Our accommodation in Toba Village

Our two cottages, “Kaeru” and “Tanuki” are part of a fascinating village midway between Osaka and Kyoto. 

Our older, traditional home, Kaeru means both return home and frog in Japanese.  It can accommodate 4 people.

Our other cottage, Tanuki (Racoon), and formally known as The White House, is more modern and has 4 bedrooms, three upstairs.

Both houses have a kitchen, bath/shower room, washing machine and separate toilet. They back on to a bamboo forest, overlook ricefields and share a common garden .

 
 
 

Facilities include::

 

  • High Speed WiFi

  • Air conditioners & Heaters

  • Toasters

  • Rice cooker

  • Water jug

  • Coffee maker

  • Microwave ovens

  • Bicycles & helmets

 

  • Washing machines

  • Clothes dryer

  • Hairdryers

  • Indoor slippers

  • Bath towels

  • All bed linen, pillows and blankets

  • Shampoo, Conditioner

  • A small, four seater car.

 
 

More about the neighborhood

Toba Village is a dysfunctional blend of families who have farmed the same land for over a thousand years and newcomers who are unskilled in the intricacies of village life.  It’s the setting for a novel I have been working on for a decade. We first moved to this quirky community in 2002 and built a home which we imported from New Zealand.  Next, we renovated a huge, traditional home with a karesansui garden. Finally, we renovated the two cottages we will be staying in.  This is the village that raised our children and, although it’s somewhat unkempt, it’s a rural oasis surrounded by modern Japan. Our older cottage, Kaeru, was built during World War II when many people fled to the hills as Osaka was carpet bombed and 40% of homes were burned down.  Our garden shed was home to a family of 3 and Kaeru to a family of 5.  Every home in the village built makeshift bomb shelters and hid the entrances under watermelon and sweet potato vines. Fertiliser was so scarce that local farmers rode their bicycles many kilometres to purchase human waste.  Following the end of the war, opium was grown in these fields and purchased by the government to provide relief to returned soldiers. Today the village faces an uncertain future as there are so few young people.

  • Starting from May 2023, both houses are also available for private rental, outside of these tour dates.

    Please contact us for details and availability at info@reallytravel.me