MIYAMA, KYOTOThatch and Hearth: Village Life in Miyama

A Village That Still Lives Under Thatch

Morning in Miyama

Dinner Around the Hearth

The Farmhouse Where You Stay

A Shimenawa on the Shelf

Bamboo Stock at the Artisan's Studio

The Bamboo Artisan

Making Your Own Chopsticks

Down the Hozugawa River

A View You Can Only See from the Water

You sit around an irori, a sunken hearth, with farmers who have lived in this village all their lives. Together you cook regional dishes and listen to stories of a life shaped by the seasons. Miyama's Kayabuki-no-Sato lies in the mountains two hours north of Kyoto City, but the crowds of Kyoto never reach here. The valleys are quiet, the air is clean, and the same families have lived in farmhouses with thatched roofs for hundreds of years. You stay overnight in the village, visit a master bamboo artisan in nearby Kameoka, and ride the current of the Hozugawa River through a wooded valley. This is rural Japan as it is lived, not as it is shown to visitors.

CustomisableEvery detail can be shaped around you.

Access map: MIYAMA, KYOTO Thatch and Hearth: Village Life in Miyama

Experience Stories

Staying in a Thatched-Roof Farmhouse

You spend the night in Kayabuki-no-Sato, one of the last villages in Japan where families still live under thatched roofs. The same families have farmed these hills for generations, and life here moves with the seasons. You wake to the quiet of the mountains and the sight of roofs that have sheltered families for hundreds of years.

An Evening Around the Hearth with Local Farmers

In a farmhouse, you gather around an irori, a traditional sunken hearth, with local farmers. Together you prepare and share regional dishes made from local ingredients. Over the meal, you hear their stories of life in these hills.

A Master Bamboo Artisan's Private Studio in Kameoka

In nearby Kameoka, you enter the private studio of a master bamboo artisan. Bamboo has shaped Japanese craft for centuries, valued for being both strong and flexible. You watch the artisan work it by hand, and can make your own pair of bamboo chopsticks to take home.

Down the Hozugawa River

You take to the Hozugawa River for a descent through the valley, carried along by the current between steep, wooded banks. From the water, the rural landscape of Kyoto opens up in a way it never does from the road.

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