Journal | 2026
You reach for the phone the moment you wake, and fall asleep with a video running. Why not step away from that for one night? Mori no Auberge Mitsu is an inn with no television in any of its rooms. Here is how an evening away from the screen goes.
There is no television in the rooms
There is no television in the guest rooms at Auberge Mitsu. There never was one — the sets were simply never put in. It is a choice that follows from being a place of three groups a night, built around quiet.
With the sound of the television gone, the sound of the forest fills the room instead. Wind moving through the branches. Birds. On a wet day, rain on the roof. The Japanese oak forest spreading outside the window becomes the best screen in the house.
We do not impose a digital detox on anyone
If your thought is "I would be stuck without my phone", there is no need to worry. Wi-Fi is available in every room. Check the messages from work, then get into the bath. That is perfectly fine.
A digital detox at Mitsu is not about going without, and it is not imposed. What is here is an environment where using a screen, or not, is yours to choose. Oddly enough, once you are in the forest the time spent looking at a screen grows shorter by itself.
What there is, instead of a screen
In the late afternoon, to the goemon-style soaking tub in Shigaraki ceramic ware, looking out over the forest. In the herb bath, with seasonal herbs floated on the water, the body slowly comes undone. In the evening, a Japanese creative course that reflects what is in season in Atsuma. Afterwards, Yoichi wine or sake from Hokkaido — a drink with the forest.
Turn the lights down and all there is to hear is the forest. In a room with no television light, sleep should come more slowly and more easily than usual. In the morning, birdsong does the work of an alarm.
A night of blank space, in the forest
There is nothing special you have to do. Bring the book you started. Sit by the window and simply look at the forest. Talk, slowly, with the person you came with. The time the screen was taking comes back to you whole.
About 30 minutes by car from New Chitose Airport. Thirty minutes from ordinary life, there is a forest where you can be away from the digital. The flow from 15:00 through to the next morning is set out in A Day at Mitsu, and the bath is described in more detail on the herb bath page.
Frequently asked questions
Q. Is there a place to stay in Hokkaido with no television?
Yes. Mori no Auberge Mitsu, in Atsuma, Hokkaido, is an inn with no television in any of its rooms. It takes three groups a night and is built around quiet, so you can spend the time with the sound of the forest. It is about 30 minutes by car from New Chitose Airport.
Q. Can I use my phone and Wi-Fi?
Wi-Fi is available in every room. This is not a place that imposes a digital detox on you. Using a screen or not is yours to choose, so you can stay without worry even if messages from work are on your mind.
Q. With no television, what is there to do in the evening?
The goemon-style soaking tub looking out over the forest, the omakase Japanese creative course, a drink in the evening, reading, and time spent listening to the forest. The flow from 15:00 to the next morning is set out on the "A Day at Mitsu" page.
Related: Forest bathing / A Day at Mitsu / Rooms | All journal entries