Hida-Furukawa, a Charming Town in Gifu Built from the Forests Around It

For hundreds of years, the mountainous Hida region of Gifu Prefecture has been famed for the high quality of its timber, particularly cedar, beech, cypress, chestnut, and keyaki (zelkova). Local traditions of fine woodworking are said to have originated over 1000 years ago, when laborers from the region traveled to work in cities like Nara and Kyoto. The skills that they brought back to Hida gave birth to a legacy that lives on to this day. 

The charming town of Hida-Furukawa is one of the best places for visitors to get a sense of the region’s past. The town’s historic district is perfect for leisurely strolls where you can view former homes and warehouses with their classic white plaster walls and elegant wooden structures. You can also visit galleries and workshops for a closer look at how local craftsmanship has evolved to thrive in the modern day. Throughout many parts of Hida-Furukawa, the streets are lined with trees, a reminder of the natural wealth that helped build the town and its proud artisanal traditions.

Sukiya-zukuri Suehiro: A Private Villa Constructed by Local Carpenters

The building that is now Sukiya-zukuri Suehiro was constructed approximately 50 years ago as a private home through the skills of local carpenters. Current owner Kohei Takekawa discovered the property after moving to the area in 2012 and sensed that it had potential to provide visitors with a more authentic experience of Hida-Furukawa’s history.

To make the property suitable for guests, renovations were carried out to modernize its facilities and install the necessary amenities. At the same time, you will be pleased to discover that the building retains its essence as a sukiya-style townhouse, both in terms of its overall architecture and through its use of beautiful natural wood derived from the local area. And because reservations are limited to one group per night, staying here in this former home gives you a better sense of everyday life in Hida-Furukawa.

A Stay with a Sense of Place

Make Yourself at Home in Sukiya-zukuri Suehiro

As you walk up the paved stone path to the entrance of Sukiya-zukuri Suehiro for the first time, you may feel as if you are entering another time, when Japan was a land of wooden homes constructed by hand. After stepping inside through its sliding wooden lattice doors, take some time to explore the building and make yourself at home.

On the first floor of Sukiya-zukuri Suehiro, you will find an elegant Japanese-style living room featuring tatami-mat floors, sliding shoji doors, and windows looking out onto a small Japanese garden with a simple kakine fence. Note the depth and warmth in the color and grain of the wood all around you, from beams, pillars and hardwood floors to delicate detailing and furniture. 

Altogether, the building can sleep up to five guests. There are two bedrooms downstairs and one upstairs, each floored with tatami mats in traditional style. Bedding is in the form of futons, which can be laid out when you want to sleep at night and put away to make space for relaxing during the day. In the living room, there is a low table where you can gather to enjoy snacks or a nice cup of tea.

The lovely bathroom at Sukiya-zukuri Suehiro with its wooden tub is the perfect place to warm up in the winter or relax body and mind after a day of hiking Mount Anbo or sightseeing around town. While meals are not provided at Sukiya-zukuri Suehiro, the villa has a kitchen equipped with a refrigerator, two-burner gas stovetop, cooking utensils, and dishes that you can use whenever you like to prepare your own meals. Alternatively, we recommend heading out into the neighborhood to enjoy restaurants specializing in everything from sushi to special dishes made using ingredients from the Hida region.

Deepen Your Connection to the Region

Hike Mount Anbo with a Local Guide for Views of Hida-Furukawa Amidst Its Treasured Forests (Additional Option)

To fully appreciate the mountains and forests that have provided so many generations of people in Hida-Furukawa with their livelihoods, it helps to get a view from above. To find it, start your morning* with a hike up nearby Mount Anbo with licensed trekking guide Kazuhisa Matsuo, who is also a nationally-licensed guide interpreter in English. Along the way, Matsuo, who has been living and working in the Hida region since 2010, can answer questions about the nature, history, and culture of the local area.

*Your guide will pick you up directly from your accommodation.

It takes about two hours to reach the summit of Mount Anbo. There is a wooden observation deck, from where you can look down at the houses of Hida-Furukawa and cast your gaze over the undulating view of forests that stretches off to the horizon. Some mornings, when the wind is still, fog fills the valleys while the mountains rise above like islands. This beautiful phenomenon is known as unkai (“cloud ocean”) in Japanese. 

Please note that hiking may be canceled due to inclement weather or other unavoidable circumstances. If this is the case, a guided town walk will be arranged instead with visits to the Hida Furukawa Festival Exhibition Hall and Takumikan Craft Museum.

Take a Guided Town Walk to Discover Hida-Furukawa’s Unique Local Culture (Additional Option)

The town of Hida-Furukawa itself is well worth a closer look and a town walk with guide Kazuhisa Matsuo takes you deeper into local life and culture. As well as strolling through the streets of the historic district, Matsuo will lead you to the Hida Furukawa Festival Exhibition Hall, which contains exhibits and videos of the annual Furukawa Festival as well as actual floats and drums used in the festivities. 

To explore the artisanal side of Hida-Furukawa’s history, you can head to the Takumikan Craft Museum, which celebrates traditional Hida wood craftsmanship through various displays of woodworking and carpenters’ tools. The building itself was constructed by local carpenters from wood from the Hida region using traditional carpentry techniques that do not require nails.

As well as woodworking and carpentry, the pure water of the region also led naturally into the production of fine sake in Hida-Furukawa. If you would like to learn more about the town’s proud tradition of sake brewing, Matsuo can guide you to the Sake Brewery for sake tasting. 

Continuing onward with your guide Matsuo, you will find yourself strolling alongside the Seto River, which runs through the town’s historic district. The clear water of this stream blazes with the shimmers of orange and gold from large koi that swim up and down alongside the white-plastered houses that line the bank. Matsuo will then lead you to Mishima Candle Shop, a local candlemaker that has been in business for over 240 years and is one of the few shops in Japan that still produces handmade candles.

Please note that it is possible to choose both options (hike and town walk) during your stay, if you wish. Entrance fees to the facilities listed above are included in the price of this plan. The places you visit will vary depending on the date.

Get to Know this Small Gifu Town Where Local Traditions Remain a Part of Life

The Hida region of Gifu has seen a huge rise in tourism in recent years, as visitors seek to experience a more rural side of Japan. The town of Hida-Furukawa offers a special opportunity to slow down for a couple of days to get a better sense of the surrounding landscape and how it has shaped local life for hundreds of years. 

By staying 2 nights in Hida-Furukawa, you will have more time to visit workshops and museums that take you deep into local history and culture while you explore the town and the natural world around it. And because you will have Sukiya-zukuri Suehiro all to yourselves, it won’t be hard to feel like you too are part of the town for a time.