We are a small local company with 10 members of staff. The main part of the company is thatching, and the President (Mr Haruo Nishio) is one of 50 thatchers left in Japan. As well as thatching roofs including sites of cultural heritage we offer two (soon to be more) thatched cottages for holiday rentals. Our company prides itself on being part of and contributing to the local community here in Miyama and caring for the environment. We employ locals where possible and use local produce at every opportunity. We believe that sustainable local supplies of foods and resources is key to building a successful prosperous community. We use environmentally friendly cleaning products and do everything we can to minimise our impact on the environment. We actively participate in local river cleaning projects and are helping to promote and take part in local organic, sustainable farming. This farming is primarily not for food, but for the materials used to make thatched roofing, an integral part of our local community. We are also working (with other local groups) towards a carbon neutral, non nuclear biomass electricity generating facility to supply the electricity needs of the Miyama region.

I’m “Yaneharu,” a thatcher and the founder of Miyama Futon&Breakfast. In my 20’s, I came to Miyama to become an apprentice to the master of thatch who had been actively going around Japan and abroad at the time. The master used to say “I cannot take my skills and knowledge with me when I die.” I learned from him that indigenous thatching skill in Japan had been passed down for generations from ancient period. The skill is not merely an individual skill but it’s the entrusted skill from ancestors handed down generation to generation. I’m so proud being one of the descendants of “kayabuki artisans” in Japan. My theme is to revitalize the entrusted thatching skill in modernized Japan in 21st century.

Please stay as if you were living in an old private house in Miyama.Our cottages are scattered throughout the various villages in Miyama region. Miyama is the region well known in Japan for its traditional village atmosphere with many small hamlets nestled between steep forested mountains, nearby Kyoto City. There are different types of cottages with unique characteristics, from a 150-year-old traditional thatched roof house to a modern villa type thatched roof house with terrace, as well as the cottage with a bar, wine cellar and draft beer server or a cottage with a lawn and outdoor BBQ area. Further, some of our cottages can accommodate dogs. Stay together with your family or friends to relax and unwind yourself.