Shinjuku Station in Tokyo is by most accounts the busiest train station in the world, surrounded by bustling streets illuminated all night by its famous neon lights. Few travelers arriving in such a place would ever dream that a world of sparkling rivers, verdant mountains, and traditional villages lies only a short ride away on a local train. This other side of Tokyo is a hidden rural treasure home to the beautiful regions of Mitake, Ome, and Okutama.

After you board the Chuo Line train at Shinjuku Station, watch through your window as large buildings give way to residential suburbs and then to rural farms and natural greenery. The last stretch of railway, the Ome Line, follows the Tamagawa River winding upwards through the forested hills towards Lake Okutama at the far western edge of Tokyo prefecture. When you arrive at quaint little Hatonosu Station, a local resident will be there to greet you and guide you through the village streets to your accommodation at Satologue.

Perched above the banks of the fast-flowing headwaters of the Tamagawa River, Satologue originally opened in 2024 as a gourmet restaurant housed within a converted former farmhouse, including a sauna and garden. In 2025, Satologue also began to open its doors to overnight stays, offering stylish and comfortable accommodation within a space that provides close connections to the surrounding natural world. 

Satologue was designed by celebrated architect Yasushi Horibe with the idea that a building could help visitors connect with the story of a small rural community. Guests at Satologue are encouraged to stroll through the on-site gardens, with the owners happy to accompany you for a guided tour around the property’s vegetable plantations. As you stroll the grounds, take time to reflect on the many centuries of village life that have gone on within this gorgeous river valley.

With plentiful use of natural wood in their construction, the guest rooms at Satologue were specially designed by architect Yasushi Horibe to encourage visitors to focus their eyes and ears outward into the natural world. Both beds and the sofa are oriented to face the glass doors, looking out across the Tamagawa River gorge with views of lush greenery. Outside is a balcony where you can sit back and relax as the river waters gurgle below and the wind swishes through the trees above.

A whole new level of relaxation awaits you at Satologue’s on-site FUKISUI sauna, built within a restored former storehouse and now reserved for the exclusive use of Satologue’s overnight guests. A wood-fired stove powered by local Okutama lumber provides the heat to soothe your body and mind, while the open-air cold plunge bath uses fresh water drawn from the fast-flowing Tamagawa River.

After your sauna, feel free to spend some time with a good book in the Satologue’s chic lounge, which is open from 4:00 PM - 7:00 PM. In the evening, head out into the garden to warm yourself by a small bonfire while you gaze up at the stars.

Satologue started out as a restaurant in 2024, providing fine dining experiences for visitors from the very beginning. The two chefs at Satologue are passionate about crafting their meals using the finest local ingredients, often grown in their very own gardens or sourced from producers nearby. Using French cooking methods, the chefs will prepare a dinner for you that is a feast for the senses, celebrating the extraordinary productivity of the surrounding lands and their personal affinity to the region. As a special Wabunka exclusive, you can also enjoy a local sake pairing* specially chosen to complement your meal.

*Guests who are underage or do not wish to drink alcohol will receive a homemade non-alcoholic beverage 

Both dinner and breakfast will be served within the intimate dining area of the on-site restaurant TOKIRO.

After a restful night, wake up to watch the morning sun warm the colors of the leaves on the trees outside your window. Head outside onto the balcony to breathe in the fresh mountain air and appreciate the serenity of your surroundings. If you’ve got time, head down for a morning sauna either before or or after breakfast, with a bracing plunge into the outdoor cold bath if you feel up for it.

Your morning meal at Satologue is a well-balanced breakfast, carefully crafted by the chefs to be as healthy as it is delicious. The dishes served at breakfast make the most of the bounty of the Okutama region, including trout from nearby mountain streams, salad made from fresh-picked seasonal vegetables, and rice cooked in local spring water. There is no need to rush—be sure to take your time to linger over this delicious meal.

Just a short 15-minute drive from Satologue back down the road along the Tamagawa River, the small city of Ome is home to a remarkable couple, Sukehira and Nodoka Hirata. Together, they operate the traditional bladesmith’s shop Hirata Swordsmith, with Nodoka using her skills as a murage forge master to produce top quality tamahagane steel that toko blacksmith Sukehira shapes into blades using hammer, tongs, and anvil. 

After you arrive, Nodoka will demonstrate how to operate the shop’s prized tatara, a traditional forge fed by a foot-operated bellows. While tatara once produced all of Japan’s famously top quality steel, they are exceedingly rare today, used mostly to produce high-grade tamahagane steel for ornamental and ceremonial swords and knives. As murage, Nodoka is responsible for managing the temperature and condition of the tatara forge.  

As toko blacksmith, Sukehira will take you through the next steps of the process, showing you how to hammer a sunobe (sword blank) into a finished shape. He will then show you how to temper your blade through tsuchi-oki, which involves covering the steel with a mud-like substance, reheating the metal, then plunging it into water to trap the carbon in the steel for maximum strength, beauty, and flexibility.

Your authentic mini-katana will be shipped to your home several weeks after the experience, affixed to your choice of handle: raw mill scale finish, tempered color finish, or grind-polished. If you wish, your name can be engraved upon the blade, just like the great swordmakers of old. A work of art in and of itself, your mini-katana will bring back fond memories of your time spent with Sukehira and Nodoka at the Hirata Swordsmith forge in Ome.

From the moment that you arrive at Hatonosu Station, it may be nigh on impossible to believe that you are somehow still in Tokyo. Look up at mountains, then down to the river below. When you arrive at Satologue, take some time to wander the property and appreciate the deep connection between this unique place and its people. Dine on French-style cuisine crafted by chefs using local seasonal ingredients. Rejuvenate body and mind in the sauna and open-air cold plunge bath.

An overnight stay in Okutama feels timeless, like stepping into a world that has existed in harmony with nature for hundreds of years. And yet the people of the Japanese countryside have always been innovators and craftspeople too. Visiting Hirata Swordsmith in Ome to learn how to shape a mini-katana from prime tamahagane steel allows you to participate in this long legacy of tradition and innovation.