Umanojo is located in the middle of the mountain overlooking the central part of the village. It’s called a phantom inn because they take only two reservations per day. In order to live in his hometown village, Masasuke Maejima started the inn by using his ancestral house which was a sake brewery in ante-bellum days, when he was 33.

“Despite the objection of my family and relatives, I decided to start the inn in order to live in the village, and protect a historical house and lot.”

He had another job as a surveyor before the inn business is on track.

“When I had a reservation in the inn on next day, I collected edible wild plants and mushrooms as ingredients while surveying in the mountain.”

He used to cook by himself the dish to be served at the inn, but now he rely on his sons who returned to the village a few years ago after they have honed their skills a sommelier and a chef respectively at the French restaurants in Tokyo. His daughter Kumi who has studied dance in New York is a customer service representative at the inn working as an instructor of Yoga.

There are not enough guests in winter due to deep snow, but they appreciate the off season because they can start freshly in spring by returning to the starting line in winter. Having fresh mind is important in hospitality. “We prize cordiality above anything else.” She launched “The association for fostering Ooshika over the next hundred years” with peers of same generation in 2010. In honor of climate, history, culture born in the village, we hope to leave the landscape in future.

There are not enough guests in winter due to deep snow, but they appreciate the off season because they can start freshly in spring by returning to the starting line in winter. Having fresh mind is important in hospitality. “We prize cordiality above anything else.” She launched “The association for fostering Ooshika over the next hundred years” with peers of same generation in 2010. In honor of climate, history, culture born in the village, we hope to leave the landscape in future.