Guest House Yamaneko
Tokamachi, Niigata
Guest House Yamaneko is a small guest house in an old farmhouse in Funasaka, a tiny village in the heavy-snow hills of Tokamachi, run by a couple working to keep the village alive. It invites guests to spend slow days with its resident cats, five cats including a black cat, a ginger tabby, a tortoiseshell, a white cat and a shy brown tabby, which wander the shared rooms and often climb onto futons at night. It offers simple dormitory accommodation without meals, with separate shared rooms for women and men, and a communal living room where guests, neighbours and hosts often share a potluck dinner. Visits are by overnight stay only and must be booked in advance; the house closes on some days in summer for farm work and village events, and snow covers the area from mid-December for about five months.