250y old Temple! 90min fm Tokyo.

Welcome to Hotaru, which is the only inn in Japan that used to a temple. You will have the entire building just for yourselves! And, check-in/out is done by yourself, so you do not need to worry of being physically close to anyone. Located 5 min drive from JR Urasa station, which is 90 min by a bullet train from Tokyo.　 Hot spring is 10 min walk. A beautiful trekking/jogging course is right in front! The guests can use two bikes for free of charge. Great food, great sake! The space The temple went through complete renovation, so its toilet and shower are brand new. The area is the snowiest area in Japan. Please enjoy playing with snow around the inn. Even though it is in a countryside, you can get almost all necessary items nearby. 7min walk from a 24 hour convenience store. 10min walk from a hot spring 10 min walk from several restaurants, including Ramen, Sushi and other Japanese foods. 20 min walk from JR Urasa station, from where you can go to various places by a train. Hakkaisanroku ski resort is 15 min drive. Hakkaisan ski resort is 30 min drive. It has advanced slopes. Okutadami ski resort is 50 min drive. It is one of the resorts that open earliest, like the end of November. The inn is also near mountains and you can go for snow shoeing, and other snow related activities. You are welcomed to rent our snow shoes. I lived in this town until I was 15 years old and came back when I was 35. This area is not known at all for its tourism, and when I was a child, I was always thinking to leave this countryside as soon as I could. However, when I came back, I noticed many beautiful things about this town. I have lived in nine different countries, but this kind of wonderful place is not easy to find anywhere in the world. This area is safer than any other place I have visited. It has distinctive beauty of four different seasons. Delicious meals. You can go hiking and river-swimming. To let people know about this beauty, I opened this temple hostel “Hotaru”. Hotaru means “firefly” in Japanese. I want this hostel to be like Hotaru who give sense of comfort to people inside darkness. This temple building was a Buddhist temple called “Yuinenji” (Jodosinsyu Ohtani faction). Due to depopulation, the temple lost its monk and parishioners have decided to submit a letter to its headquarter, to remove Yuinenji from the list of temples. Then, the building was transferred to its current location and originally meant to be a community hall where elders and locals organize some events. But, it was rarely used, so I have decided to make it a hostel in July 2018. The original founder of this temple is believed to be a monk named “Yuinenbou”. He is from Nagano area and came to this area during 1400BC. He helped Uesugi Kenshin, the ruler of this whole area and got a permission to stay in this area. The ceiling of tatami room has paintings by local children, who got a lecture from artists and painted this by soaking their foot with ink and freely stepping on white paper. It is located next to a mountain and surrounded by rivers and rice paddies. You can experience a real life of Japanese countryside. There are several trekking routes, hot springs, delicious restaurants and sake bars! The temple is very child-friendly, since it is wide and flat, without any stairs. Guest access You can use the whole temple as your own house. The Inn is right next to the welfare facilities, so please keep quiet after 9pm. As long as you shut the door, the noise hardly gets to hear outside. So, please keep quiet when you open the door. Smoking is strictly prohibited both inside and around the Inn. Other things to note Depending on a season, some bugs may visit the inn. They are totally harmless.　　It is strongly advisable to have a car, especially if you are with small children. The kitchen is not fully equipped and it may not be comfortable cooking everyday. Registration Details Hotels and Inns Business Act | 新潟県南魚沼保健所 | 新潟県 南魚保 第　7‐2　号