Tsukahara
Osamu Watanabe

Osamu Watanabe visited Tsukahara Kogen by chance but he was so attracted to the highlands that he eventually moved in. For 21 years since then, he runs an auberge offering a Scandinavian inspired hostel and French cuisine. He is one of the younger generation business owners who liven up Tsukahara with tourism by making use of its view.

“Click!” led the 20 years of running an inn in Tsukahara.

Standing quietly in a forest is Watanabe’s auberge accompanied by a French restaurant that accommodates three couples a day. The hostel was awarded 3 stars by “Michelin Guide Oita 2018.”
Guests enjoy a simple stay surrounded by the humming of birds and music of the wind. In the kitchen, a Yufuin-native chef who was trained at one of the most notable French restaurants in the world “Paul Bocuse” serves delicious dishes that are feast both for mouth and eyes.
It was 20 years ago when Watanabe from Fukuoka Prefecture moved into Tsukahara by chance. Before that he was running his own business in Fukuoka Prefecture. He got married, had children there and the business was going well. He was actually thinking of opening a pension but it was a dream he would pursue after his children set out on their own.
However, he happened to take over the main building which was owned by his parents’ friend and started to run an auberge as a layman. “When I first visited Tsukaraha, something clicked in my mind and made me want to work in Tsukahara rather than in the busy city of Yufuin.”
The Tsukahara district used to be a farming village. Then a person fell in love with the land and settled in to run a business. That is the forerunner of current Tsukahara Kogen as a tourist area. “When we joined ‘the Most Beautiful Villages in Japan’ it was the same. The established agriculture business and the new tourist business tried to find a common ground, cooperated and made actions for the regional development.”
The next key theme will be “sending out information of Tsukahara.” He is eager to “establish the system to make money circulate within the region and to plan thoroughly to work out the strategy for the tourism that makes full use of Tsukahara’s view.”

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