Tamba-Sasayama: Inn to the Heart of a Village

"Journeys in Japan"

A Canadian hotelier

discovers a magical village tucked away in the mountains.

Honesty, in reality,

it is somewhat of a miracle.

They may have become unwanted relics of the past.

But we had to revitalize our village.

I was so happy to find a new purpose at my age!

It's very organic. It's full of love, and it's living off the land.

I didn't expect to find

this type of restaurant inside the mountains.

Vincent Ng gets inspiration from 19 villagers

who embrace change to survive

on "Journeys in Japan."

I haven't had a feeling like this in a long time.

It feels like I'm with family again.

Tambasasayama: Inn to the Heart of a Village

Tambasasayama is nestled in eastern Hyogo Prefecture

on the Kyoto border

just over 500 kilometers west of Tokyo.

Hi, I'm Vince,

currently walking along this path about 40 kilometers west of the old capital of Kyoto.

Everything's so peaceful here.

Tambasasayama flourished as an important stop on an old highway

that connected the ancient capital of Kyoto with the Sea of Japan.

There must have been many travelers passing through here,

so there must have been many hotels on this old highway.

Actually, I'm looking for inspiration for my next project.

Vincent moved to Japan in 2008,

operating several lodgings in Kyoto.

But the pandemic hit his businesses hard.

Now he's busy planning his next steps.

Tambasasayama is a castle town

with over 400 years of history.

(Tambasasayama's post towns still thrive)

(Strolling their streets is a journey back to the Edo times)

At the town center,

the ruins of the castle from 1609.

Wow. Tambasasayama is such a beautiful city.

But where I really want to go is still further ahead.

To a small village northeast of the castle town

where a water source for farmers has been protected since the Edo period.

There it is, Maruyama Village.

A picturesque Japanese hamlet that was once on the verge of fading away.

But now it has found a way to sustain itself

and I'm here to find out how.

- Welcome to our small village.
- Thank you for having me!

Sakoda Naomi has lived here for nearly 80 years.

The pond to your right is a reservoir that a Sasayama lord decreed built.

Our ancestors moved here to protect this, and the surrounding mountains.

That was over 200 years ago.

And this close-knit village developed like a big family

even enjoying trips together.

But by the 1950s, depopulation began to rise.

And by 2008, there were only five households

and 19 villagers left.

Out of the 12 houses here seven were empty.

We had to figure out what to do...

Fearing extinction,

the residents joined in a series of workshops held by the city.

After discussing their future prospects,

they settled on a revitalization project using their vacant homes.

They may have become unwanted relics of the past.

But we had to revitalize our village.

- By making a hotel?
- That's right.

With the support of a local NPO,

the villagers converted four of their seven empty homes into an inn,

which they run entirely by themselves.

This is the lodging.

Hello, this is your accommodation.

Two 160-year-old homes were used to make our inn.

Wow,

I didn't expect to find an island kitchen in this impressive doma packed earth area.

What a massive beam!

A local firm was commissioned for the renovation work.

While the bathrooms got a contemporary treatment,

the integrity of the original farmhouse architecture was preserved

with exposed beams,

earthen floors and dense ceiling thatch.

By the way, what is the cost of one night's stay?

We charge 44,000 yen for the whole building,

with an additional service fee of 5,500 yen per person.

How did you arrive at that figure?

Since we, the villagers, manage the inn,

we figured out an occupancy rate that was doable for all of us.

And that was 30 percent.

So we adjusted the price to reflect this.

That's an interesting concept.

Usually hotels aim for the highest occupancy rate.

So this is a fresh approach.

What was exciting for me was just having a chance to wander around by myself

and just observe every little nook and cranny and see how things were built,

imagine how life used to be like for the family that was living here.

There's no television here.

There's no modern communication devices here,

so people have a chance to really connect with each other

and spend time with their loved ones.

And, you know, we're always so distracted by so many

forms of technology, that just having quality time

in a quiet location with another human being,

it's something that's become so rare right now.

Sakoda Toshiyuki has leased his ancestral home

for free for the inn project.

It's a lovely house.

Thank you. It's withstood many years.

I'm thankful it's still in good condition.

When people stop living in a home, it withers away quickly.

How does it feel having guests in your home?

When people say it's great or the beams are impressive

I feel happy that I offered my place.

Maruyama has two noted restaurants

catering to the inn's guests and other visitors.

One is in a renovated farmhouse annex and warehouse.

Welcome.

Please have a seat.

What a fascinating structure.

Yes, it's a bit unusual for a restaurant.

Please feel free to explore the back room.

Wow,

what is this?

I've never seen so many clocks in one tiny little wooden room before in my life.

These clocks belonged to the late, first owner-chef.

It's quite the collection, and an eclectic room.

Chef Muraki Shinya works solo,

preparing French dishes honoring the local ingredients.

I prepared this salad with a local farmer's produce.

It looks like a piece of art.

He's gotten to so much detail,

and everything is local.

And I'll probably take a little time to enjoy this,

so forgive me if not over-explaining this.

Muraki relocated to the village to take over the kitchen in 2017.

This is a grilled conger eel and abalone risotto.

The rice is cultivated in this village.

Typically, you'll find high-end restaurants in Japanese hotels,

but I didn't expect to find this type of French restaurant

in the middle of the countryside inside the mountains.

So that's quite a surprise.

Today's main dish. Charcoal-grilled aitchbone wagyu-beef from Hyogo.

I'm not eating beef, I'm eating tofu.

It's so soft

and cooked to perfection.

There are many dining choices in cities.

But to eat here people have to make a special trip.

So, I want to make French cuisine that embraces the ingredients

that the land here yields.

Ah, that hit the spot.

Good morning!

We are here to prepare your breakfast.

Women from the village take turns preparing breakfast,

naturally, using local ingredients.

Good morning!

What are the names on the containers?

We write our names on the dishes we have prepared.

What a lavish breakfast!

It's just country-style.

- Itadakimasu!
- Please enjoy.

The mountain yam is a Tambasasayama specialty.

You can have it over your rice or as is.

The miso in the soup was fermented by women in Maruyama.

The pickles include umeboshi plums and lightly pickled cucumber.

Fantastic.

It's nothing like you'd have at a fancy restaurant.

But when our guests enjoy the meal, we are happy.

I haven't had a feeling like this in a long time.

It feels like I'm with family again.

Are you our guest?

Yes, I am!

Well, welcome!

As the reputation of the local produce grew among inn guests,

villagers were moved to cultivate more varieties.

- What an impressive cucumber.
- I can make pickles out of it!

These are tomatoes.

We eat them as garnishes and as snacks.

Yeah, it's very organic.

It's very full of love, and it's living off the land.

She picks what's ripe exactly that day,

and this is what most people here...

You know, before supermarkets, this is what everyone would have had.

Until the inn, I had been living an ordinary life.

But since then, I have found a new purpose in life, and at this age.

It makes me so happy.

You're still young.

There are only a few of us.

But we are decent people.

And we are able to run the inn.

Every villager is engaged in some aspect of the lodging business.

Hello, what are you doing?

I'm splitting firewood for the inn's stove and bath.

Let me help you.

That's very kind. Thank you.

Please be careful.

Long ago, we'd do this all day and prepare firewood for the next year.

But recently this has become a rare sight.

Do you manage the forests around here?

Well, the landowners left for the city, and could no longer tend to them.

We contemplated what to do.

Depopulation has also affected traditional forest management,

and villagers, encouraged by more visitors,

were determined to do something about it.

And volunteers began tree thinning,

which allowed light to hit the earth and bushes to grow.

This strengthened the soil and protects the mountains from landslides.

It's very important work.

Were these planted by children?

Yes, this forest was mostly cedar and cypress.

But we've cut them down to create a mixed tree forest, like it once was.

We hope that people can watch them grow over the next 3-5 years.

Hello. Are you from this village?

No, we are from Kobe.

You've come from so far!

Because there are more fields in the mountains...

The family stumbled on the land by chance and asked to lease it.

But more people are finding out thanks to programs by Hyogo Prefecture and others

to keep the fields from going fallow.

Hello.

Oh, Naomi-san. Hello.

The weather has been good this year.

You've got a lot of soybeans, enough to make steamed soybean rice!

Do many city people come here?

Yes. There is a program called Tamba Green Tourism,

which connects people from cities with farming areas.

They're growing vegetables here.

There's rice being made over there, and black soybeans.

Many people are coming here.

Right now, some 30 groups are making the trip

to Maruyama in share-farming programs,

and the abandoned fields have all come back to life again.

The number of uncultivated lots here has reached zero.

That's quite impressive, I think.

And for the villagers, to have visitors use the fields leads to revitalization.

There's a lot we can still learn, too.

A flexible attitude and acceptance of outside help

has brought Maruyama from the brink of vanishing, back to vibrant life.

About 14 years ago, the castle town was celebrating its 400th anniversary.

That's when I first discovered Maruyama.

Fujiwara Takeshi, originally from Sasayama,

heads a rural revitalization NPO that consulted for the Maruyama inn.

To start, we set up an Internet system for bookings.

But the villagers were not used to using computers.

So that kind of training was quite challenging.

But the residents had a sense of urgency and believed

they had to do something themselves to save their village.

I believe this is the biggest reason for their success.

Do you think this is applicable to other marginal villages?

Yes, I do.

You need to value the originality of each place,

but I believe you can systemize the platform and apply it to other areas.

Following Maruyama's success,

the castle town is also pursuing similar projects

with its traditional buildings.

This former residence of a 19th-century bank owner is now a hotel.

The patina of years of use has been purposely left intact.

We don't just want people to stay in old homes.

We want them to imagine how they were actually lived in.

Each structure's distinct characteristics are being treasured here.

Other old buildings are being converted into shops,

cafes, guesthouses and bars.

In Japan, as villages depopulate, many "kominka" are left to rot.

In this village though, residents have opened up their empty homes

and taken on the collective task of welcoming visitors

to revitalize their communities and surrounding areas.

What I've taken most out of this trip is that

preservation isn't merely about keeping something on life support.

In Sasayama, preservation leads to innovation.

From Tokyo to Tambasasayama,

ride the Shinkansen for

two and a half hours to Shin-Osaka.

Transfer there for another hour and a half

to Sasayamaguchi Station.

Or, it's a 90-minute drive from Kyoto.

Don't miss the other restaurant in Maruyama Village.

It serves a multicourse menu featuring soba.

Colorful seasonal dishes to start,

followed by an assortment of hand-cut buckwheat noodles

all on exquisite tableware.

This restaurant indulges the five senses.

Yeah, that's good.

Yeah, I totally wasn't expecting to find such a hidden gem

in the middle of the mountains of Tambasasayama.