singapore, there are very few businesses that provide such experiences in rural parts of Japan. The country has become a tourism-oriented in recent years, and deep concerns for regional revitalization has been constantly expressed, although no significant changes have been made.

Under these circumstances however, Chura-boshi Company in Hida city, Gifu Prefecture is one company that is trying to make a difference. Since 2010, the company has been providing SATOYAMA EXPERIENCE cycling tours and other cultural activities open for tourists visiting the Hida area to enjoy in order to revitalize the area.

The company launched tours and activities that utilizes regional resources scattered in the region, one of the first of its kind in Japan. Their efforts paid off—the service earned high customer satisfaction of 99%, attracting attention as a popular tourist activity in rural Japan. More than 90% of the approximately 4,500 guests a year are foreigners (2019), and it has received numerous awards including Good Design Award (2013) and Certificate of Excellence from the word-of-mouth website Tripadvisor for 9 consecutive years.

But with the declining population and the non-ceasing increase of vacant houses in the region, local people felt the need to take the project a step further to contribute more to the region. They came up with the idea of adding another value to their initiative—the “SATOYAMA STAY” hotel that tackles total producing of guest stays, while making even more use of local resources.

The first “scattered hotel” in the region takes after “Albergo Diffuso”—a simple but genial model devised in Italy in the mid-90s, which received an award from the UNDP for its sustainability. The model became an ideal way of breathing like into old townhouses, vacant stores and historical buildings in the area and regenerate them into accommodation facilities, regarding the entire town as one whole inn. In recent years, the effort has been attracting attention in Japan too.

The newly built SATOYAMA STAY hotel constitutes of two wooden buildings: Nino-machi and Tano-machi. From carpenters, plasterers, joinery to tatami mats, the wooden townhouses featuring older Hida houses, were created with the combination of skills of local craftsmen known as “Hida no Takumi.” The main building Nino-machi accommodates a front desk where tourists can book their tours. It also has a large open doorway and an open space so that locals can easily enter the hotel. The kitchen studio will hopefully serve as a community center for people both in and outside the region to gather for events such as cooking classes organized by local people.

In order to pursue sustainable tourism—a crucial topic even before COVID 19—the hotel is focusing on enhancing local procurement and reducing environmental impact in order to acquire an international standard GSTC certification. Its efforts include:

• Local procurement:
  The hotel contributes to the local economy by requesting furniture for the facility from local furniture makers and furniture craftsmen in the neighborhood.
• Reuse:
  It also aims to reduce environmental load by using scrap materials from major furniture manufacturers and reusing tableware and furniture that were sleeping in warehouses of the local people.
• Use of natural power:
  Power used at the hotel is purchased from a power company that is 100% renewable.
• Reduction of plastic bottles:
  A water server for clean water is installed inside the hotel. No plastic bottles are placed in the room.

“Stay local, do local, feel local!” is the slogan of SATOYAMA STAY. The hotel’s opening in July, will allow visitors a “traveling-like-living” experience in a typical Japanese countryside. Why not visit this new hotel to feel & experience Hida region and interact with local residents and travelers from all over the world?