Hiuchigoya

Mountain lodge in the Miharashi area at the eastern end of the Ozegahara marsh, in Hiuchigatake, Hinoemata Village, Minamiaizu District, Fukushima Prefecture. It has 16 rooms for 90 guests, let as private rooms as a rule, each with a socket for charging a phone. The owner's home cooking is the draw, with wild vegetable dishes, maitake mushroom rice and Hinoemata soba according to the season, and the lodge has separate men's and women's baths (sometimes swapped between days), separate washlet toilets, a lounge that doubles as the drying room, and a shop selling its own T-shirts and hand towels. Power comes from a generator, so guests may not bring and use hair dryers or other appliances, and lights go out at 21:00. Check-in runs from 11:00 to 16:00, and arrival by 16:00 is required for safety. A base for climbing Hiuchigatake and walking Ozegahara, the lodge recommends that beginners enter from Hatomachi Pass and treats the Hiuchi-ura forest road and the routes from Lake Ozenuma as ground for experienced walkers. It is about three hours on foot from Hatomachi Pass by way of Yamanohana, or about four hours from Numayama Pass on the Fukushima side by way of Numajiri. The lodge also runs reception and management for the only campsite in the Miharashi area, under contract from the Ministry of the Environment, which administers it.