Lodge Yama No Manimani - Nature Stay in Okushiga Kogen

Clean and cosy lodge, run by a wonderful Japanese family, the food was exceptional 👌

Perfect for a family of 4, with all the facilities we could require. Very convenient location to the slopes and ski rental and Masa-san is a perfect host. Next time we'll plan better and bring some food to prepare for meals, because there is very limited options in Okushiga Kogen. I recommend taking up the owners offer to cook meals when he does (Required 7 day notice and only available some nights). The food provided was varied and delicious and the included breakfast was also amazing.

comforts of home (reading material, vinyl collection, lounge, etc), spotlessly clean, great & interesting food, lovely hosts, excelent location …i could go on

its a shame there is no dinner offered on tues & wed ( ecause the food is really good) ….but great that there was a nice communal kitchen we could use

This Dec 22-Jan 23 trip to Japan, we visited Tokyo, Nagano, Kyoto and Osaka. The most memorable and comfortable stay had to be at Okushiga Lodge Yama no Manimani. The beauty of Shiga Kogen is second to none combined with a homey wooden lodge cabin made it so magical. It’s a quaint little pension run by a small Japanese family - a perfect home away from home. Facilities include: 1. For those who prefer to cook there’s a shared kitchen (but you’ll have to bring your food supplies, there’s no convenient stores at Okushiga). 2. There’s 2 shared bathrooms in the basement - shower and bathtub with heated mineral water pumped in from the forest (not hot spring). The rule is to shower first before entering the bath which is shared use. The heated mineral water in the bath helps relax the muscles after skiing. Each room gets to choose a 45min bath timeslot between 3-9pm. 3. 1 large washing machine and 1 large dryer payable separately for each use. 4. Large communal tv room with table, seats and floor cushions for for seating where you can have meals or just watch tv (each room comes with its own TV and you can login your own Netflix account). 5. Shared Ski gear drying room. Both Masa-San and Maki-San put in a lot of effort to make the place comfortable for their guests. The rooms are cozy with warmblankets and floor heating. The building was well insulated. We were there during the coldest period of winter in January but only needed to walk in one layer of warm clothing day and night. Masa-San and Maki-San were lovely hosts and accommodating to all our requests. We took the dinner option during our 4 nights stay. Each meal was different. We had the best meals in Japan thanks to Maki-San. She is a trained chef and her cooking and paring of the dishes for dinner was impeccable. We had western, Japanese and European cuisines during our stay. My daughter who is picky with her food, finished up all the cooking presented before her.

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Breakfast (and all meals) are handmade by Maki and are delicious, we were amazed by the care taken by Masa and Maki put into cooking our food. We could not be more grateful to them for our trip. Advise if you stay having Maki cook dinner for you, if you want to eat elsewhere in the area you will need to book and have a car to drive down the mountain. The meals Maki created for us blew us away. So tasty and fresh, and the care that was put into them, and Masa is an incredible host too. He has an incredible record collection and hand selected us an Oasis record on arrival and portable record player to listen with! Thank you Masa/Maki! James & Marie

We had a great stay in Manimani. Masu-san and his family are very friendly hosts and the house is very cozy. We had to take public transportation from Nagano but this turns out to be very easy with a bus stopping ~100m away from the lodge. We can recommend the dinner, which is self-cooked with a lot of passion. Okushiga as skiing area is a nice small valley with not that many people. But easily connected to other valleys around by lifts or bus.

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The lodge is very comfortable and clean with many personal touches. Loved the music and the art works! The shared onsen was a treat. Masa-san was incredibly helpful and pro-active in providing us with information. Masa's wife is an amazing cook! Thanks Masa-san and family!

Okushiga Kogan is very remote and if you are planning to use the shared kitchen area, you will need to source supplies from outside the area. There is a very small convenience store in Ichinose. Masa-san's wife is an amazing cook, but on the nights she does not cook (at extra cost), making arrangements for dinner was difficult. If you don't have your own transport, the local ski shuttle (free) runs once or twice hourly only (up to 5 or 6pm).