Our guesthouse is a true ShĆwa-era style countryside home. Built in 1953 with traditional Japanese joinery, this house was formerly an 'akiya' abandoned for 10 years. Many of the antique belongings were carefully restored and used to decorate this house. We hope guests will enjoy stepping back in time, with a few modern amenities. The furnishings are simple, era-appropriate, and true to the history of the home.
PRIVATE RENTAL HOUSE: We only host one group of guests at a time. There are no "shared spaces". If you're a solo traveler, or a large group, the whole house is private just for you.
You have private access to all living spaces: 1 Western-style bedroom suite, 2+ Japanese-style bedrooms, living room, full kitchen, office, bathroom (toilet room, laundry room, shower room), 'doma' entrance room, and traditional 'engwa'.
BEDROOM: Western-Style Bedroom Suite (Downstairs): Sleeps 2 in a 'double' size western-style bed. The bed area can be closed off from the sitting area, using the vintage shoji screen doors. YES, this room has air conditioning.
BEDROOM: Japanese-Style Bedroom Suite (Downstairs): Sleeps 4 on Japanese floor mats, with tatami mat flooring. This room can be divided into two separate sleeping spaces. It's next to the 'engawa' sunroom, so you can enjoy a lovely golden sunrise. YES, this room has air conditioning.
BEDROOM: Japanese-Style Bedroom (Upstairs): Sleeps 4 on Japanese floor mats with tatami mat flooring. Large wooden windows can be opened for a breeze. YES, this room has air conditioning.
BATH & SHOWER ROOM: We now have both a bathtub and a shower available. We recently finished renovation of our cast-iron bathtub, which was a real adventure. Please enjoy!
TOILET: We have one toilet. We're planning to increase guest capacity from 6 to 10, so we will add a second toilet (this will hopefully be completed by autumn or winter 2025, but is not guaranteed yet).
COOLING: For the summer, we have air conditioning in all bedrooms and the living room. Other rooms are cooled with electric fans, or opening the windows (with mosquito screens installed).
HEATING: For the winter, we have a mix of electric and kerosene heaters. In traditional Japanese style, we have a cozy 'kotatsu' heated table, 'hanten' house jackets, and slippers. For extra warmth, the bedding closet has more blankets than you could ever need.
FULL KITCHEN: We have a 2-burner stovetop, cookware, dishes, glasses, silverware, rice cooker, blender, and a refrigerator. Also, a Keurig coffee maker and instant hot water kettle, with complimentary coffee pods and tea bags. NO microwave.
NOTE: Since we do NOT provide guest meals, we've curated a small "convenience store" cupboard with quick meals and snacks you can purchase. Snacks and drinks can also be purchased from our neighbor Rumi-san's corner market and vending machines.
TV: We have a vintage TV with a classic ShĆwa-era gaming console (Nintendo Famicom), plugged in, and ready to play! There is no broadcast or cable TV.
NEIGHBORHOOD: The Kamiura-cho Inokuchi neighborhood is located on the east side of Ćmishima island. It's close to both bridges, which makes it very conveniently located for guests cycling the Shimanami Kaido. We have one grocery store (closed on Sunday) and a handful of delightful restaurants.
OUTSIDE: You have access to our semi-private side yard, and our vegetable garden. It's not currently a very usable space, as we're still in the process of building an outdoor sitting and BBQ area. You're welcome to walk through our flower and vegetable garden! Please, enjoy some veggies, if they're in season.
YOUR HOSTS: Weâre Evan & Dani Benton. We're from the US; we both grew up in Oregon, then lived in Louisiana, then Mexico. Now we've re-planted our roots permanently on Ćmishima island, in rural Japan. We're able to live in Japan as two foreigners thanks to the Startup & Business Manager visa, which is based entirely on the success of our small business, Benton Homestead: honeybees, guesthouse, and natural farm. We're also renovating our own house, a former ryokan abandoned for 40 years!
RENOVATION: You can look back to watch the whole process of transforming this formerly abandoned 'akiya' into our guesthouse! We encourage you to visit our YouTube channel (Benton Homestead Japan) to see the love and hard work we've poured into this house.
WHAT'S NEXT?: While this guesthouse is perfectly functional and comfortable, we plan to continue restoration projects over the next few years. What you're seeing now is "Phase 2". Each guest helps fund future renovation projects, to make this guesthouse even better. Thank you!!!
VINTAGE RETRO SHOP: We have a small "shop" for vintage and retro items that we've found in our two 'akiya' abandoned homes, located in our 'doma' front entrance room. The items range from antique to vintage and retro, from the 1940s to 1970s. Eventually, the retro shop will expand into the large garage space, adjacent to our guesthouse.
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Note 1: Benton Homestead's business office is located in one room of the guesthouse. It has it's own private entrance, completely separate from your guest space. Even though it would not interfere with privacy, we do not enter the office while hosting guests.
Note 2: There is a large garage on the property, separate from the guesthouse. We're in the process of renovating this into a roadside farm-stand and retro shop. While this is a completely separate building, we still take great caution to ensure guest privacy.
To be very clear: the whole guesthouse is your private space; there are no "shared spaces". We're attentive hosts, but we do not live on-site. Our house is just down the street, so we're easily available when needed. We enjoy meeting guests, and have a lot of love for Ćmishima and the surrounding area, so we're happy to answer questions!
