Our Story

2026年6月25日 2026年6月27日

mitsu_admin

A short introduction to how MITSU-House began.

An Australian and Japanese living in Tokyo decided to seek a country escape in 2020 during the covid pandemic. We found an old heritage property located in Yamanashi, not far from Mt. Fuji 5-Lakes district. The property is located in a town famous for textile manufacturing and MITSU-House was 1 of the founding textile merchants. The founding family lived on the property for 250Yrs and the primary commercial building has a history dating back 150Yrs.

The Merchant Bldg. sits on land with a large, spectacular traditional Japanese garden full with Japanese pine trees and azaleas. It also retains its spectacular Storehouse (KURA) Bldg. which dates back approx. 90Yrs. It has it original ground water well still in place and a charming stream that runs through the property. The local town is famous for pure natural water that runs straight off the local mountains.

Renovations on the Merchant Bldg. began in 2022 and it required an entire renovation with all new electrics & plumbing. We engaged a wonderful Japanese craftsman who was specialized with the renovation of traditional heritage buildings and renovations were completed in mid-2023. The renovation was undertaken to preserve the original character of this remarkable Bldg. Careful restoration of original materials and features while adding modern bathrooms and a large, well-equipped kitchen has allowed us to share this place with guests from around the world.

Why "MITSU"?

Our name comes from the local Mountain, Mt. Mitsutoge, one of the most beautiful mountains overlooking Mt. Fuji. Mt. Mitsutoge is very popular for hiking and the local train station is also called Mitsutoge Station. For us, MITSU represents nature, history, and time shared with family and friends.