HafH Network -Asari House-
Hi everyone! This is Egami, the owner of guesthouse Asari House in Shimane Prefecture.
We’re just a 6min walk from Asari Station on the JR Sanin Line and a 6min drive from Gotsu Station (at which both rapid and limited express trains stop).
To give you a little background info on our location, Shimane Prefecture is a long narrow region in western Japan, stretching for about 326km long and 155km across. Gotsu City is located almost in the middle of the prefecture along the coast, and with a population of 240,000 has been listed as a city at risk of disappearing.
Our city has the lowest number of visitors in all of Shimane Prefecture. This is basically due to transportation and access, as getting to Gotsu from Tokyo via JR trains takes the longest of any direct train journey, and the fact that there is limited accommodation.
It was in winter of 2015 that I decided to run a guesthouse in such a city! At the time I was an office worker in Tokyo and attending business school, when I suddenly had a chance to enter a business plan competition for Gotsu City. By sheer coincidence, I happened to win first prize with a my “guesthouse business plan” idea. In that moment, I decided to quit my office worker lifestyle in spring of 2016, move to the countryside and start running a guesthouse (and several other ventures incl. business consultant, business investment, agricultural production corp & travel agent.).
We’ve self renovated Asari House which was the former residence of a famous potter company who made Sekishu-gawara roof tiles that are famous from this (the Iwami) region. Left vacant for a long time, we held a “Renovation Camp” and self-renovated this 130 year old traditional Japanese house with the help of about 400 everyday locals.
The renovations took about 6 months, and we opened Asari House in October 2016. The renovation concept was to keep the original charm of the building. We haven’t used any modern materials like insulation or plasterboard, and created a warm atmosphere with solid timber, earth, Japanese washi paper and indigo.
We want guests to feel the breeze that traditional Japanese houses are designed to take advantage of, and so haven’t installed any air conditioners. In winter, we have traditional coats made with cotton (called hanten) and heated kotatsu tables.
The main building and cottage have a combined area of 550m2 and we’ve changed the 11 rooms into 3 Japanese style rooms and 2 Western style rooms. The accommodation we offer is generally dormitory style rooms, but depending on bookings, private room style is a possibility. We also set up a glamping tent in spring, summer and autumn.
The second floor of the cottage has a space that’s roughly 45m2, and we use this to host a range of events like, study sessions, lectures, seminars, get-togethers, reunions, and more! We have everything all the features than any big city coworking space offers: a kitchen, fibre optic internet Wi-Fi, 60 inch 4k monitor, a projector and whiteboard.
Asari House is close to rivers, the ocean and the mountains, which means there are plenty of outdoor activities on offer too! You can enjoy listening to the ocean waves and come up with ideas from my fishing boat or boathouse, or take a sunset cruise and bbq squid and horse mackerel that you’ve caught yourself. We’ve also got a really authentic Japanese BBQ association approved BBQ for you to cook up great local produce on!
Head to the waterfalls in the area for some minus ions, or check out the national heritage listed Iwami *Kagura.
*Simply put, Kagura are dance and music rituals dedicated to Shinto gods.
It’s been about half a year since Asari House joined HafH. We’ve had a whole of zero HafH Neighbors come and stay with us so far… Haha! I’m sure it’s because we’re in a place that’s really unknown and as mentioned before, access isn’t the best. When you put it like that, it doesn’t really give you that “Right! Let’s go! kind feeling, does it?!
There is actually a secret route to get here that doesn’t come up even if you do a Google search, though. Feel free to enquire about it!
Asari house Facility information
