Travel Like You Live Here: Unhurried Days at oribe guesthouse in Tajimi
By HANAKO
About a five-minute walk from the north exit of Tajimi Station, oribe guesthouse opened in April 2026 in a carefully restored 70-year-old house. Its concept is "a resting place in the town, where old and new meet." The idea is that guests do more than tick off the sights: they settle in, slow down, and discover the charm of the town as if they lived here.
The guesthouse was created by Taki, who also operates six guesthouses and whole-house rentals in Nagano Prefecture. Here we introduce the thinking behind the place and what makes oribe guesthouse special.
Owner Taki (hacobune Inc.)
Taki originally worked in marketing and advertising in central Tokyo. Over the years he felt a growing wish to live closer to nature and to do work that mattered socially, so he moved to Nagano. There he began restoring empty houses and turning them into guesthouses, places where people could come together. Today he runs six guesthouses and whole-house rentals in the prefecture.
When he married, he moved to Tajimi. He was drawn to this building because it was close to the station and well placed for exploring the town on foot, and he made it his new base. He wants it to be a place where both international travellers and visitors from all over Japan can take their time and enjoy Tajimi.
"I'd like guests to experience everyday Japanese life, as if they were trying out living in Tajimi," he says.
When he married, he moved to Tajimi. He was drawn to this building because it was close to the station and well placed for exploring the town on foot, and he made it his new base. He wants it to be a place where both international travellers and visitors from all over Japan can take their time and enjoy Tajimi.
"I'd like guests to experience everyday Japanese life, as if they were trying out living in Tajimi," he says.
A calm space full of the warmth of wood
Shared lounge and kitchen
The shared lounge and kitchen before renovation
The renovation was done largely by Taki and his wife themselves, step by step: relaying floors, knocking down walls, even jacking up the foundations. Taking out walls revealed handsome old beams, now one of the building's great charms. The upstairs is popular with overseas guests, who say it feels truly Japanese
Upstairs room with exposed ceiling beams – two double beds
Ground-floor room – one double bed and one sofa bed
Ground-floor room – one bunk bed.
There are three guest rooms: one with two double beds, one with a double bed and a sofa bed, and one with a bunk bed. That makes it easy to fit the rooms to how you travel, whether as a couple, a family, or a group of friends. The rooms use green as an accent colour, combined with antique furniture for a warm, lived-in feel.
Taki has a background in product design and other design work, and he used it here. He thought not only about where the furniture goes, but about how light enters the rooms at different times of day, and how reflections change the way colours look. The rooms shift in character as the day passes, and they make you want to stay a while.
Taki has a background in product design and other design work, and he used it here. He thought not only about where the furniture goes, but about how light enters the rooms at different times of day, and how reflections change the way colours look. The rooms shift in character as the day passes, and they make you want to stay a while.
Shared spaces where guesthouse encounters happen
A wide selection of board games
A notebook where guests are free to write
The shared lounge has manga and board games, so you can read on your own or gather around a game with other guests. There is also a notebook where guests leave messages: travel memories, words of thanks, notes for whoever comes next. Just leafing through it, you feel the warmth of the people who passed through. Unlike a hotel, a guesthouse lets you meet new people and share time with them on the road, and that is a big part of its appeal.
Fully stocked with cookware and dishes.
Brightly coloured Polish pottery.
The kitchen is fully equipped with dishes and cooking utensils, so you can buy ingredients at a nearby supermarket and cook for yourself. The laundry area has a fully automatic washer-dryer, which makes longer stays easy too.
The vegetable garden.
In front of the house there is a vegetable garden. When we visited, eggplants, tomatoes, and corn were growing strongly, and at harvest time guests were welcome to help themselves.
"Some days you might go sightseeing around town, and some days you might just stay in and relax. One vegan guest from abroad cooked with vegetables from the garden and spent the time reading," Taki says. Spending your days as if you lived here is one pleasure this guesthouse offers.
"Some days you might go sightseeing around town, and some days you might just stay in and relax. One vegan guest from abroad cooked with vegetables from the garden and spent the time reading," Taki says. Spending your days as if you lived here is one pleasure this guesthouse offers.
A doorway to falling in love with Tajimi
What Taki values most in running the guesthouse is consideration for the neighbourhood. He takes part in the local residents' association as much as he can, and he works to make sure the guesthouse never becomes a nuisance to the neighbours.
"I'd love people to come to Tajimi, stay here, and then explore the shops and streets around us," he says. Helping guests discover the local side of Tajimi through their stay matters to him.
Drawing on his experience in running accommodation, he also supports and produces lodging projects for others. Having set up and run guesthouses himself through a lot of trial and error, he is happy to advise anyone thinking of starting one.
"I'd love people to come to Tajimi, stay here, and then explore the shops and streets around us," he says. Helping guests discover the local side of Tajimi through their stay matters to him.
Drawing on his experience in running accommodation, he also supports and produces lodging projects for others. Having set up and run guesthouses himself through a lot of trial and error, he is happy to advise anyone thinking of starting one.
From the oribe guesthous website
"I like silly little things," Taki told us with a smile during the interview. He builds the websites for his guesthouses himself, and they are full of playful touches: open the oribe guesthouse site and a potter's wheel is spinning, while on the Nagano site fireflies and shooting stars drift across the screen. You can't help stopping to watch. The care he puts into small, delightful details shows not only in the rooms but everywhere a guest might look.
A trip that is not just sightseeing, but a chance to live for a while in another place.
When you visit Tajimi, why not spend that kind of time at oribe guesthouse?
A trip that is not just sightseeing, but a chance to live for a while in another place.
When you visit Tajimi, why not spend that kind of time at oribe guesthouse?
oribe guesthouse
- Address: 3-67-2 Otowa-cho, Tajimi City, Gifu
Access: About a 5-minute walk from the north exit of JR Tajimi Station
Rooms: Private rooms (shared lounge and kitchen)
Parking: None (coin parking nearby)
Booking: Link to booking page Airbnb
Languages: Japanese and English
