AWAI will launch a decentralized hotel project utilizing historical buildings in Togakushi, a nationally designated Important Preservation District for Groups of Traditional Buildings.
As the first step, the hotel “RITA Togakushi” (3390 Togakushi, Nagano City, Nagano Prefecture) and French restaurant “awai” will open on April 28 in the “former Nakasha Public Hall” which was once used as a community center. The hotel will have a total of two guest rooms, starting at 25,000 yen per night with half board.
Togakushi is located at the foot of Mount Togakushi, and the area is designated as Myoko Togakushi National Park. Togakushi Shrine is a shrine with a history of more than 2,000 years, consisting of five shrines: Okusha, Naka-sha, Hogosha, Kutouryu-sha, and Hinomikosha, and enshrines to the gods associated with the myth of the opening of Ama-no-Iwato. Togakushi worship combined with Shugendo (mountain asceticism), and from the medieval to early modern periods, many people from all over the country began to visit the shrine, leading to the spread of the “Togakushi Ko” (pilgrimage association). In the Edo period (1603-1867), shukubo (lodging houses) were set up to accommodate pilgrims, and residences of farmers and craftsmen spread outside the shukubo to form a town in front of the gate. Many farmers were said to have sprinkled water from Togakushi onto their fields in the spring to pray for a good harvest, and in the fall they would deliver their harvest to Togakushi.
In the future, the second phase of the project will be to rehabilitate a former thatched-roof private house into a single inn for rent. The thatched roof had become difficult to maintain and had been vacant for more than 20 years. The roof, which had been covered with tin, will be returned to its thatched roof and revitalized as an accommodation facility by the end of 2023. The project will involve people from inside and outside the community in a workshop format with the cooperation of thatch craftsmen active in Togakushi.
© Source travel watch