Ozenuma Hutte

Mountain lodge run by Hinoemata Village, standing on the east shore of Lake Ozenuma at the mouth of the Oe River, inside Oze National Park in Minamiaizu District, Fukushima Prefecture. Opened in 1964, the two-storey wooden building holds 112 guests in 33 rooms: 27 Japanese-style rooms plus 36 single capsule beds, introduced in 2019 in rooms of six, which are popular with solo walkers. The separate men's and women's baths are filled with natural Ozenuma water heated and run continuously, and have showers. A wide wooden terrace in front of the lodge looks straight out at Hiuchigatake, and a large telescope by the entrance lets guests check conditions on the summit. Dinner is known for local Hinoemata mountain cooking such as maitake mushroom rice and deep-fried iwana char. The Ozenuma Visitor Center and Chozo-goya stand next door, and the lodge also handles reception for the Ozenuma campsite. Access is about 20 minutes by shuttle bus from Miike on Route 352 to Numayama Pass, closed to private cars all year, then roughly an hour and twenty minutes on foot across the Oe wetlands. It serves as a base for Hiuchigatake by the Choei-shindo route, for the circuit of Lake Ozenuma and for walks towards Ozegahara.