Unexplored Adventure Guest House Yamōdo Fortress — Hotel in Hayakawa

As others have already reviewed, this is a special little one-room inn, tucked deep in the steep valleys of Minami Alps. I stayed alone, so had to pay a small single supplement, but it was worth every penny. I had a sumptuous dinner, all foraged or from local farms, and game meat hunted by the husband and wife team. Deer meat was especially good and well paired with tomatoes. Actually the vegetables were the highlight too. Season was too late for wild vegetables but they pickle them so I had a taste.

Narada Onsen is about 1km from the trail head leading from Notoridake (however, the descent from the mountains is very very long, very technical). So it was a lovely stop to wash up at the neighboring onsen (shuts at 7pm!), after three days of thru-hiking, have a soak, and thereafter tucking into a sumptuous dinner. Particularly like the starters (taro croquette! Grilled sweet corn! Homemade deer liver pate!), the deer shabu shabu, and the deer stew. Breakfast was also fantastic (note that it is white rice and fish and an assortment of tsukemono — but I could have rice and fish every morning!).

Lovely stay. I envy the husband and wife team: I can imagine them spending their days off foraging, hiking, hunting, pickling, fermenting… what a life!

(I especially like the signs for “toilet”. They have it spelled in Japanese トイレ using...

A magical place. Highly recommend. The interior with the tree bark is unique and cool. The husband-and-wife team are super kind and thoughtful and full of facts about the area. Futons and pillows are nice and soft. We went as a six-person group and had plenty of room. All the food and drinks are WOW. When venturing this deep inland from Tokyo, rather than staying in a typical accommodation, it’s great to stay in a place like this that lets you feel you’re really far from the concrete jungle. Yet it has all amenities and is super clean.

It’s best to have at least one confident Japanese speaker in your group so you can fully appreciate explanations of the food and location. You’ll eat types of mushrooms you didn’t know existed. If you’re interested in hunting and foraging you can find out more about how they procured the food. Even if you have no interest in that, you can just appreciate it as a great experience.

Take care about the operating hours of the adjacent onsen — it closes pretty early in the evening so get there early if you want to have a bath, then have dinner afterwards. If you miss out in the evening, it’s also open in...

Staying at this guest house was an absolutely unique experience for us. We were able to immerse ourselves in a world of traditional Japanese food and lifestyle. The very friendly hosts put a lot of passion and love into the traditional dishes they prepared for us. We could definitely see and taste that! The food was simply fantastic. It's incredible how many ingredients they grow themselves, preserve in the traditional way and turn into delicious dishes. The meat comes from their own hunt, the mushrooms from the nearby forest and the fish from the river. For both dinner and breakfast, there was an incredible number of different dishes that were completely homemade. We have never experienced anything like it. The room is traditionally furnished with many beautiful details. Very cozy. Thank you so much for these two wonderful, breathtaking days that we were able to spend with you! We will definitely recommend it to...