Setouchi base - Vacation STAY 47136v

You will never again meet a host like Yano-san. This 85-year old man (at time of writing, but he may yet outlive us all) is the spriest and sharpest octagenerian-something I've ever had the good fortune to meet. He welcomes you into his beautiful old-style Japanese home with open arms (or well, next to his, he lives next door). And it really is gorgeous, a true highlight of our trip. Everything is available to you. And he loves meeting travellers, well-travelled as he is himself (excellent English). He's also incredibly keen to share the beauty of Shikoku – doesn't take any urging to recommend what shrine to visit, where to see the best sunset, where to get the best 700 yen udon,... please ask him questions, he's a font of local knowledge, is well-read and has interesting takes on Japan and the rest of the world. Some practical tips: it's narrow. We had a tiny kei car, so no trouble. There are various rooms, but we only met a single other guest in two nights. Yano-san is keen to share drinks, sweets, and I've never seen a better-equipped kitchen. Oh, did I say he started the guesthouse at the age of 81? Incredible.

I recommend getting a booking at his favourite local izakaya, Mikaku

広々使えましたー！大人数でいって、広々でした！ オーナーさんのおすすめポイントが最高でした😭👏✨

なし

オーナーの方がとても親切で、周辺施設のオススメや瀬戸内国際芸術祭の話など、いろいろな話をしてくれてとても楽しかった。水回りは新しくなっていて、とても使い勝手がよかった。

よくもわるくも昔ながらのお家です。多少の音など気になる方には向かないかもしれません。

The owners son was very kind and is doing his best. The house is huge and has everything you'd basically need. Our room was huge and far away from any other guests so we didn't hear anything. The nearby light display at the huge garden in the next town new year was really incredible.

Parking was a nightmare the first night we arrived. First I parked in front of the shine which had dozens of spaces (for the entire 3 days we stayed actually no one parked there once). But the owner's son told me to move the car to the garage but there's no space there even for a small car and the road there is extremely narrow. The next day we found the actual parking spot on the reverse side of the house where there is tons of space and it's very easy to drive to and we wondered why we weren't told to park there? The small rooms really stink of kerosene. You know "coal-oil" is extremely dangerous right? I wish Japanese places would stop using kerosene for heating. It stinks and is so unhealthy for your lungs and eyes. There isn't really much to do in the area except hike one of the shrines nearby to watch the sunset or go to the "mirror pools" beach which was extremely crowded. The Ominakami Shrine was also pretty disappointing. Compared to all the other places we stayed, there definitely could have been more to this place but it's probably also just that Mitoyo doesn't have much going on.