A guesthouse, where journeys and lives cross.

Recently, guests from overseas who came in a large camper van stayed with us for several nights. They were in the middle of a trip down the length of Japan and said they were heading next to the Peace Memorial Museum in Hiroshima.

People stopping by before or after the Shikoku pilgrimage. A missionary riding a flag-flying city bike around the country. People on long journeys visiting temples and shrines on foot. Some come from Japan and abroad for entrance exams or study.

People travelling the country by motorbike or bicycle, and people who come to enjoy fishing by the sea. Some find us when the business hotels at their work destination are full.

Some stay with us as a temporary place to be because of family circumstances. The reasons people come here really are all kinds.

Listening to their stories, watching over them from a comfortable distance, and sometimes saying something a little meddlesome. I am sometimes unsure how far to step in, but I try to find the right distance for each person.

Being able to touch so many people's journeys and lives every day is a joy unique to this work. I hope the time spent here can be, even a little, a moment of ease.

Stopping by on a journey, meeting someone, and then going their separate ways again. It is a small guesthouse, but I want it to remain a place where many lives pass by.