A two-hour drive west from Tokyo on the Chuo Expressway. As the elevation climbs, the greenery deepens and the air turns crisp. Arriving in Hokuto at the southern foot of Mt. Yatsugatake, you instinctively take a deep breath. The dry, clear air fills your chest—a far cry from the muggy city weight.
Our guide was Ryoichi Daikyu, who moved to Hokuto in 2016. Our first stop was his restaurant, sundaysfood.
sundaysfood: Flavors of an Unhurried Life
Set against Mt. Yatsugatake, the restaurant is easy to spot by its blue corrugated tin roof. Housed in a repurposed shed long used for storage, the interior feels like an art gallery with wooden furniture and artworks, while large windows frame the mountain like a painting. The menu features signature okonomiyaki alongside house-made desserts, natural wines, and elderflower soda. It’s full of simple comforts you find yourself craving day-to-day.
All kinds of people stop by. Regulars coming in first thing for morning coffee. Tourists after a glimpse of Yatsugatake. Neighbors picking up fresh bread and baked goods. You can’t neatly label it as just an okonomiyaki joint or simply a cafe.
“I don’t want to be pigeonholed. I let the guests call it what they want!” Daikyu says with a laugh. He hopes the restaurant can be one of those small touches that makes someone look back at the end of the day and feel it was a good one, an ambition he shares with a quiet, effortless ease.
Instead of chasing quick sales, they focus on sharing what they genuinely love, strictly at their own pace. Perhaps it is Hokuto itself that supports this easygoing rhythm. Here, time feels like it passes just a bit slower.
Room for Every Mood
Nohohon Books & Coffee
Next, we took a short drive over to Nohohon Books & Coffee. Nestled in the greenery along the provincial road, the small wooden building sits quietly on its own. There is no large signboard to mark it, just a wooden porch out front and a well-tended garden softly welcoming visitors. Blending so seamlessly into the surrounding landscape, it is the kind of place even frequent passersby might accidentally overlook.
Stepping inside, you find the bookstore and café sharing a single, open space. The aroma of freshly brewed coffee blends softly with the scent of paper and print. Filled with the warmth of wood, the shop features a generous selection of books on mountain living and nature, as if reflecting the interests of the local community right on its shelves. Pulling an intriguing spine from the shelf and turning its pages, each book opens the door to an unfamiliar world.
Inside, a comfortable buzz filled the air. Someone was working on an open laptop, while others chatted animatedly with coffee cups in hand. People with entirely different reasons for being there were each enjoying their own time, all under the same roof.
What stood out most was the kids’ area at the back and the garden outside. While children pick out books, adults can browse other shelves with coffee in hand. Out in the garden, artful play features keep the little ones happily running around. It is a space where whole families across generations can relax together. Thoughtful care is woven into every corner.
Daikyu-san is also said to drop by on occasion, sometimes to pick up a book, other times to check out solo exhibitions hosted in the garden shed. NohohonBooks & Coffee is more than just a place to buy books. With books as the starting point, each person’s unique way of enjoying the space unfolds quietly within its walls. It is the kind of place you will want to wander into while in the area.
Surrendering to the Sound of Water
Doryu Falls
Next, Daikyu-san brought us to Doryu Falls, tucked away in the Kawamata River Gorge. From the parking lot, a ten-minute walk along a path through the trees leads the way. The sound of the babbling brook gradually grows louder, layering together with the calls of wild birds.
Before long, the waterfall appears. Slender streams seep from across the rock face, water from Yatsugatake’s ancient rain and snow filtering through layers of lava to finally resurface. Strands of water trace down moss-green rock like fine silk. Standing near it, the air is cool. There is no drama here, yet its quiet stillness slowly draws you in.
A signpost beside the falls marks the Yatsugatake Kawamata Landscape Preservation Zone. Here, red pine and hemlock intermingle with oak, chestnut, and maple along a single slope. At 1,200 meters, this gorge sits at a transition zone between ecological belts. Trees that normally thrive at different altitudes grow side by side.
Standing there awhile, you realize the sound of water has filled your ears. Countless streams each make their own sound in their own place. Not one loud roar, but layers of soft water notes. Surrounded by the sound, you naturally tune into your own quiet thoughts. Daikyu-san often comes here alone when he wants to surrender to nature and simply let his mind drift.
Nature in Yatsugatake is always bound to water. Water traveling underground becomes waterfalls and rivers, eventually reaching life at the foot of the mountains. Even the water from our taps traces back to these mountain gifts.
Immersed in sound
listude
Map in hand, you wind along a narrow road. The greenery deepens, and the silence grows. Climbing the slope, ‘listude’ comes into view.
listude is a speaker brand run by husband and wife Manpei and Anna Tsurubayashi. After years in Nara, they relocated to the forests of Hokuto in spring 2025. What nudged them to take the step was Daikyu-san, a close friend. Being able to talk freely with him made their planning effortless as they made up their minds to move. Every time they visited the site for their future home and workshop, they would stop by sundaysfood to chat.
Music aficionados are sure to know listude’s speakers, which are installed at both sundaysfood and Nohohon Books & Coffee. In the forest, bird calls and the sound of the wind arrive from no single direction. Seamlessly blending natural hearing with technology, these speakers radiate sound evenly in every direction, recreating the sensation of being enveloped in sound in the woods.
Outside the studio lies the “Forest Stage,” nestled among trees on the slope. Inside the building sits the high-ceilinged “Forest Hall.” Here, in a space where you can fully surrender yourself, you can experience the feeling of being enveloped in sound. “Music Café 14℃,” held in the hall twice a day, is limited to eight guests per session by reservation. With music curated specifically for the space, a single drink, and books lining the shelves, guests can spend their time entirely as they please.
“At the foot of Mt. Yatsugatake, we have food, nature, and music. Rather than keep them to ourselves, we want to nurture a culture shared by the whole region.” Manpei Tsurubayashi’s words reveal an open vision; one that resonates far beyond a single studio.
At the foot of the mountains, individual pursuits are gradually joining forces. Drawn by the peaks, the waters, and the soil, people take root and attract those who will follow.
Yatsugatake Travel Guide
sundaysfood
1227-1 Gochoda, Takane-cho, Hokuto, Yamanashi
0551-88-9011
Nohohon BOOKS&COFFEE
8240-8420 Nishiide, Oizumi-cho, Hokuto, Yamanashi
0551-45-9022
Doryu Waterfall (Doryu-no-taki)
8240-1 Nishiide, Oizumi-cho, Hokuto, Yamanashi
listude
7543 Yato, Oizumi-cho, Hokuto, Yamanashi
0551-45-6952
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