OMACHI BASE
At the southern end of Hakuba Valley, in Shinano-Omachi.
A small lodge built in 2024, and the clubhouse of Epic Japan.
We are on site throughout your stay, and we cook.
■ This is not a self-check-in rental
There is no lockbox and no empty house. We meet you at the door, we cook breakfast every morning, and we cook dinner if you want it.
We are here while you stay. The house is yours, the kitchen is ours.
■ What a stay includes
We take one booking at a time. Three nights minimum from 25 December to 28 February; one night is fine the rest of the year.
- Pick-up and drop-off at Shinano-Omachi station Up to four guests at a time.
- Breakfast every morning, from 6:30 — bread baked here, eggs, vegetables from the garden or a Japanese breakfast with rice, grilled fish, omelet and miso soup still coming with coffee or tea. Tell us which you would like. A packed breakfast if you leave earlier
- Dinner cooked here, if you want it
- Daily housekeeping, if you want it — just tell us on arrival
- Fresh linen on the fourth day for longer stays
- English throughout your stay, in person and before you arrive
Ask us where to eat, how to get to the trailhead, which lift opens first after snow. We know this town and we answer in English. Most of what is hard about this part of Japan is not the skiing — it is not knowing who to ask.
■ What this is not
We are in the building, cooking, from early morning until after dinner. You will see us.
Housekeeping is opt-in. Unless you ask for it, nobody enters your room while you are staying — we only clean after you leave. If you would like the room made up each day, tell us when you arrive.
On stays of four nights or more we change the linen on the fourth day. We will agree a time with you beforehand.
The bath is yours while you are here — we do not use it during your stay. The shower and toilet inside a guest room are for that room only. One shared toilet is also used by staff.
If you are looking for a house with nobody in it, you will be happier somewhere else — and we would rather say so here than have you find out on arrival.
■ The food
There is no set menu. Dinner is built from what we have that day.
Vegetables from our garden in summer. Mushrooms only on the days we find them on the hill behind the house. Flour from Nagano, bread baked here. Domestic meat and fish.
The building was made to not haul things from far away. The kitchen works the same way.
We cannot tell you how many courses it will be until the day.
■ Low Impact Living
Comfortable, and as close to the land as we could make it.
Cedar felled on the waning moon and air-dried, solid hinoki floors, diatomaceous earth walls. Less material shipped from overseas, less energy spent moving it.
Winters here are hard and summers are now hot. Heavy insulation and simple passive underfloor ventilation — no clever machinery — keep the house comfortable on a fraction of the energy conventional heating and cooling would need.
In winter we burn red pine, felled because of pine beetle damage.
■ For people going into the mountains
Coat hangers and a boot rack for wet gear. A work counter for tuning.
Breakfast from 6:30, packed and ready earlier if you need it.
Guests on an Epic Japan guided trip, and JMGA-certified guides, are on separate rates. Please ask.
■ Where this is
Ten minutes on foot from Shinano-Omachi station on the JR Oito line. Tell us your train and we will meet you there.
Ogizawa, Nanakura dam and Otanihara are all 25 minutes by car. Ogizawa is the Nagano-side gateway to the Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route.
Happo-one, Goryu and Kashimayari are all within 30 minutes. After heavy snow, Hakuba has to be dug out before anyone can leave. Omachi rarely gets that much.
Within ten minutes by car there are four onsen open to day visitors: Yakushi-no-yu, Uehara-no-yu, Shinshokan and Yu-pple Kizakiko.
In a resort town the evening problem is finding somewhere to eat. Omachi is quiet, in the good sense. You can walk to the restaurants around the station. Ask us which ones we go to.
■ Rates
All rates include tax and breakfast.
The whole lodge, one booking at a time (up to 6 people)
High season 110,000 yen per night
（25 Dec – 28 Feb, 28 Apr – 5 May, 17 Jul – 29 Aug, 18 Sep – 25 Sep, 9 Oct – 24 Oct）
Rest of the year 88,000 yen per night
Three nights minimum from 25 December to 28 February. One night is fine the rest of the year.
For six people in high season this is 18,300 yen each per night.
Station transfers, housekeeping on request, fresh linen on the fourth day and English support throughout are included in the rate.
Dinner order three days ahead for more than two guests
Omakase dinner 6,000 yen per person six or seven courses from that day’s ingredients
Simple dinner 3,500 yen per person three courses
Breakfast is included in the room rate.
These rates apply to stays through October 2028.
■ Booking
Booking and enquiries by email.
Tell us your arrival time, anything you cannot eat, and what you are planning to do while you are here. We answer in English.
We ask for payment in full at the time of booking. We are a small local business, so a late cancellation means the lodge earns nothing that night. Refunds are made against the schedule below including dinner charge as soon as you tell us.
More than 7 days before no charge
6 to 3 days before 50%
2 days or less 100%
■ Getting here
3623-4 Omachi, Omachi City, Nagano
https://maps.app.goo.gl/wC1UM29mSECZZYyX7
■ Licences
Ryokan Business Act, simple lodging Omachi Public Health Centre No. 923-103
Food Sanitation Act, restaurant business Omachi Public Health Centre No. 1-11186613