Totsukawa Village
Tatsuya Higashi

Doro Hotel opened its door more than 100 years ago. It closed down once but reopened as a café by Tatsuya Higashi who returned to his hometown when the Tropical Storm Talas hit Kii Peninsula.

Welcome to Café “Doro Hotel”, the terminal for raftsmen.

The first thing that surprises the visitors of Doro Hotel is its location. Standing on a precipitous cliff of Doro Canyon, a national special scenic spot which spreads across three prefectures of Wakayama, Mie and Nara with a deep and quiet river of emerald green running in front. Gigantic rocks and rare stones make this place a mysterious and unexplored valley. One of the unique features of Totsukawa-mura is deep fog. It veils the cliff, creating an illusionary atmosphere all around.
Great grandfather of Higashi founded Doro Hotel 102 years ago in 1917. It was when rivers formed an important network of transportation before overland routs and roads were developed. Many of the male villagers worked as raftsmen and lumber dealers, for whom Higashi’s great grandfather opened the hotel. What raftsmen are those who transported the woods they fell from mountains by building them into a raft and went down the river on it, delivering it to the market.
“The current café space used to be our residence. There were four Japanese style rooms and a sitting room. Other than this building, there is an annex where we can go over a suspension bridge. I heard they used to offer room service and delivered foods over the bridge.”
Higashi was born in Totsukawa-mura. After graduating local elementary school, he moved to the city of Shingu in Wakayama prefecture where his grandmother lived.
He lost his father when he was 23 years old, when he was working at a clothing company in Osaka. His father’s passing led the closure of the hotel. Higashi was determined to reopen the hotel but could not find a good timing until 2011, when Severe Tropical Storm Talas caused substantial damage in Kii Peninsula. Higashi lived in Osaka when it happned. The Kitayama River which ran in front of Doro Hotel rose as high as 20 meters. The annex which stood just beneath the main building on a high ground was flooded above the floorboards and the kitchen and bathroom were washed away.
“If the flood approached 30cm closer, this café section might have been gone, too. People showed me the pictures of the river billowing. I came back to the village and saw the horrible spectacle which made me decide to return here and succeed the family business.”
The building needed to be restored after seven years since the closure as well as the damage caused by the flood. It needs to go through a major remodeling to reopen as a hotel so Higashi first opened the café in 2013. The antique furniture and furnishings from Higashi’s abolished alma mater that decorate the café take the customers to a time travel.
What café Doro Hotel offers are beverages such as homemade ginger ale and coffee as well as special hashed beef stew with demi-glace sauce, and muffins.
The architecture became a designated cultural property two years ago. “My goal is to restore the function to accommodate customers. I also would like to generate the liveliness in Doro Canyon as a whole, not just this shop. The area has 100-year history with regional sources still unexplored. There are many stories that I want to tell and make people want to visit.”
One of the things Higashi thinks that attract visitors is unique souvenirs. He is planning a re-branding of Doro Canyon and asked a designer he knew since his days at clothing company to create souvenirs that he himself wants to buy. He also started practicing canoeing two years ago. “When I was planning special experiences that we can offer, I thought I had to learn it first to guide my customers with confidence.” Moreover, he plans exhibitions that visitors can learn about the history of Doro Hotel through old items such as ceramics as well as through photographs. He holds events to discover the charm of the region together with the guest through workshops using woods from Tosukawa.
“Since I started this business, I started to think that I want to tell the history of this architecture and the Doro Canyon and to preserve the legacy for the future.”
Higashi lit Doro Canyon, and Doro Hotel with new light but what started it all was an unprecedented flooding disaster. Regeneration and revival from disaster—
Higashi will never stop challenging.

Interviewed in July, 2019
Writer : Hideko Takahashi / Photographer : Hiroyuki Tamura