About this space

Experience deep powder snow and beautiful Japanese mountains at Arimaya house in Yuzawa, Niigata. Great outdoor space for summer BBQs! Can covert into 32 mat yoga space. Surrounded by bubbling brooks and beautiful hiking trails, we are only 10 minutes by car from Echigo Yuzawa Station. 15 min by car to Naeba and 3 min to the Kagura Mitsumata Ropeway (famous for back-country and side-country powder runs). A 7-seater car with driver can be arranged for 15,000 yen/day for your stay..please enquire!

The space

Built in 1908 without a single nail, the original structure is a example of traditional Japanese "kominka" construction.

Surrounded on all sides by a small brook, the soothing sound of running water surrounds this house.

Furnished with traditional Japanese furniture, some more than 100 years old, you will be enchanted by the house's charm. Many of the traditional Japanese doors in the old section of the house were hand crafted by the Arima family and are beautifully constructed.

As you wander around the old section of the house, you will be amazed by the size of the huge wooden beams used in the construction. They really don't make them like this anymore!

There are also lots of beautiful Japanese wood carvings and paintings dating back to 1908 and the original construction.

In the summer, there is an amazing network of trails and lots of outdoor activities for the whole family. There is a big river nearby which is good for fishing and kids will get hours of enjoyment playing with the network of small brooks surrounding the house (mostly very shallow and safe for children).

Want a white Christmas? In the winter the sheer volume of snow will stun and amaze you. If you ski or snowboard, you will find some of Japan's best powder backcountry runs available from the nearby Kagura Mitsumata gondola.

If off-piste skiing is your thing, then Kagura Mitsumata is the place to go. There are lots of lift accessible "side country" runs that deliver amazing powder almost every day with no need for a beacon or other back-country gear.

Guest access

Guests will have access to the entire house. However, if your group is 16 people or less, my family and I may stay in the back (like he a townhouse; it has a separate entrance and is totally separate from where you’ll stay).

Other things to note

This house is more than 100 years old. As such it is "well ventilated." We do our best to heat it and we think you'll be happy, but please be aware that central heating is not part of Japanese culture and each room has a separate heater. When you wake up in the morning, it will be cold until you turn on the heaters!

There is also a large wood burning stove in the living room that does an excellent job of heating.

We have extra large kerosine heaters that easily heat up all the public areas of the house with the push of a button.