Afternoon

At around 2:00 pm, take a shuttle bus to Hinano yado Chitose from Matsudai station in Tokamachi.

Take a rest and relax with hotspring and walking around. (Free time)

Evening

At 6:30, enjoy dinner featuring unique and delicious local specialties and the best ingredients of the season and the region.

About Hina no Yado Chitose

Served directly from the hot spring source, the 29-room inn provides three guest rooms with attached rotenburo outside baths, as well as two private baths. In winter, enjoy the special hot spring atmosphere unique to Snow Country, while enjoying meals with many items and styles unique to Matsunoyama—including rice and saké from the tanada.

At the izakaya Chiro, not far from the inn, enjoy floor heating using the spring water, and cooking done before you on the irori open hearth. There’s a calm, timeless atmospheres and dishes unique to Snow Country, giving people a deep sense of the Japanese Satoyama.

It’s a refined place to stay, with the onsen to heal bodies tired from trekking.

Morning

After having breakfast, the guide pick you up at 8:30am at the entrance of the accommodation. Then, drive to the venue.

The course starts at Hokuhoku Oshima Station of the Hokuhoku Line. It’s around 5km, takes around 3 hours. (The course length may adjust according to your request.)

The first stop is to visit the local shrine to ask for safety on the walk, and then start the trek. The course provides views of a variety of landscapes, as well as the footprints of the animals of the beech forests (and sometimes the animals and birds themselves). When the weather is favorable, it’s possible to see not only the tanada terraced rice fields, but as far away as Sado Island in the Sea of Japan.

Along the walk are the Hoshitoge Rice Terraces, the most famous tanada in all of Japan. The course, however, is not used by regular tourists, so guests have a private view all to themselves.

Afternoon

Lunch will be served Japanese Bento lunch box made by local ingredients along with  fragrant coffee or tea.

While enjoying trekking, stop by a nearby village too.

We will visit the farmer of the village and try out the harvest of his vegetables. It will be interesting to talk with him about his way of farming and the lifetyle in the area.

At 3:00 pm, you will reach today’s inn “Toronoki House.” Take a break with seeing around the Tronoki House building and exploring the surrounding area until dinner time.

Evening

At 6:00 pm, while enjoying a chat with the owner of the Tronoki House, prepare dinner together with the local special wild vegetables and fresh vegetables harvested nearby.

It might be the best memory in this remote area.

After a delicious dinner, if the weather is nice, go outside and observe the starry sky. You can enjoy the full starry sky.

About Toronoki House

The owner wanted to live in an area of tanada; today this is the only guesthouse in Japan specifically focused on enjoying these rice terraces. The house is decorated both with sophisticated furniture and a variety of items from the tanada. It’s an idea place for talking with the owner and other local residents, to hear interesting stories and exchange information. The starry sky is almost overwhelming, while in the morning the terraces stand above unkai, the sea of clouds. From the beech forest behind the house comes an amazing array of birdsong. The meals use both the best local vegetables and other ingredients and techniques, but often, when possible, wild vegetables from the woods. 

Morning

After having breakfast, the guide pick you up at 9:30am at the entrance of the accommodation. Then, drive to the venue.

This is a walk from the area around Matsudai Station up toward the mountains. It’s around 5km, takes around 3 hours. (The course length may adjust according to your request.)

There are unique stories to be heard even very close to the town. There are endless tales that have been carefully handed down about village life here from the Warring States Period in the 16th century to the end of the Tokugawa era in 1868.

After taking a break at a village home*, head up along a mountain ridge, and encounter the truly ancient ruins of a shiro, usually translated as “castle.” This was not the luxurious home of a lord, however, but a practical fortification built for warfare. You’ll even find that one ancient house here is the repository of one of Uesugi Kenshin’s swords from 500 years ago—there are many tales to be heard here!

(*The location and the contents might be changed depending on the situation)

Afternoon

Lunch will be served Japanese Bento lunch box made by local ingredients along with  fragrant coffee or tea.

After completing the course, let’s heal the tiredness of trekking at Shibatoge Onsen “Unkai”, which is famous for its beautiful terraced rice fields.

At 2:00 pm, the guide will drop you off at Matsudai station of Hokuhoku Line and the tour ends.