Enjoy the view of Lake Hamana from the train window
Get off along the way and experience pressing sake.
In the evening, I was impressed by the wild boar hotpot and shabu-shabu.
Have the station hotel all to yourself.
～Recommendations for a leisurely trip on the Tenhama Line～

The Tenryu Hamanako Railway, which runs 67.7 km from Kakegawa Station through the mountainous Tenryu and Oku Hamanako Lake to Shinjohara Station in Kosai City, is a local railway affectionately known as the Tenhama Line by locals. It is a single-car train that runs once or twice an hour, but it is also possible to transfer from JR's Kakegawa Station and Shinjohara Station, making it popular not only with commuters but also with tourists. The retro atmosphere of the unmanned station is also popular, and above all, the idyllic rural landscapes and views of Lake Hamana seen from the train windows are sure to whet your senses.

This time, we took the Tenhama Line from Shinjohara Station, got off along the way and experienced sake pressing. We also visited the only station hotel in the country that accepts only one group per day, and a restaurant where you can taste wild meat caught by experts in the forest and trappers. What we introduce here is just the beginning of a journey on the Tenhama Line. There are still many attractive spots along the line that are not yet known. Why not go on a trip where you can experience the local food and culture at your own pace?

Try your hand at pressing sake at a long-established sake brewery
Souvenir and tasting included
Enjoy pairing snacks too!

　The first stop along the way is Miyaguchi Station. A five-minute walk from here is Hana no Mai Sake Brewery, which was founded in 5, during the end of the Edo period. A popular experience at this brewery is the hands-on sake pressing tour. Not only is it a rare experience that you can't get anywhere else, but you can also bottle the unpasteurized sake that you pressed yourself and take it home. You can also enjoy tasting and pairing with recommended brands from Hana no Mai Sake Brewery. This is a truly special experience tour that will make any sake lover's mouth water.
Our guide for the day was Toshishige Umino of Sommelier Excellence. As we entered the experience room, an empty sake bottle was ready on the table. Under Umino's instructions, a funnel was set up on top of it, and a bag-shaped filter was also set up to squeeze the sake. Here, we were handed the "moromi", the base of sake. It is a fermented liquid made from steamed rice, koji, yeast starter, and brewing water, and appears to be milky white and slightly effervescent. We were encouraged to try a sip, so we did, but... We were honestly surprised by the rough and intense taste, which is completely different from sake. We put this moromi in a bag, and while stirring lightly with a spoon, we dropped it from the funnel into the bottle. When we heard "squeezing", I thought that we would squeeze the moromi out of the bag with our hands, but it was more like filtering. The taste changes depending on how you squeeze it, and if you drop it slowly without stirring, it will have a refreshing taste, and if you stir it and drop it quickly, it will have a strong taste.
Once the sake has been pressed, we taste it again. It has a completely different mouthfeel than when it was still in the mash, and has a slight tingling sensation. Could this be proof that it is still fermenting? Is this a taste that can only be achieved when it is freshly pressed? You can only taste freshly pressed unpasteurized sake if you come here and take part in this experience, and because you press it yourself, it is even more delicious. It is truly a one-of-a-kind bottle. I'm looking forward to taking it home and drinking it.

After the sake pressing experience, we moved to a special lounge for tasting time. On this day, the brewers prepared the rare "Small-batch Genshu," which was prepared entirely by the master brewer Shintaro Kamae, the unpasteurized "Limited Edition Junmai Ginjo Nama Genshu," and "Abysse," which was made with wine yeast. They enjoyed pairing the sake with sweet orange peel, "Daiginjo sake lees," and "Enshu Nada sea salt."

On this day, we were given the special privilege of observing the process of "koji making." According to Kamae, making koji is the most important step, and is said to be "first koji, second kimoto, third brewing." The koji mold is sprinkled on steamed rice, which is then kneaded so that the mold is evenly distributed, and the koji is made over a 48-hour process. Hana no Mai Sake Brewery produces sake over three seasons, from August to June, brewing large batches in three-ton batches and small batches in 8-kilo batches. They produce 6 brands of sake. Hana no Mai Sake Brewery also offers tours of the brewery, where you can enjoy tastings.

Attached to the station
One group per day, whole building available for rent
"Station Hotel INN MY LIFE"

Just a 0-minute walk from Futamata Honmachi Station, the Station Hotel INN MY LIFE is located right next to the station waiting room, in what used to be the stationmaster's office. It opened in May 2019 and is the only station hotel in Japan that can be rented out as a whole, with only one group allowed per day. There are many stations on the Tenhama Line that have restaurants attached to them, but this is the only one with accommodation facilities, and it is said to be rare nationwide.
What surprised me a little was that when I opened the hotel door, I was immediately in a guest room! Two beds jumped out at my eyes. There is no front desk or entrance lobby. Reservations are required, so unmanned check-in is possible. You just unlock the door yourself and enter the necessary information into a tablet to complete the check-in. I was excited by this new style that goes beyond the concept of a hotel, and when I looked further into the room, I found a refrigerator, microwave, toaster oven, a counter with a small sink, and tasteful dishes and cutlery... It was set up so that I could eat the local food I had bought during my trip. Looking to the other side of the mini kitchen, I saw audio equipment and a shelf lined with jazz records and books. It's nice to spend the night without using your smartphone sometimes.

The owner, Akifumi Nakatani, is originally from Futamata, and when he returned home to his hometown, he saw the shopping street shutters closed, and began to think about what he could do. First, he opened a cafe to create a base for visitors. Next, he worked on this hotel, which he opened with the hope that visitors could use it as a base for their trips, as there were no accommodations available for visitors. That's why a free pass for the Tenhama Line is included with the stay, and Nakatani says he wants people to enjoy their trip by getting on the train wherever they want, getting off wherever they want, walking around the town, feeling the breeze on a rental bicycle, and discovering all kinds of things.

The dining style is also unique, with breakfast featuring ham and sausages from the popular local shop "Tenryu Ham" and locally grown vegetables, as well as bread, coffee, and honey, all of which are local flavors recommended by the owner. These are stored in the room's refrigerator, so you can enjoy them any time, not just in the morning. Accommodation plans that include dinner specify a nearby restaurant, and you can choose between "Takesome," where you can try natural wild boar hotpot, or "Washokudokoro Nakaya," where you can enjoy seasonal Japanese cuisine. Discovering the local flavors is the real joy of traveling.

Reservations are increasing from people who have seen articles about the hotel on social media and in the media, and it seems that reservations are hard to get on weekends, but relatively easy to get on weekdays. The hotel was named "INN MY LIFE" after the Japanese title of the Beatles song "In My Life," which means "Beloved Life," and it was named with the hope that this trip will become a part of a beloved life. In February 2025, a hotel for riders, limited to one group per day (2-5 people), renovated from an old house, will open. This is also something to look forward to.

Legendary Hunter,
Trapper Kunio Katagiri caught it.
Enjoy wild boar meat shabu-shabu

A 7-minute walk from Futamata Honmachi Station. Here you will find the shop "Takesome" run by Kunio Katagiri, who is known as a master of the forest and a trapper. You can enjoy wild birds, animals and fish that live in the mountains and rivers that Katagiri has hunted, which he cooks and serves himself. The signature dish is wild boar dishes.

Katagiri's boar hunting is a bloodless method of live capture, using traps rather than guns, and his hunting grounds are in the natural forests of Inasa Town in the northwest of Shizuoka Prefecture. He sets traps in places where boars pass that only Katagiri knows, and spends two hours every morning checking the traps. If the boar is caught, he first ties up its nose and then blindfolds it to remove its fear. Once it has calmed down, he ties up its feet and takes it home. He also never misses the ritual of bowing to the mountain and giving thanks for its blessings. As soon as he arrives at the slaughterhouse next to his shop, he stabs a spear near the heart of the boar, which is calm as if it is asleep, causing it to bleed to death. He quickly removes the boar's internal organs and butchers it the following morning, once its body temperature has dropped.

"In the days when pork and beef did not exist, our ancestors survived by hunting and eating wild boars and deer. They caught only the amount of meat they needed. That's why they didn't hunt for fun. They respected nature and enjoyed the blessings of the mountains. They hunted so that others could enjoy it. That means taking a life," says Katagiri.

Katagiri is often introduced in the media as a legendary hunter, but he was originally a Japanese cuisine and sushi chef who went independent at the age of 25. He returned to his hometown and opened a sushi restaurant, but due to the location in Tenryu, the number of customers was low, so he decided to try his hand at "wild boars." He insisted on capturing wild boars alive and bloodless, because hunting with a gun chases the boars, which causes stress and makes them taste bad.

Customers who come from all over the country come for the wild boar hotpot. When you think of wild boar hotpot, you imagine a miso-based dish, but the soup at this restaurant is clear and salty, and the stock is made from wild boar thigh meat. Neither the soup nor the meat has any unpleasant odor, and the texture of the thigh meat is great. The more you chew it, the more delicious the meat becomes, and it's very satisfying. The slices of loin and thigh meat served on a plate separately from the hotpot are for shabu-shabu, and are a beautiful pink color. The fat in the loin is sweet, and melts in the mouth. All have an elegant taste, which brilliantly breaks the image of wild boar meat that I had previously had as being rough and smelly.

　If you want to enjoy the natural flavor of the wild boar, I was recommended the "ribs" which are simply boiled in water and sprinkled with rock salt, and I immediately took a bite. The meat around the bone is delicious, and has a truly natural, simple taste. Of course, there is no unpleasant odor. It is a delicacy that can only be enjoyed here. One of the courses, "Motsuyaki" (grilled offal), is seasoned with rock salt, pepper, garlic, and sesame oil on the day the innards are removed, and is served charcoal-grilled. The contents change depending on the day, but it seems to include liver, large intestine, small intestine, heart, stomach, tongue, and small intestine. Katagiri-san has a recommended way to eat grilled liver, so I did as he said, put the liver in my mouth, chewed it until it became a paste, and swallowed it. What is this pleasant lingering aftertaste of deliciousness that lingers in my mouth... "I told you to put it in your mouth again," Katagiri-san said with a laugh.

Writer: Umino Shihoko
Photo by Yoko Fujimoto