1/27/2024 0 Comments Gramps house.com![]() At 6pm, enjoying the feeling of pure cleanliness that only a Japanese-style bath can bestow, we sat down for an unusual aperitif of an exquisitely refined mirin. Our futons were laid out in this cosy bedroom, with an adjacent sitting room for sitting and drinking tea.Īs we discovered on our first visit, it is well worth arriving at Jijinoie a couple of hours before dinner to allow time to enjoy the bath, hand-crafted from aromatic hiba wood by a venerable Japanese artisan. On this occasion, we slept on tatami (our particular room had the advantage of an ensuite toilet other guests share separate facilities), but in the past we have also stayed in a Western-style room, which features a balcony with views over the gardens. As is typical of traditional Japanese accommodation, the living and sleeping space is flexible depending on the number and requirements of visitors sliding doors partition the rooms and futons can be laid out in various configurations depending on a group’s needs. On our arrival at Jijinoie, we were ushered in to the spacious reception and dining area to enjoy some fresh mint tea and small cookies before being shown to our room. In the past we’ve travelled by train (about 70 minutes via the Wakashio and Sotobo lines to Chojamachi Station, plus a short taxi ride), but this time we decided to drive, in order to also investigate the surrounding countryside. Jijinoie is located within easy reach of Tokyo. Having spent two nights there with my husband in steamy July, and a cosy weekend with my visiting parents in October, I was keen to see what it was like during the fresh spring weather, and took the opportunity to visit with a friend in May. The name is also a play on words as “jiji” means “old man,” but the characters for “jiji” in jijinoie mean “to treat something with loving care.” The “grandfather” to which the name refers was the original owner of the house who tended his garden with such loving care that it still delights its current owners with beautiful flowers every season. Literally translated as ”Grandpa’s House,” Jijinoie’s atmosphere is of a country retreat, a place where visitors can relax and experience the surrounding countryside while feasting on delicious food based around locally-grown, seasonal produce. They opened Jijinoie, an old farmhouse transformed into a stylish six-bedroom inn, in 2013. Tired of life in Tokyo, Deco (which means forehead in Japanese, a nickname she was given as a college student due to her large forehead) and Everett moved with their five children to the Isumi area of Chiba in the late 1990s and set about creating a self-sufficient lifestyle that took inspiration from traditional Japanese agriculture and cuisine. ![]() Jijinoie is the brainchild of vegan chef and cookbook author Deco Nakajima and her art photographer husband Everett Kennedy Brown. Jijinoie’s modest exterior belies the extraordinary craftsmanship inside. But Jijinoie is different, repeatedly drawing me back with its serenity and its unerring ability to offer something new, always in harmony with the changing seasons. Countless times after visiting a great restaurant, my husband and I have said to ourselves, ”That was delicious… we should come here again sometime,” yet we somehow never return due to the lure of the unknown. With a whole new country to explore in just two short years, I experience a constant push-and-pull between wanting to revisit places I’ve enjoyed, and feeling compelled to discover something new. It occurred to me that I’m not alone in thinking that one of the challenges of life as a foreigner in Japan is deciding how best to spend my limited time here. As my eyes grew accustomed to the half-light of sunrise, filtering in through traditional shoji screens, I reflected on why Jijinoie, a rural inn in Chiba prefecture where I was spending my third weekend in under a year, holds such a special place in my Japanese experience. I awoke to the feel of soft sheets, the pleasantly grassy smell of tatami, and the sound of… absolutely nothing apart from the rustle of leaves in the breeze. Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window).Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window).
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