Omikawa-tei | Traditional Countryside Lodging near Narita Airport

The Visit Chiba team invited two guests to spend a night at Omikawa-tei so we could see this unique accommodation for ourselves. Most overseas visitors arrange for a private-taxi from the airport, and that’s how we brought our two guests here. After pick up, we found that the expressways surrounding the airport quickly changed to country roads that took us through dense forests and vast rice paddies. These idyllic countryside landscapes led us to our destination, a quaint neighborhood in the town of Tako. Eventually we turned down a gravel driveway and were greeted by the charming wooden exterior of the Omikawa-tei main house.

The house itself has over 150 years of history, having undergone renovations that preserved an aesthetic shaped by the surrounding community’s legacy as an area where wealthy farming families resided. To enter the house, you walk under the traditional noren curtain and slide open the glass doors. From there you step into the doma entrance, designed with a chic modern Japanese look and adorned with elegant lanterns. Guests slip off their shoes in the doma before stepping up onto the raised-floor and into the interior spaces that feature traditional Japanese furnishings such as: flower print fusuma doors, papered shoji screens, tatami mats, and wooden zataku tables.

There are two bedrooms inside; one with two single beds and one with a double bed, all of which feature Simmons mattresses. For those who prefer to sleep in the customary Japanese style, guests can utilize four futon mattresses, which are meant to be laid on the floor of the tatami room. There are also rooms in the house for showers, a stone-tiled bath, and a washlet toilet. A variety of amenities are also provided, including cleansing goods, lotions, imabari towels, traditional lounging attire, and more.

The facilities here also offer a variety of ways to eat, play, and relax. The kitchen area is equipped with a refrigerator, microwave, and sink, plus an iron plate, cookware, tableware, and cutlery for those who want to cook their own meals. You can enjoy eating around the sunken dining table, in the backyard barbecue area (Weber grill available for rental), or outside on the terrace deck looking over the front garden. Many guests opt to have their meals prepared and delivered, and Omikawa-tei has partnerships with local restaurants who can deliver homemade meals. On our trip, we had a special gozen dinner set delivered for us (pictured above). The Omikawa-tei staff often prepares special seasonal activities for guests too. For our visit they kindly set up an old style kakigori shaved ice making kit, and a fridge stocked with ice and syrup, allowing us to make our own frozen summer treats the Japanese way (pictured below).

A renovated storehouse on the property has been repurposed as a multi-purpose space, functioning as a theater room, yoga studio (mats provided) or kids’ play area. The crown jewel for us however, was the outdoor rotenburo open-air bath. The stone tub is perched up on the hillside behind the house, and offers a view of the idyllic rural landscape below. Soaking in the hot bath was truly the perfect way to cap off a relaxing day surrounded by the charms of the Japanese countryside, and it all awaits you here at Omikawa-tei.