Autumn has come to the folk house inn.

Hello!

Very autumn.

Since ancient times, the Japanese have believed that a life force resides in all creations.

Valuing and caring for the things we use, a "Zero Waste Life."

Pointing the way to better living for a new era.

A small town in the San-in region of western Japan.

Autumn has come, and the leaves have changed to reveal a glory of colors.

Folk house innkeeper, Matsuba Tomi.

She's preparing to help her guests make the most of autumn's splendor.

The long-held Japanese custom of drying persimmons.

Drying the fruits helps preserve them and prevent the large harvest from going to waste.

They must be kept dry in a well-ventilated area.

The sight of dried persimmons hanging from the eves of houses has long been linked with autumn in Japan.

A backdrop colored by hanging persimmons.

This is my favorite view of autumn.

In Japan we have seasonal words like,
"beginning," "peak," or "remnants."

Autumn is the season of "remnants."

The beauty of this "remnant" rather than
spring's "beginning," or summer's "peak,"

is especially seen in old folk houses.

The inn itself is a former samurai residence, built over 200 years ago.

When Matsuba first acquired it, the ceilings and floors were on the verge of collapse,

and it felt very much like a haunted house.

She made up her mind to find some way to restore the residence to its former dignity.

Her answer was to use things made in the old way by traditional artisans, and the gifts of nature.

Thus, over the course of more than 10 years, it was renovated using both reclaimed and natural materials.

During the restoration process, Matsuba herself lived in the building's attic space.

She felt, every day of her time here, that she was having a long discussion with her home.

I spent the winter up here with nothing
but paper screens, but I wasn't cold.

"Really?!"

Yes. Living here, with the outside air,
interacting with this view of nature,

I felt the changing of the seasons.

That's why I rarely buy off-the-shelf
artificially made products.

Say something fallen on the ground,
take that, clean it up, put it to another use,

and it can become something original,
completely one-of-a-kind.

As I say, I listened to the house's voice,
and this is what it wanted to become.

When she first began the restoration process, Matsuba had no intention of turning the residence into an inn.

Operating an inn was never my reason
for buying and restoring this home.

As I worked, I considered how to
keep it going, and came up with the inn.

The house would be happiest
not just to have me living here,

but if many people could enjoy it.

That would be the most fulfilling use.

Autumn is harvest season.

And the time when a bounty of nuts falls from the branches of the ginkgo trees.

Ginkgo nuts have long been a favorite taste of autumn for the Japanese.

Matsuba's own special take on hospitality with an autumnal flair.

Ginkgo nuts add a taste of autumn to the evening meal.

And the fallen ginkgo leaves...

...become hanging decorations.

The image I'm going for is leaves
fluttering down from above.

I like to say, "treasures at your feet."

The greatest luxury is finding joy
in the blessings of nature

that are all around where we live.

This is also something that
my old house has taught me.

Living here, Matsuba restored the home over the course of 10 years.

She also used this time to consider the fittings, furnishings, and arrangements best suited to it.

There's no extravagance, but there is
a sense of abundance, as I often say.

And so I try to make the most of that.

- Welcome!
- Hello!

- Very autumn.
- Great! So cute!

- Did you make it?
- Yes.

It's really lovely.

Lovely. Cute too.

The flowers are arranged with
branches of autumn leaves.

This is an aluminum water bottle.

A discard repurposed as a vase.

Even though we're inside,
you can really feel the season.

You can feel it in the air.
Just perfect hospitality. Lovely.

Fallen ginkgo leaves are just trash,
but by hanging them up like this,

they can be put to good use,
which is really wonderful.

It's now been 15 years since Matsuba opened her folk house inn.

And it's still so popular that reservations can be very hard to come by.

Not only humans, but all things
deserve to die with dignity.

Instead of treating things like garbage,
we should use them to the fullest extent.

Use them to the point where it's
not wasteful to throw them away,

and then allow them to pass on.

Deep-fried root vegetables with
ginkgo nuts gathered locally.

- Served on a persimmon leaf.
- So lovely!

It's a real leaf?

Real abundance isn't about things.

It's the abundance of the heart.

Being somewhere you feel calm,
when you have peace of mind.

A time and place of spiritual abundance.

We're in an era where that is
what's needed most.

Maybe a bit too philosophical...