Tsukahara
Toshihiro Tomitaka

One of the charms of Tsukahara Kogen is its view. Toshihiro Tomitaka, who stayed at countless inns around the world made the best use of it as a glamping resort.

Making the best use of the view: Glamping is the way.

Being inspired through travelling around 40 different countries in the past, the owner of a glamping site “Sense of wonder” Toshihiro Tomitaka had a dream to open his own inn. When he came back to Oita, he opened a knick-knack shop in Yufuin, selling miscellaneous goods he found while travelling. As he was thinking about an additional strength for his business economy, he found macrobiotics which pulled him into the world of food, eventually leading him to open a natural grocery store.
He was looking for a quieter place to live when he found Tsukahara Kogen. He fell in love with the highlands and moved in ten years ago from the city of Yufuin. He started a bio restaurant “Yuudo” to accompany his store. Moreover, he opened a site for “glamping” last summer.
One can host a glamping site without any special tourist attractions and there are still few competitors in Japan which is another charm of this business. “Glamping can be a huge chance for such towns and villages associated with ‘the Most Beautiful Villages in Japan,’” says Tsukahara.
What becomes valuable in 21 century are water and air. We get natural spring water here from Yufuin. The air is clean all around. That alone makes Tsukahara very precious.
Tomitaka is confident that by telling the value of Tsukahara Kogen accurately to the outside, it will be a true “resort” where people will “go out for,” “again.“ “Transforming an ordinary place into an extraordinary place” is the mission he assigned to himself.
If the central city is the “red ocean”where you have to participate in cutthroat competition in a harsh market, Tsukahara Kogen is the “blue ocean” where endless chances spread out before you. Tomitaka will polish and heighten the value of sightseeing by swimming in the blue ocean.

Interviewed in July, 2018
Writer : Hideko Takahashi / Photographer : Hiroyuki Tamura