"Pride of a Ryokan" is a series introducing the proprietresses and managers of inns that are members of "The Ryokan Collection." This time, we will be introducing Kumi Sato, the proprietress of "Shinsen Ryokan" located in Takachiho Town, Miyazaki Prefecture.

Takachiho is a town of mythology. It is the site of the Ama-no-Iwato cave where Amaterasu Omikami hid, and the great cave of Amanoyasukawara where eight million gods gathered to solve the mystery.

It is also the place where Ninigi-no-Mikoto descended from heaven. Even if you don't have any spiritual powers, some people seem to sense a "divine realm" here.

When influencers post photos of the Ryokan Shinsen we are introducing this time on Instagram, they often use hashtags such as "#RyokanWithGods."

Kumi Sato is the hostess of one of Takachiho's most famous inns. She is bright and cheerful.

If you're coming from Tokyo, it's a 20 hour XNUMX minute drive from Aso Kumamoto Airport, and the moment you meet the proprietress, your heart will relax.

From young proprietress to proprietress

Since Sato is the second generation in the direct line, it was only natural that she became the proprietress.

"My mother was the first proprietress of the inn, and I was a young proprietress for a while. One day, 17 years ago, Rakuten asked me to participate in Rakuten Travel's 'Hospitality Contest for Proud Proprietors'. My father said, 'You should enter, not my mother,' so I applied. Over 30 innkeepers from all over Japan, from Hokkaido to Okinawa, self-nominated and recommended by others, applied, and the voting was online, but I ended up winning. From then on, the title of young proprietress was dropped, and I became the proprietress, while my mother worked behind the scenes."

And so the proprietress, now in her 30s, was born.

"It's rare to find a hostess in her early 30s. Even someone in her 50s is considered young. So the hurdles were extremely high, and there were times when I was very worried. The first five or six years were the hardest... Having said that, I still get nervous when I appear in front of customers."

Don't worry, the proprietress is very confident.

But why "#InnWithGod"?

"Many guests comment that just entering the inn grounds makes them feel as though a barrier has been put in place. Some even say they met a zashiki warashi spirit in their room. Everyone's stories aren't scary ghost stories, but rather they seem to be having a lot of fun."

However, he did not appear in front of the author.

A 10-room inn started by my grandmother

Although Ryokan Shinsen is now a famous inn that is undisputedly famous, it seems that the road to getting to this point was not always smooth. Let's listen to what the proprietress has to say.

"My grandmother started the inn here in August 1973. In 1970, the Japanese National Railways (JNR) launched a campaign called Discover Japan to encourage independent travel, and Miyazaki Prefecture became popular with honeymooners. Takachiho was not well known at the time, but people started flocking to the area, and there were no longer enough rooms in the inn."

It was my grandmother who seized the opportunity.

"We started the inn with 10 rooms. Each room was XNUMX tatami mats in size. We only had one large communal bath, and the toilets were shared. It was hard to tell whether it was a minshuku or an inn (laughs). With the inn starting out like this, there were a lot of things to be afraid of, so I'm honored just to be included in 'The Ryokan Collection'."

It's funny to see the proprietress writhing in agony, saying, "Oh no!"

The president's big decision

Let's rewind the clock about 50 years from now. The key person for this inn was the proprietress's father, Norihiro Sato.

"At my grandmother's request, my father dropped out of university and returned to his hometown. He was just 20 years old. He brought along my mother, who was 19 years old at the time and was in a relationship with her. The clueless young couple started an inn."

My father became the first president at the age of 21, and the inn was named "Shinsen." However...

"When my sister and I were born, there were no customers at all, so the inn was our playground. Even when we played hide-and-seek, it was so big that we could never be found (laughs)."

Ten years later, when he was around 10 years old, he made a big decision.

"If we continued to run the inn like this, we would end up competing for customers with similar local inns. I thought, 'I have to get out of this situation and aim higher.' I decided to go in the direction of a purely Japanese style inn, demolished the warehouse and built three rooms with hearths, and completely overhauled the cuisine, making it more like Kyoto-style kaiseki cuisine. I made small renovations, and by 1985 or XNUMX it was basically ready."

Polished soft aspects and hospitality

Kumi Sato has been helping out at the inn since she was a junior high school student. After getting married, she moved out for a while, but eventually returned to her parents' home. And as we see at the beginning of the story, she became the de facto proprietress of the inn.

"After I started helping out at the inn, I found it quicker to ask the customers for advice, so I put questionnaires in the guest rooms. The responses were pretty awful (laughs), but they taught me a lot. I can't change the hardware right away, but I started by making changes to the software side of things that I could."

There was a deeper meaning behind this.

"It's different now, but for a long time, the road just before arriving at the inn was narrow, and guests would get in a bad mood as soon as they arrived. They would say, 'Why did you make me go through that road?' They were angry from the moment they entered the inn, so that was the real challenge. We were starting from a negative position, so we all worked hard to liven things up, and by the time they left at the end, we'd have them laughing. That's the goal, so we've really polished our soft skills (laughs)."

Currently, you can enter the car park via an unusually wide road, but if you follow the navigation system, you will be led down the "narrow road that made the customer unhappy," which will take you down the hill. Perhaps because of this, when I drove down from the top, two staff members who had been waiting in the car park below came running up the hill in the scorching heat. They were certainly extremely cheerful and polite, and I even thought, "What is with this hospitality?" (laughs).

The president works in the garden and holds a knife

My father, the president, continued to make changes.

"We currently have 15 guest rooms, and not one of them is the same. Even the ceilings are all different. The architect was from Saitama Prefecture, but my father made the details his own request. He didn't want to hire a professional architect, as he said that if he did, the inn would end up looking like other inns. So when it came to the gardens, I taught myself about Kyoto temples and communicated the image I had in mind to a local gardener, who then created them."

It was the president who expanded the premises.

"When I returned, the inn was surrounded by rice paddies and farmland. The chorus of frogs was the background music. Now it has become our annex and villa, the Kouniwa. Also, Takachiho has a legend about the evil demon Kihachi. After he was defeated, he was cut into three pieces and buried in three places: a mound for his head, a mound for his body, and a mound for his limbs. The mound for his body happened to be on the neighboring property. The owner wanted to sell the property because it was bringing misfortune, so my father bought it."

The small forest and garden including Onihachizuka is named "Senjoen."

"Since we acquired Onihachizuka, things have been going well for us, so I feel like we're being protected by something invisible."

The president is lucky and very talented.

"My father taught the staff how to build things like bamboo fences together. They wanted to do as much as they could with their own hands, so they also did the pruning of the garden trees and maintenance of the garden. In the past, my father would butcher the carp and make sculpted yamame trout to serve to customers."

He is now 73 years old.

"Today, I'm out fishing for wild sweetfish to serve to customers who request them. I'm risking my life, wading waist-deep in the river (laughs). There are three rivers nearby where you can catch sweetfish, but today I'm going to the Mitachi River."

The president's love for Takachiho Town

The president's involvement with Takachiho Town is unusual.

"My father quit smoking at age 30, but food started to taste better and he gained weight. To lose weight, he started running at the local sports park, and he became good friends with high school students and track and field club members. This led to him coaching the Takachiho High School relay team. He came up with a three-year plan to train the students. Kobayashi High School is a prestigious relay team in Miyazaki Prefecture, and they beat them to go on to the National High School Relay Championships. People around him said it was a windfall, so he worked hard and won again. Apparently, the experience he gained from coming up with this three-year plan was put to good use when he later ran the inn (laughs)."

I also like walking.

"My father started the Takachiho Walking Club, which started from our inn and walked to Amanoiwato Shrine. This developed into a marathon event. Eventually, he got Takachiho town involved and it became the Takachiho Marathon, Home of Myths, and he even planned a pre-event. Having a pre-event meant that more people could stay overnight. Once the event had gained some traction, he handed over the sponsorship to Takachiho town. It seems the town continued the event for a few years before calling it quits."

The walking event "Takachiho Together Walk" has been handed over to the town and continues to this day.

"My father was born and raised in Takachiho, so I think he loves the town and has a strong desire to liven up Takachiho. That's why he became the initiator and started something new."

Specializing in providing a healing space

Currently, the person who is at the center of thinking about Ryokan Shinsen is none other than the proprietress.

"Since joining The Ryokan Collection, I've seen the various experiences that each facility offers to their guests, and I've been thinking about what we can do. But the town of Takachiho itself has a lot to offer. For example, there are tours of Takachiho Gorge and the mythological and historical sites, the Amaterasu Railway, and activities on Mount Aso. So I'm starting to think that there's no need for inns to make suggestions. On the contrary, we will support local DMCs (regional travel agencies) and have them create a variety of plans. We will introduce this part to them and leave it up to them."

So, what is the position of Ryokan Shinsen?

"We believe that our lodgings place a great emphasis on providing a relaxing atmosphere. For example, each room has an open-air bath, so guests can bathe as much as they like, whether they have tattoos or not. All meals are served in private rooms, so guests with small children can enjoy themselves without worrying about crying or anything else. Of course, if you would like any information, we will do our best to help you find it. I think that specializing in providing a relaxing space that is tailored to our guests is what makes us unique."

A variety of dishes that can only be enjoyed here

There are 14 dining locations. The private rooms are changed between the evening and the following morning, so you can enjoy your meal in a different atmosphere. Dinner begins with hot sake called "Kappo Sake" poured from a bamboo stick and caviar.

"Kyushu is said to have delicious food. Shiiba Village, one of Japan's three most remote areas, is located in Miyazaki Prefecture. The sturgeon farmed there are raised in water from the headwaters of the Mimigawa River, which is free-flowing, so the water temperature is low and they grow slowly. Normally, they are raised for around six years to harvest caviar, but here they are raised for up to eight years. By then, the eggs have grown large, and we serve the largest of these as 'Shinsen Caviar.'"

Indeed, the grains were larger than anything I'd ever tasted, less salty, and extremely creamy like egg yolk.The highlight is the sturgeon cutting show.

"We fillet the fish in front of our customers and wash the freshly caught caviar in sake before serving it to them. This is the freshest caviar that only the producers can eat. You can also enjoy it on rice as a caviar bowl."

Ah, that's unbearable. Unfortunately, for now,The final event is scheduled for March next year.

There is also the legendary Ozaki beef.

"Ozaki beef is available all year round. This beef has a very low melting point of 28 degrees, so the fat melts quickly on your tongue. It's not heavy at all. You can also enjoy it as both shabu-shabu and steak."

I did indeed get some. The meat was incredibly delicious. Nakai-san quietly revealed that it was only possible thanks to the landlady's connections.

They also have close ties with farmers.

"We help harvest mangoes from farmers in Miyazaki, and watermelons, melons, and pears from farmers in Kumamoto, and purchase them directly. Even if they are slightly bruised and unsellable, the taste remains the same, so we use them at the inn. We try to help the farmers in any way we can."

A major project is underway

In fact, a major project is currently underway with the aim of opening in July of next year.

"We are opening Beppu Shinsen in Beppu, Oita Prefecture. It will be located in Minami Tateishi, not Kannawa, within the city. It will consist of six inns, and we have purchased the land and are building it from scratch, aiming to be of a higher standard than Takachiho. The rooms will be between 120 and 200 square meters, and it will be an inn for adults only, not children. It will be the culmination of our, or rather my father's, efforts in running an inn for over 50 years."

Proprietress: Sato Kumi

Born in Takachiho Town, Nishiusuki District, Miyazaki Prefecture in 1974. Graduated from Miyazaki Prefectural Takachiho High School in 1992, and a two-year course in interpretation and translation at CIC Canadian International University in 1994 before joining Ryokan Shinsen. In 1995, she underwent a five-week language training course at Estudio International Sampere in Madrid, Spain. In 2006, she won first place in Rakuten's "Landlady Hospitality Spirit Contest," and took over as landlady from her mother (the current head landlady). In 2009, she obtained a Balinese Traditional Body Massage Diploma in Bali, and the following year, she obtained a Balinese Traditional Facial Massage Diploma in Bali. In 2013, she obtained the Japan Sommelier Association Certified Sommelier qualification.

Japanese inn　immortal

1127-XNUMX Mitai, Takachiho Town, Nishishiraki District, Miyazaki Prefecture

Tel: 0982-72-2257

All 15 rooms

Composition/Written by:Toshizumi Ishibashi

He is a freelance editor‑writer and contributing editor at Premium Japan. He is former editor‑in‑chief of CREA Traveller and CREA.

Photo by Toshiyuki Furuya