Tetsuya — Hotel in Tokyo

In spring 2011 my companion and I stayed for three days and nights at Tetsuya on Chichijima. I learned about Tetsuya from a blog called Fish Out of Water. Innkeepers Mr. and Mrs. Tetsuya Nakamura have created a beautiful guesthouse that they maintain with great care. There are three guest rooms in the main building and two separate "ninja-style" cabins. All five have private bathrooms that are open to the outside. Anything you would ordinarily do in your bathroom at home you do here alfresco, with a view of the lush plants growing on the steep hill behind the house. Tetsuya may be the inn that is furthest away from town (an hour and a half on foot), which makes it closest to Kominato beach. When we first arrived, we thought that would be inconvenient. But the public bus runs past Tetsuya about five times a day (more on weekdays), and in a pinch, Mr. Nakamura may be able to pick you up in town. (The Nakamuras meet their guests at the ferry terminal upon arrival and take them back for departure.) The grounds of the guesthouse are not especially spacious (this is the city of Tokyo after all), but because it abuts a public park, and because it is a ten-minute walk to the beach, and because there were few other people around, it does not feel cramped.||||Mr. Nakamura grew up cooking in a food-loving family and supported himself as a sushi chef when he first moved to Ogasawara. He uses local ingredients whenever possible. All of these factors add up to exquisite dinners. He serves them "kaiseki," a series of six or seven dishes with rice including an appetizer, sashimi, a lightly fried dish, a main dish, soup, and dessert. These were wonderful meals, for about 5000 yen per person with drinks. (We had one dinner in town, at Chariten, which cost us nearly as much. It was very good but not in the same league.) There are no shops or restaurants near Tetsuya, another reason to choose to eat dinner there. Breakfast is served at 7:00 a.m. and dinner at 6:00 p.m., and one needs to reserve the meals in advance and arrive on time. ||||The youthful Mr. and Mrs. Nakamura are both working on their English and do pretty well with their spoken English, perhaps less so in terms of comprehension. (I communicated with them in Japanese.) Anything really important should be written down, just to avoid misunderstanding. ||||Tetsuya accepts cash only. ||||Unlike most of the other tourists who had scheduled their vacation days with activities ahead of time, we arrived with no plans, but when we decided we wanted to do something, Mr. Nakamura called one of his friends and set something up for us. The location is divine, the inn itself is beautiful, the food was fantastic, and there was something inspiring about how the Nakamuras -- a former salaryman and a scuba diver -- were able to realize their vision of creating such a beautiful,...

The location is some distance from Omura, the main village, about 12-15 minutes by motor vehicle. I rented a motor scooter, which basically takes care of that issue but still, you can’t conveniently nip into Omura for dinner. On the other hand, the place is nice and quiet, and there’s a beach ten minutes’ walk away.||Some of the rooms, including mine, are upstairs and you enter through a door in the floor, not in the wall. At first it seems like a fun, quirky arrangement, but after a day or so the novelty wears off and it becomes a bit of a drag. The door is controlled by a lead counterweight hanging in the middle of the room at head height, and it’s virtually impossible to avoid banging your head on it at least once. Basically, it’s dangerous.||The room has good points – the air con works well, there’s a fridge, and it’s clean and somewhat spacious. But the beds are rather hard, and the WiFi signal doesn’t reach the room at all; it only works in the dining room. The mobile phone signal also doesn’t reach the property at all. There are no curtains on the windows (can’t imagine why they would think that is okay), and bright light from the adjacent building shines straight in. The bathroom and loo are downstairs, so if you need to visit during the night, you’ve got the floor-door to contend with. The bathroom is nice and fresh, the shower is very good, and there’s a bath tub, but there’s no shaving mirror.||Because of the distance from the main village, and because there’s nowhere else to eat nearby, like most guests I had dinner at Tetsuya’s. They really make a big effort with the meals, and it’s appreciated. But still, it’s the typical Japanese ‘regime’ – no choice at all, neither about what is on offer, nor times of meals (breakfast is at 7 sharp, and dinner at 6 sharp). The food gets 5 stars for appearance - it really looks grand. Some of the dishes tasted better than others.||Tetsuya was very helpful, arranging two tours for me, and also with pick-up and send off at the ferry terminal - much...

I stayed at Tetsuya during Golden Week 2017, certainly not the cheapest time of the year, but it was worth every single yen spent!||This lovely accommodation is about 7km away from town, but Tetsuyta will not mind to give you a car lift when needed, as long as you notify him a bit in advance.||The lovely Kominato beach is just a few minutes' walk away, and from there you can also walk to Kopepe beach (also really nice) in 15-20 minutes, or you can do the hike to John Beach (strongly recommended for the views/scenery on the way, but it is over 4km one way...).||The meals are simply delicious, both breakfast and dinner, and different every day.||The rooms are very nice and cozy, and with a sort of "open air" bathroom and toilet which is quite an experience!||Tetsuya and his very smiley and friendly staff really put their heart into their business, and they want to make sure all the guests are having a good time.||In spite of the 24h ferry ride (one way) to Ogasawara from Tokyo, I can't wait to stay at...