A small thread in a long journey.
About us
HOMELY & COZY · SINCE 2011
About Tabi-tsumugi
Niseko Tabi-tsumugi is a small backpackers’ hostel in Kutchan, Hokkaido.
We opened in January 2011, and since then all kinds of guests have stayed with us, from people travelling alone to groups of two or three.
My grandparents once lived in a house on this very spot. Because of that connection, this is where I opened Tabi-tsumugi.
I made it a backpackers’ hostel because of my own experience as a traveller. Travellers swapped tips and stories with each other, and taught each other recipes in the shared kitchen. At a distance a little different from a hotel, people connected naturally, and back then that felt completely new to me.
There are plenty of places like this in Japan today, but for me it was this experience abroad that first showed me what a backpackers’ hostel could be.
Later I had the chance to work at a backpackers’ hostel myself, and I began to want to run a place like that of my own.
Staying at Tabi-tsumugi
At Tabi-tsumugi, we value the kind of closeness that only a small place can offer, where you see each other’s faces.
Some people want to talk; others want quiet time on their own. Some leave early the next morning; others stay a long while and take things slowly. We try to be a place where everyone can travel at their own pace, respect one another, and feel at ease.
So conversations sometimes start naturally in the shared spaces, but we never force people to mingle. The way each guest spends their time overlaps with the others, and the atmosphere at Tabi-tsumugi changes a little from day to day.
The name "Tabi-tsumugi"
Tabi means journey, and tsumugi means spinning thread. The views you saw on the road, the people you met, the things you tasted, even the hours when you did nothing at all — they keep being spun together somewhere, even after the journey ends and everyday life begins again. We chose this name hoping you will feel that, each on your own journey.
For a guest staying with us, this trip may be a precious time you have been looking forward to for a long while. We would be glad if your time here becomes one part of the "middle" of your journey, and your own journey carries on from here.
About me
Ryo
I have stayed at a lot of small places to sleep over my years of travelling. Maybe that is why, more than anything luxurious, I love places where you can feel the simple everyday life and the air of the place.
I have also come to see how rich it can be to spend time doing nothing at all, not only doing things. Even now, I still find myself drawn to places where those ordinary hours feel good, and I head off on a whim to stay at them.