UBAKU | Regional Producers in Biei and Higashikawa, Hokkaido

Concept

What guides UBAKU

Connecting people,
land, and place.

Values

What matters to us

Editing the Local.

Fields, empty houses, the skills of local people. We take what is already here and connect it in new ways.

Life, with Margin.

No overfilling, no rushing. We make room for the rhythm of this land.

Right Beside You.

Moving here, opening a business, building a life that lasts. We think it through with you and support you along the way.

What We Do

Six activities

Stay

UBAKU Villa 宇莫別荘

A private villa with room to breathe.

One group a day in Naka-Ubakubetsu, Biei. A former farmhouse built in 1968 and passed down for over half a century, fully renovated and opened in January 2026. Up to 10 guests have the whole house on a site of about 1,800 m². About 18 minutes by car from Asahikawa Airport, about 10 minutes by car from Biei Station.

UBAKU Villa 南邸 | Coming soonA second villa, a 10-minute walk from Biei Station, is in preparation.

Visit the UBAKU Villa 宇莫別荘 website

Design

UBAKU Design

Buildings and brands, true to their place.

Design supervision for renovating older buildings, and branding (visual design and web design) for lodgings and shops. We build on the strengths of each building and the story of its land, and work with you from the first concept to the finished result, keeping everything in one consistent world.

We also take on renovations of homes, shops, and offices, and branding for shops and companies.

See our renovation and brand work

Consult

UBAKU Consulting

Lodging and real estate, built to work.

From opening and running a lodging business to real estate development, investment property, and new business launches. We pair a sharp eye for the numbers from urban income property with a ground-level sense from opening a villa in rural Japan. Available across Japan, not only in Hokkaido.

Our support methods are developed and tested in UBAKU Lab, the small lab within our team.

Learn more about consulting

Snow-covered Daisetsuzan with the hills and fields of Biei

Market

Sharing the gifts of the northern land.

Vegetables from the fields of Biei and Higashikawa, taken beyond these towns together with their growers.

Coming soon

Media

Stories from the foot of the mountains.

The people of Biei and Higashikawa, and the everyday life of this land.

Coming soon

Place

New possibilities from places that already exist.

Making use of empty houses and existing buildings, we imagine places where something new can begin.

Coming soon

LiveThinking of moving here, or living between two places? Talk to us.Contact →

Our Approach

How we stand with this place

Moved by This Place.
Moving This Place Forward.

まちを想い、まちを動かす

Biei and Higashikawa sit at the foot of the Daisetsuzan mountains in central Hokkaido. We want them to become richer, more attractive places. We are both players, running our own businesses here, and producers, creating new projects with local people and those who want to try something here.

Build Our Own.

We open a villa and work the fields. With a real stake in this land, we build and grow our own businesses. That practice is also the base for what we build with others.

Build Together.

Through planning, design, and support for opening and running a business, we work right beside people trying something new. We combine what is already here with fresh perspectives to shape new businesses.

Connect.

More people who visit, try something new, and take part. More joy in living here, more choices for work. One visit becomes a lasting connection.

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Numbers

UBAKU by the numbers

From our first business, UBAKU Villa 宇莫別荘.

2026.01
UBAKU Villa 宇莫別荘 opens
1 group a day
The whole house, for up to 10 guests
80%+
Share of guests from overseas (as of October 2026)
9.7/10
Booking.com review score (as of October 2026)
2nd villa
UBAKU Villa 南邸, in preparation

Team

From across the sea, from a southern island, from this town.

Producer

Mashu

A short study program at the Higashikawa Japanese Language School led to a move to Japan. Now works at a real estate development company in Tokyo while building independent projects in Biei and Higashikawa: creating stays, delivering vegetables, and sketching out new ways for the region to work.

Field Director

Yamato

A former elementary school teacher who made the leap from Okinawa to Hokkaido. Now works the fields with farmers in Biei, connecting soil and people and bringing more people into the life of this town.

Connector

Yushin

Born in Biei. After training at Eiheiji, a head temple of the Soto Zen school, now serves as a monk in Asahikawa. Connects the vegetables of Biei, and the people behind them, with the world beyond the town.

Journal

Notes from the foot of Daisetsuzan (in Japanese)

Mashu on note UBAKU on note UBAKU Villa on note