Story

From my mother’s field to a cabin by the lake.

My mother used to farm this land. When my son was little, we often came to Lake Nojiri as a family. It is a place full of family memories.

Years passed after she died, and the land was no longer used for farming. I didn’t want to leave it unused, and began thinking about what we could do here.

An old family photograph of my mother holding vegetables in her field, with autumn hills behind her — My mother with vegetables from her field.

My young son holding flowers beside my mother near the lake — My mother and my son when he was little.

First came a terrace, not a house.

We built a terrace and started camping on it. We pitched tents, brought a tent sauna, and spent time here with family and friends. There was no plan to build a guest cabin at the start.

After the sauna, we would sit outside and look over the lake. As we spent more time here, we began saying, “Wouldn’t it be nice to have a house here?”

A tent sauna on the hillside above Lake Nojiri, with people relaxing in outdoor chairs — Tent-sauna days by the lake.

A camping tent pitched on the wooden terrace — Camping on the wooden terrace.

“What if we had a house here?”

That casual conversation became the start of the cabin. The foundations went in, the roof took shape, and little by little, a building appeared.

The place where we had been camping was becoming a house we could stay in. Looking back through the photographs, you can see it happening.

The cabin’s concrete foundations on a green hillside — The foundations, surrounded by greenery.

The timber cabin under construction, with its pitched roof and scaffolding — The pitched roof takes shape.

Now, a place to share.

That is how ARK CABIN came to be. Just as we enjoyed camping here, we hope guests will enjoy taking their time with the people they like being around.

If staying here helps more people discover Lake Nojiri and Shinano, we would be happy.

Explore the cabin View the gallery