Cross-Country Ski / Langlauf

Today we received an inquiry about cross-country skiing near our Arisaka House.

What a great idea! I haven't done proper cross-country skiing since my childhood, where I participated in a 14km Volkslauf in the Black Forrest. Although I did use my touring skis a few year ago to reach Honzawa Onsen in Winter ( a6 hour uphill treck), and saw other people use it a bit further up in Yatsugatake.

A quick search has revealed the following possibilities:

1. Blanche Takayama (20mins) is rumoured to have a 4km track and rental of equipment, although I still need to confirm this. It can be reached even under snowy conditions, but winter tyres are required, and chains should be carried.

2. Utsukushigahara a high mountain plateau, cross-country and snowshoe tours/rental available. This website seems to be operated by a hotel, which judging by their website is not as good as Inakahome, so don't stay there. Getting there is also a little bit of a concern, as it is very high up (dangerous road conditions in winter). We will check it out and post some updates.

3. Nagato Highland Farm, normally a dairy farm producing loads of icecream and expensive rare cheese, uses its cow pastures as cross-country tracks. My comment would be - make sure there is enough snow if you value your equipment!

For those of you who like downhill activities, here is one extra information: Blanche Takayama is Ski ONLY. So if you have snowboarders in your group, you had better drive a few minutes further to Echo Valley.

We will check out those options, and post an update once we have the facts

Patrick is speaking at The Tokyo Small Business Meetup Group tomorrow

I was invited to give a presentation tomorrow about Inakahome, and how we made it a reality.

The audience is the "The Tokyo Small Business Meetup Group", an informal group of entrepreneurs current and future, who want to exchange ideas, experiences and network.

In case you are interested, please sign up to the group (free), and sign up for the event on this page (better hurry, its filling up quickly).

Arisaka House converted to Danish territory (temporarily)

A little belated reach us the photos of a merry Danish delegation that took over Arisaka House for Christmas week. Trying to escape their busy yearend schedules, Rebecca and friends found a welcome home-away-from-home in our house.



Communal cooking is the best fun :-)



Here a special Danish Christmas dish is prepared - Yummy! I wish I had the recipe! Do you notice the gentlemen reflected in the stainless steel surface(top left of the picture)? Obviously not everyone was helping.





Their hard work was rewarded with a sprinkling of snow for a white Christmas.



The view over our field.

Happy New Year

On behalf of Inaka Home I would like to wish everyone a very Happy New Year 2009!!

Towards the end of December, Winter has finally arrived for real in Nagano, and plenty of snow is available in Blanche Takayama, Echo Valley and other ski areas within 20 minutes drive reach of Arisaka House.

Our house is located just over 600m so is spared the heaviest snow fall. Nevertheless a beautiful coating is always welcome, in particular by my daughter.

From 20070915

From 20070915

Why not have a pleasant family ski weekend, at our home? We still have vacancies for January and February, so you beter hurry to get your reservation in (please use the feedback form on our homepage)! You can read last Year's entry about our skiing at Blanche Takayama here.