We enjoyed our stayed at Katakura House October 9th the last night of our 2 night stay in the Echigo Tsumari Art Fields. We had a pleasant and good size traditional Japanese room with balcony. All rooms share a toilet area but the washing sinks are for both male and female. The onsen bath area has an inside and an outside bath. Very relaxing and clean . The scenery is beautiful and there is an empty swimming pool that houses a sculpture which is part of the Art Fields' itinerary. What stood out was the exceptional dinner. This is our 4th time in Japan and found the dinner ( mainly vegetables) to be one of the best we have had anywhere. The breakfast was also excellent.
If you plan to visit the Art Fields, i would recommend to rent a car with a GPS in English. Head to the excellent KInare Art Museum (even better if you can get the map before you go) where you can purchase the Art Fields' map. On the back side there are over 100 art listings and under each description there is a map code. Use this code to plug into the GPS and 95% of the time you will be guided to the art pieces. However we did find that it often took us on a roundabout way and we were sure there could have been a faster and more direct route. Make sure you see the "Last Class" a whole elementary school where Christian Boltanski used each of the rooms and hallways for his installations.
Dear berliy thank you for your review. and thank you for your coming to katakuri house. we are glad to seeing you.and glad to hearing that your stay was satisfied. thank you for your coment about meals.we think that meals is most important thing in our service.because it is best way to give our gratitude to guests. Next art trienale is year of 2018.please come to katakuri house next also. we are looking forward to seeing you,next time again. We are full of feelings of gratefulness to you. yours sincelery. KATAKURI HOUSE taisei watanabe
My week long stay in Katakuri House earlier this month turned out to be the absolute highlight of my trip to Japan. The lodgings are wonderfully unique, the surrounding scenery is stunning, staff are incredibly helpful and friendly, and the food made by Katakuri's in-house chef is absolutely exquisite! If you are looking to experience a unique side of Japan that not many foreigners ever see, then I cannot recommend Katakuri highly enough. You will not be disappointed!
Dear bree thank you for your coming to katakuri house. we are glad to seeing you.and glad to hearing that your stay was satisfied. this are is not known yet by many people.but we think that good place as people want to know real japan,because japanese old culture still left around the here. well ,we are looking forward to seeing you next time again. please take care of your japanese trip. We are full of feelings of gratefulness to you. yours sincelery. KATAKURI HOUSE taisei watanabe
We stayed at Katakuri House for six nights while visiting the Echigo Tsumari art triennial. Staying at Katakuri House is a wonderful and unique experience – a converted elementary school nestled in a small, remote mountain village high up in a spectacular gorge. The accommodation and the hiking are best accessed with a car. The manager, Watanabe-san and all his staff are warm and friendly hosts, providing clear and helpful advice in English. The food is outstanding, sensitively prepared and presented with an emphasis on fresh local produce of the highest quality. If you are looking for a relaxed stay in rural Japan with access to great hiking we recommend Katakura House very highly!
Ｍｒ．ＪＲＷＭelbourn thank you for your review,and coming to KATAKURI HOUSE in term of Echigo Tsumari art triennale. we were glad to seeing you.and we are glad to hearing that your stay was satisfied. katakuri house is located at ＡＫＩＹＡＭＡＧＯ．akiyamago is one of japan`s 100 beautiful backcountry regions.this area is known as a tourist area of fresh green and autumn leaves. a uniuque culture and historic rural landscape remains here. our english is not so good.but we would like to do our best for tell a guests,good information. the food is natural food friendly body.using wild plants,mashroom,begetable..we are getting from around the katakuri house.so very tasty and fresh. we are thinking that how can we use these ingradients,can be changed a good dish. well we are looking forward to seeing you next time. We are full of feelings of gratefulness to you. yours sincelery. KATAKURI HOUSE taisei watanabe
We stayed at Katakuri House for two nights in late April and it was one of the highlights of our recent trip to Japan. We were in Niigata to see the Echigo Tsumari art field. Katakuri House is at one end of this region in a tiny village high in the mountains. The last few kilometres are up a fairly narrow but negotiable mountain road. However, this was not an issue and we were able to use the inn as a base for Echigo Tsumari and travel around easily over our three days there. We really enjoyed returning there at night as it was so peaceful and relaxing. The inn only opens from around May to November due to the heavy snow in this region in winter months.
We were greeted warnly by our host Taisei Watanabe who runs the inn with his wife. Watanabe-san speaks good English and was very welcoming and attentive to his guests. The inn is a converted schoolhouse with 7 traditional tatami rooms that are spacious and comfortable on the upper floor with views out to the mountains and the village. Futons and bedding were very comfortable and there were tea making facilities in the room. There is a shared guest toilet on the same floor and men's and ladies' Japanese onsen baths down stairs. Everything is spotlessly clean and well maintained. There is also wifi throughout the building.
Each night, we were served a delicious homecooked kaiseki meal prepared by Watnabe-san's wife that included local foods such as foraged herbs, vegetables and local meat and fish. They took the trouble to print a special English menu each night for us as well as explain all of the dishes to us. You could also order a beer or local sake. The meals were one of the highlights of the stay at Katakuri House. Breakfast was Japanese style but again absolutely delicious. Watanabe-san also inquired about any allergies or food preferences.
We loved it and felt very comfortable here. It was excellent value considering it was two great meals and accommodation and we would highly recommend this inn.
Mrs.2×2KINGS thank you for your review,and coming to KATAKURI HOUSE in April. we were glad to seeing you.and we are glad to hearing that your stay was satisfied. thank you so much for your comment about meals also. the day that you have come is just spring season. so we could serve many wild plants.there are many ingredient in this area. wild plants.vegetable.mushroom.rice.meat.fish.and water! so we think every time that how we can cook these foods to delicious meals. and we want many guests to eat these foods. we would like to do our best and please many guests with our efforts ffrom now on. there will be Echigo tsumari art triennare in 2015. so please come to NIIGATA again. we are looking forward to seeing you. We are full of feelings of gratefulness to you. yours sincelery. KATAKURI HOUSE taisei watanabe
