Hokkaido, Atsuma — Mori no Auberge Mitsu

Three rooms
in a 120-year-old
farmhouse.

A small auberge in the forest of Atsuma, Hokkaido.
About 30 minutes by car from New Chitose Airport.

Autumn colour at Lake Shikotsu, about 60 minutes by car

Our Philosophy

The name "Mitsu"

Mitsu is written with the character for "three", and it also carries the sound of mitsu — to be filled.
Atsuma grew up along its river, on trade between the mountains and the sea. The forest here holds many broadleaf trees, so it changes colour through the seasons and keeps the light soft.
Leave the noise of the day behind, and let the forest hold you. That is the world we are trying to offer: quiet, and full.
Right now we are serving new-crop Sakura-mai rice from the clay pot, with hokki surf clams and autumn salmon at their best.

Dine

たべる

Stay

すごす

Unwind

ゆるむ

Japanese creative course at Auberge Mitsu

Dining

A Japanese creative course

Seven dishes, built on Atsuma

Our ingredients come directly from the fishermen and farmers of Atsuma and the area around it. Mailabuta pork, Biratori beef, sailfin poacher, tokishirazu salmon — the produce of Hokkaido, arranged to follow the season and the weather. Dinner is by reservation only. There is also a dinner-only plan for guests who are not staying the night.

01Appetiser — the breath of the season

02Soup — clear dashi, seasonal aroma

03Sashimi — fish at its best form

04Fried — aroma, sound and temperature

05Hot pot — Atsuma meat in dashi

06Meat — fat, aroma and texture in balance

07Clay-pot rice — local Nanatsuboshi

More about dining

Old timber and a carved ranma transom in the lounge

Architecture

A 120-year-old farmhouse

Moved, and restored

The building is a farmhouse that has stood for 120 years. It was taken down, moved here and restored. It was built in a traditional method often used for farmhouses in Toyama Prefecture: thick central pillars and beams that carry heavy snow, joined without metal fittings. The same materials are difficult to find today, which makes a house like this rare.

The old timber in the lounge has real presence, and at the same time the room feels familiar and warm. It is the kind of place where you sleep in time with the forest.

A tatami room with soft light through the shoji screens

Accommodation

Three rooms

Ki · Mi · Tsuki

There are only three guest rooms, each made inside the restored farmhouse.
Every room has its own goemon-style soaking tub in Shigaraki ceramic ware, a large window onto the forest, and no television.

Junior Suite

木

Ki — 45.54 m²

Standard Room

実

Mi — 42.96 m²

Suite Room

月

Tsuki — 65.56 m²

Experience

The bath in every room

Shigaraki ware, goemon style

Every room has a goemon-style soaking tub made in Shigaraki ceramic ware. This is a heated bath in Shigaraki ware, not a natural hot spring. Kumazasa bamboo grass, chamomile, mint — you blend the seasonal herbs yourself and bathe surrounded by the scent of the forest. There is no television; instead there is a Bluetooth speaker, so you can mix the sound of the trees with music of your own.

A goemon-style bath in Shigaraki ware looking onto the forest

A day at Mitsu

Check-in is at 15:00 and check-out at 10:00. In between there is the forest, the bath, dinner, and a night with no alarm clock. Lake Shikotsu, Lake Utonai and Tomakomai are all within about an hour by car.

See a day, hour by hour

Autumn Journal

Autumn reading

Notes on when the leaves turn, and on Atsuma in the season of new rice. They may help you plan a stop before or after your stay.

Lake Shikotsu with Mount Tarumae and Mount Fuppushi

Route

Autumn colour within an hour of the airport

The leaves peak from mid to late October. Here is a day's route from the airport.

Lake Shikotsu and Mount Eniwa seen through autumn leaves

Foliage

Lake Shikotsu foliage and Atsuma's paddies

Lake Shikotsu is about 60 minutes by car, and the paddies turn gold.

Garden

Yuni Garden's kochia, turning red

The kochia hills turn red in October, about 45 minutes by car from Mitsu.

Rice

Atsuma's new-crop Sakura-mai rice

Sakura-mai is the town's brand rice, served from the clay pot at breakfast.

About the inn

A Goemon-Style Bath in Every RoomA tub of Shigaraki ware, looking onto the forest.
A private bath in your room, not a hot springA goemon-style tub in each room, with no shared bathhouse.
Sleeping in an Old FarmhouseAn old farmhouse moved to the forest of Atsuma and restored.
A Hokkaido inn known for its Japanese breakfastRice from an earthenware pot, and a Japanese breakfast.
ReviewsWhat guests say about the house.

Journal

Three roomsin a 120-year-oldfarmhouse.