Countryside Experience — Welcomed by Forest Family | Takayama & Beyond

Hida
Hagiwara

Experience · Countryside & Craft

CountrysideExperienceWelcomedbyForestFamily

Visit a 150-year-old farmhouse, walk through a working cedar forest, and enjoy a “Sugidama” craft experience.

¥30,000Per Adult

~5 hrsDuration

1–10Guests

The Experience

Discover the connection between forest, farmhouse, and sake

About 40 minutes from Takayama, this private experience takes you to a rural mountain community where the same family has lived for more than 150 years.

Cedar is one of the most important materials in Hida. It has long been used for traditional architecture, craftsmanship, and sake culture. During the experience, you will visit the family farmhouse, explore the cedar forest they manage, and make a sugidama—the cedar ball displayed outside Japanese sake breweries to announce a new brew.

Rather than a strenuous outdoor activity, this is a gentle cultural experience focused on local life, forestry, craftsmanship, and conversation with the host family.

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What You'll Experience

Tea and introduction at the farmhouse

Begin with Japanese tea around the traditional irori hearth. Your hosts share the history of their family, the mountain, and daily life in the countryside. An English-speaking interpreter is with you throughout the experience.

Learn about a traditional Hida farmhouse

Explore a farmhouse built for agricultural life, very different from the merchant houses of Takayama's old town. The owner explains how the house has supported generations of family life and reflects local beliefs and seasonal living.

Walk through a working cedar forest

Ride a small truck into the cedar mountain managed by the family. Walk slowly along a paved forest road while learning how the forest is cared for and how forestry in Japan has changed over time. No hiking experience is required.

Make a traditional sugidama

Using fresh cedar from the mountain, create your own sugidama. This traditional craft is closely connected to Japanese sake breweries, and families who still make them by hand are now extremely rare.

Sweets and coffee

Finish at a tea house the family built beside the farmhouse. The host's wife is a professional pâtissier who once ran her own café, and she welcomes guests here with handmade sweets and coffee—included, with our compliments.

Place&People

The Place

A farmhouse surrounded by cedar mountains

Located in a quiet rural area about 40 minutes from Takayama, this 150-year-old farmhouse remains a lived-in family home. The surrounding cedar forest is still actively managed, offering a rare opportunity to experience the relationship between mountain, forest, and everyday life in Hida.

The People

Foresters and craftspeople

The host family has cared for these mountains for generations. They continue traditional forestry work and the craft of making sugidama for sake breweries. An English-speaking cultural interpreter helps create natural conversation and cultural exchange throughout the experience.

The Thread of Cedar

杉

Forest → Brewery → Home

The cedar of Hida grows straight and tall on the mountain slopes. For centuries it has connected three worlds: the forest, where it is carefully tended; the brewery, where cedar has long been part of sake culture; and the home, where cedar becomes beams, walls, tools, and fragrance.

Making a sugidama with cedar from the family's own mountain is a small but powerful way to touch that connection with your own hands.

Photogallery

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Why
Countryside?

The value is the exchange.

Takayama's old town shows the beauty of Hida. The countryside reveals the life that still sustains it. By spending time with one family, you begin to understand how they think about the forest, the seasons, work, and community. And often, when we encounter another person's ordinary life, we see our own values more clearly.

This is not a day of collecting sights. It is a day of sharing time.

What's Included

Included

✓ Private experience with the host family

✓ English-speaking interpreter

✓ Pick-up from the nearest station

✓ Japanese tea at the irori hearth

✓ Guided farmhouse visit

✓ Cedar forest visit

✓ Gentle walk on a paved forest road

✓ Hands-on sugidama making

✓ Homemade sweets and coffee

Not Included

✕ Travel to the meeting point

✕ Hotel pick-up and drop-off (available on request for groups of 6 or fewer)

✕ Lunch or other meals unless arranged in advance

✕ Alcoholic drinks

Optional Arrangement

Tap to add — included in your inquiry so we can confirm it with you.

Private Transfer · groups of 6 or fewer

On request

Pick-up from the nearest station is already included. For groups of six or fewer, we can also arrange a private door-to-door transfer from your hotel in Takayama. We can arrange this for small groups—please mention it when sending your inquiry.

Price Per Adult

¥30,000

Ages 3–12 · ¥15,000 · Under 3 · Free

Dates (single day or a range)

Guests

Adults (13+)

Ages 3–12

Under 3

Comments (allergies, requests…)

Estimated Total

¥60,000

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FAQs

Driving is recommended. You may also come by train, and we will pick you up from the nearest station. For groups of six guests or fewer, a private transfer from your hotel in Takayama can also be arranged on request.

No. This is a gentle walk on a paved forest road. The focus is on learning about the cedar forest and enjoying the surroundings, not on hiking or physical activity.

Yes. A meal is not included by default, but we may be able to arrange a seasonal meal or other food option depending on the date and your request.

The host family speaks Japanese. An English-speaking interpreter accompanies the experience throughout the day.

Yes. The experience is suitable for families and for guests of most fitness levels.

Yes. Each season offers a different atmosphere in the cedar forest and countryside.

No — it sends us an inquiry. Every experience is private and arranged individually, so we confirm availability, discuss any adjustments, and finalise everything together. We reply within 24 hours. Payment is arranged directly with us after confirmation.

Cancellations 14+ days before receive a full refund. 7–13 days receive 50%. Within 7 days, refunds are not available — but we're happy to move your booking to another date at no charge where availability allows. We strongly recommend travel insurance.