The local meets the international at this unique guest house

The number of visitors coming to Japan from overseas continues to increase, with guest houses continuing to pop up across Japan to accommodate them. Guest houses have the image of being no-frills, simple accommodations, but it should be noted that many are quite unique. Little Japan, which opened in May, 2017, is one such guest house. Filled with visitors every day, the guest house is just a six-minute walk from JR Asakusabashi Station, making it an ideal location for exploring the Akihabara-Okachimachi area’s myriad of diverse cultures.
Little Japan is based on two concepts, “Bringing together the local and the international”, and “Come as a guest, go as a friend”. Embodying these concepts, they have constructed a unique environment where guests from both inside and outside Japan can spend time enjoying the space together with locals from the area.
The Global Community Cafe was started in May, 2019, at the cafe and bar on the first floor. Here, they run a free event for people who live in Taito Ward every Friday and Sunday from 3 to 5 pm. The goal of this event is to promote communication between ward’s foreign and Japanese residents. Drinks and snacks are provided free of charge and all ages are welcome, no matter your language skill.
More and more foreigners take up residence in Japan every year, and this is the backdrop on which such an event was created. It has been difficult for the foreign residents to assimilate into the Japanese community, and there’s an awareness that this may lead to all kinds of small issues. So, Taito Ward and NPO Social Artist Village joined together to start a project to bring together the area’s new and long-time residents.

1, 2) The first Global Community Cafe, May 31, 2019. The cafe was filled with members of the local foreigner community, long-time residents and Japanese volunteers. The event began with brief self-introductions followed by casual conversation between people seated at the same table. Staff was on hand to set participants at ease by helping them overcome language barriers.

The cafe and bar is also rented out for a variety of occasions, from showcasing the appeal of Japan to comedy open mics in English. Kimagure Kitchen serves food throughout the day and is also quite popular. Diners here are treated to a wide range of cuisine with both lunch specials and chefs changing daily. The menu features everything from traditional homestyle Japanese cooking to dishes made from wild game.
In order to raise interest in regions where sake is produced, the bar also offers a two-hour all-you-can-drink special that allows guests to enjoy sake from all 47 prefectures of Japan for ¥2,000. These are the reasons why Little Japan is said to be a gateway that connects Tokyo, rural areas and the world.

3) Hiroshi Ueda was one of the participants in Little Japan’s Kuramae Local Lounge events. He travels between Tokyo and his hometown in Ishikawa Prefecture, working to revitalize the local area.

4) The 7th Kuramae Local Lounge.
This time, the subject was Ugo Town, Akita Prefecture.

Guest houses offer the new value of a two-home lifestyle

Using a guest house to live with two bases of operation

Little Japan Guest House is run by Michio Yunoki, CEO of Little Japan Inc.
The company launched the Hostel Life project in November, 2018. Hostel Life is a monthly pass that allows unlimited overnight stays at hostels throughout the country. The pass is priced incredibly reasonably, starting at ¥15,000 per month. Including Little Japan, the pass currently covers 13 hostels spread from Hokkaido to remote islands across Japan, with future plans in motion to expand the service to various hostels overseas.
The goal of implementing Hostel Life is to diversify into the Tokyo commuter market. These days, many people choose the area they live in based on where they work. If a person lives where they work, there often isn’t much nature around them, but if they live somewhere surrounded by nature, they may have a commute of an hour or more.
But if you can stay at a hostel near your office and then go to work from there, it could greatly increase your housing options. So, people who like to surf can live near the sea, and people who love nature can have a house near the mountains. On the weekdays, they can stay at a hostel.
On the other hand, if you live in a rural area and have a job that takes you to Tokyo frequently, you could also use a hostel as a second home. Or, for freelancers who can work in any location, you can stay at any hostel depending on where your mood or schedule takes you, leading a traveling lifestyle.
It’s been difficult for people to make that final leap to choosing to live in a rural area. However, with the hostel pass available, people can live outside the city, but still work in Tokyo. This is certain to help people lead a life where they have a base of operation in both the country and the city. Hostel Life is a revolutionary new service perfectly matched to the diversifying ways we will work and live in the near future.

A two-home lifestyle to save time and money—

staying in a hostel near the office saves the time it takes to commute on work days. Then, you can spend weekends and days when you work remotely in a home surrounded by nature.

Expanding what it means to commute within the “Tokyo Metropolitan Area”

Hostel Life expands the concept of what a daily commute inside the Tokyo Metropolitan Area means, increasing people’s housing options and allowing them to live a fuller life.

The cafe and bar on the first floor of Little Japan Guest House is used on a daily basis by guests from overseas as well as Japanese customers who aren’t staying the hostel. The staff speaks several languages, and you can hear people conversing in a myriad of languages besides English and Japanese.

5) There are wood bunkbeds in every room. Each bed is equipped with a security box, a small desk and a reading light. A twin room with a bunk-bed is pictured.

6) Female only and mixed gender dormitory-style rooms are available.

7) A tatami mat lounge is available for overnight guests. It is equipped with a refrigerator, electric kettle and microwave that are free to use.

Fully enjoy sake from all 47 prefectures of Japan for two hours

At the café and bar on the first floor of Little Japan Guest House, they offer an all-you-can-drink special where you can try sake from all 47 of Japan's prefectures. This is offered from when the bar opens (no reservation needed) at 7:00 pm for an incredibly reasonable ¥2,000. This popular special draws everyone from hostel guests, to other overseas travelers in the area, and even local Japanese patrons.
For an even better deal, every first Wednesday of the month is "Nihonshu Kansha Day (Sake Appreciation Day)", and the same special is offered for an even lower price of ¥1,500. On this day, customers are also encouraged to bring snacks and drinks with them.
This event is an excellent way to enjoy delicious sake to your heart's content!

Creating a city of people highly receptive to changing their mentality in order to bring people together

Creating a place that embraces diverse cultures through a variety of approaches

Q: Before you founded Little Japan Inc., you launched NPO Social Artist Village, right?
A: Yes, in December, 2012. I had the idea after the Great East Japan Earthquake happened. At that time, I was working for the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, but I could really feel how hard it was for the people in the area, and I wanted to get involved directly. The Social Artist Village’s main undertaking is the utilization of vacant housing. There’s a high chance that I’ll inherit my own parent’s vacant house in the future, but I also wanted to do something about the social issue of vacant houses going to ruin across Japan.
I left the Ministry at the end of January, 2017, and that’s when I started Little Japan Inc. Anyone can work for the country, but I wanted to be my authentic self and work more passionately as one of the smaller players.
Tracing that fundamental part takes me back to my time in Brazil, from 1st to 3rd grade. I remember feeling a sense of discomfort with Japanese education when I returned home. There was a feeling of peer pressure in terms of proliferating the same sense of values. Of course, that has good points, too. However, for me, I was very distrustful of it, which I realized is what led me to backpacking during my college years, and to studying abroad in France—I didn’t like Japan and wanted to escape to the world abroad. Thinking I would like to fix those things I didn’t like about Japan with my own two hands, I entered the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.

Q: Aren’t there things you were able to accomplish because you were working for the government?
A: I think the country makes a broad range of decisions, but I think Japan would be a richer place if people were free to act instead of everything being subsidized and policied. I think it would be much better to create a cities where local government, companies and people all want to be, and then those would come together to form Japan. It would be different from this homogenized Japan. 　I want everyone to be able to choose a city to live in from the perspective of really wanting to live in that city, rather than all of us living under the same set of rules. So I thought about creating a place that would be like that.

Q: Could you give me an overview of Little Japan Inc.?
A: Our mission is to create projects that make use of local resources, with the vision of building a vital Japan made of diversely faceted regions The concept for Little Japan Guest House is “Bringing together the local and the international”. I thought this could serve as an gateway for international guests coming to Japan. I run it thinking about creating a place for people to experience the appeal of not only in Tokyo, but also the area around the guest house and regions around Japan, while achieving a deeper level of interaction.
I’ve backpacked through over 40 countries, and I think the greatest appeal of guest houses is the connection you can make with others. I’ve gone to touristy places, but it’s the communication with the locals of the area that leaves the strongest impression. I’m curious about what kinds of lives the people lead in the countries I visit.
People have been working on building guest houses to combat the issue of vacant housing, but I worry that if the business side doesn’t go smoothly, those houses will just go back to being vacant. I’m thinking that the way to utilize those guest houses is to establish a two-home lifestyle. That’s tied to Hostel Life, but I think it’s also the best way to solve the issue of vacant housing that I have long been working at. Plus, people who make use of this can enjoy a life in both rural areas and Tokyo. It could usher in a new kind of gratifying lifestyle. Hostel Life was created from those two very different perspectives.
I am also one of the organizers for the Guest House Summit. Here, guest house owners from across the country gather to share efforts they are making, connect with each other and discuss the future of guest houses.

Q: What kind of image do you have for a future where Little Japan Guest House is further expanded as a location to bring together the local and the international and it becomes totally ordinary to make use of Hostel Life?
A: I love the environment created at our guest house. All kinds of people coming together, from international guests and locals to hostel pass users and our cafe and bar patrons. I would love for that to continue. By creating connections, we learn to embrace each other’s diversity and become more culturally accepting.