My first interaction with GruppeM dates back to a time when the business was a fraction of the size it is now before online automotive media really existed and print was still king GruppeM has moved shop to the outskirts of Tokyo a stone’s throw away from the Honda R&D Center and Mugen HQ It’s now also a significantly larger operation While the air filter and air intake side of GruppeM continues to evolve as new performance cars hit the market it’s a previously undisclosed side of Ogose-san’s business that is really now starting to thrive The last few times I visited GruppeM at their original location I noticed more and more cars in the carpark and workshop – generally rare models too and the odd part restoration for some of its customers but with their move to a new (and larger) shop that’s now been expanded to an advertised service And with many people spending up large on cars like classic Porsches this new side of GruppeM’s business is really cranking The reason I mention Porsche is because it’s where GruppeM’s expertise really lies and Ogose’s team can give it anything from a quick once-over and an oil change If you can cast you mind back five years, you might remember the feature I did on Ogose’s personal Porsche 911 RSR replica while we had it up in Ebisu recording engine sounds for the NFS 2015 game That car is one of the two vintage 911s in the GruppeM showroom While I was over at GruppeM recently having one of their air boxes installed on Project Quattro I thought I’d take a look around and show you what the workshop is looking like these days business has picked up tremendously this year It’s to the point that there is now a long waiting list to have your car worked on You can always expect to feast your eyes on rare metal at GruppeM and this caged 993 RS in for a little refresh is a good example More intricate and major work is handled in the far corner of the shop Having an in-house spray booth makes GruppeM a real one-stop shop for this sort of restoration work One of the most common asks of any Porsche-specialist shop is engine overhauls which nearly always end up incorporating slightly better or more modern parts in the pursuit of higher performance and reliability GruppeM’s mechanics are able to do factory-precise rebuilds too – it just depends on what each individual customer requires I will need to stop in for a little look at what’s being worked on I was once told that there were more buyers of brand new 930 Turbos ticking the ‘flachbau’ option in Japan than in other countries I see so many examples on the streets and in the shops of Tokyo There happened to be two at GruppeM on this particular afternoon Here’s a back view of Ogose’s RS and RSR replicas Both cars are immaculate builds executed in very period-focused ways just as I’d expect a motorsport shop of their era might have done for a customer that wanted a good road and weekend track toy It was nice to see a couple of Italian cars in the shop too including this clean example of the almost-forgotten 612 Scaglietti 2+2 one of the cheapest ways to get into a front-engined V12 Ferrari these days This and the 456GT of course. I wonder if that abandoned one I found a couple of years back is still there When you see cars being stored high up and wrapped like candy you know they are worth some serious money I’m not sure what Ferrari 275 GTBs go for these days but I’d imagine it would be close to the GDP of a small country It’s absolutely mind-blowing to see such a work of art This deep maroon-colored RUF is getting a full engine rebuild and an overall tidy up It was in remarkably good condition despite having been well used throughout its life exploring shops like this has always been the essence of Speedhunting It’s not just about finding and hunting the cars that drive our passion but going behind the scenes to see how shops entrusted with maintaining jewels of the past actually work and go about their tasks Getting to nose over old engines as they are pulled out and understanding how they fit together is something I will never get tired of I have to give a big thank you to GruppeM for allowing me to look around and get close to some very special cars Ogose-san has created a successful business out of his passion and now he’s able to offer high-end services to those that seek it GruppeM is doing its part to help keep this obsession of ours alive – one little fix or one big restoration at a time Shop Tours on Speedhunters Great coverage of another shop!On a sidenote I can't believe that it's already been two years since you posted those "abandoned cars" articles I always wondered what happened to this company Seems to be doing quite well from what I am seeing Always great to see great businesses flourish Seeing photos of a garage full of classic Porsches is never a bad thing.And yes the 612 recently i was overtaken by a 456 on the motorway and i can tell you it looks really good and that i was tempted to speed up to get another view Would love to see one dropped nicely on a set of BBS rims (and the old Ferrari wheels burned!) It's unbelievable how GruppeM could run the workshop so efficiently yet keeping the place so tidy and clean Look forward to seeing more great workshops from you I think it's testament to the way shops approach work as a whole they ooze a very different type of character but I know which ones I prefer the strange thing about the Porsche 911 is how I've done a total 180 on it.When I was a kid the 930 was still being manufactured and I thought it looked ugly and dumpy compared to the Countach and the F40.Nowadays I've learned to appreciate the virtues of old 911s we didn't really realize until all the other cars were approaching things totally wrong inspired a serious question:1994 Ferrari F355 engine State of art engine and as close to a race car engine as you can get.. And it's a Ferrari.1995 Porsche Carrera 3.8 RS engine but by Honda with gems at around twenty or thirty K.Well especially if we would compare F355 Challenge version vs Carrera RS the values on the market of these two cars are worlds apart and this time in favor of Porsche.I try really hard to understand what's causing the hype Are the prices overinflated and not much sells actually?Newer generations seem to praise Porsche far more than Ferrari Is it the new generation of Porsche like 991 RS and GT4 RS that's really making the name for Porsche and consequently raises the desirability like a sea level of the OG Porsche models?Personally how would anyone NOT take F355 key's over RS but no one right in the head says that this Porsche-fevah doesn't have a hard crash one day......then again will the market give a damn about any 80's/90's "also rans" (obviously discounting concours level Countach etc icons) when the base Tesla drifts autonomous circles around them on any track?That will be an interesting day.. and it totally makes sense to raise the question I don't think I still know or understand the answer but it might have something to do with the fact that the 911 achieved performance comparable to its peers of the time with a far more simplistic approach It also stubbornly stuck to a layout that won it as much praise as it did criticism but one that gave the car a unique character Maybe this fuss-free approach to performance is what attracts people to this day The F355 was a great and I'm not for one second going to argue that the RS was the better car they are just 2 different cars that achieved similar results through different and unique approaches Probably the reason I personally would love to have both rather than pick one wouldn't we all want to open that garage door to have the moonlight wash over an RS and a Challenge Stradale And some people do...Back to the Porsche/Ferrari weirdness; back in the 90's the Porsche wasn't seen as the Ferrari's equal but as a sort of "entry level" to the really exciting and crazy machines they feel the same generally speaking (not in how they drive at the limit I've driven a 993 and the F335 and they're a whole mental reprogramming apart - how owning/paying for one rewards one back) but even though the common propaganda is that "Porsche stuck to their guns" and it was actually Enzo Ferrari that did this first but that was just how powerful people were back then but "the way things have been done" was still wearing the crown One of Enzo's last cars was the F40 ong a whole vunch of steel chassis with a V12 in the front as Ferdinand's were trying out the 928/944/948/914/916.. And let's not mention the boxster followed up by the Cayenne The idea that "Porsche stuck to it" is fake - they were just surviving with the tools they had just like everyone not from Japan was doing Japan revolutionized cars when these models were being made no different than Tesla/America has today It's straight awesome that you featured an NSX in the opening shots because it's right on the money when talking about GruppeM and the air cooled 911's sharing space with two Ferraris shook the sleepy vintage marques wide awake GruppeM is high up on the places-to-visit bucket list The GruppeM group are really doing heaven's work in terms of restoring cars of the yesteryears Speedhunters is an international collective of photographers writers and drivers with a shared passion for uncovering the world's most exciting car culture stories Gruppe M NSX Type R: Lots Of Letters For Lots Of Car The Gruppe M NSX-R isn't so extreme and doesn't warrant a shriek ride through Tokyo. But it's more than enough to change my opinion. So, make my NSX a Championship White Type R with a Gruppe M supercharger. And throw in Liz Hurley sitting shotgun while you're at it. That would be perfect. Subscribe to our newsletters to get the latest in car news and have editor curated stories sent directly to your inbox This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks The action you just performed triggered the security solution There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page we may have been the smallest brewery in Japan we were making Japanese ”sake” and it’s only about 12 years ago Now we are making about 144,000 liters of ”sake” and quite a lot of liqueurs.”In March 2011 and the warehouse of the headquarters was burned to the ground and one third of the ”sake” in production process was lost The warehouse is still being reconstructed When you look at the product lineup of Asahara Brewery they also undertake production of private brand products of other companies they are especially committed to the development of various liqueurs.”Moromi zake” low-malt beer… Nakata tried one after the other and one liqueur especially caught his attention ”Sayama green tea plum liqueur”.”I’ve never tasted plum liqueur with such bold green tea flavor and the taste is a pleasant harmony of fresh green tea and the sweetness of plums Then I realized that the possibility is infinite It is our motto that we never refuse any requests,” said Asahara laughingly More and more unique ideas for new products came up and Nakata’s conversation with Asahara about product development went on and on the exciting event is host to some of the best-known landscape artists with exhibitions scattered throughout the two hundred local villages that dot the mountains and rice fields of northern Japan Started in 2000, the festival recently completed its 6th run, with over half a million art lovers making the trek to experience the unique art project. To commemorate fifteen years of art exhibitions and celebrate the relationships forged between global artists at the Triennale, director and curator Fram Kitagawa has compiled Art Place Japan This comprehensive catalogue displays the 800 artworks that have been featured over the past fifteen years and serves as a travel guide with a host of essays and maps of the massive festival Above: Gift for Frozen Village; Artist-Kyota Takahashi; Photo by Osamu Nakamura Tsumari in Bloom; Artist- Yayoi Kusama; Photo by Osamu Nakamura For Lots of Lost Windows; Artist- Akiko Utsumi?; Photo by T Yamanaka Zutsumi Spiral Works; Artist- Chiyoko Todaka; Photo by Hisao Ogose Rolling Cylinder; Artist- Carsten Hller; Photo by Osamu Nakamura to the Living; Artist- Yoshio Kitayama; Photo by Anzai Restructure; Artist- Harumi Yukutake; Photo by Masanori Ikeda House Memory; Artist-Chiharu Shiota; Photo by Takenori Miyamoto The Day After Tomorrow Newspaper Cultural Department; Artist-Katsuhiko Hibino; ?Photo by T Sun and Footprints; Artist- Takahito Kimura, Photo by Osamu Nakamura Lost #6; Artist-Ryota Kuwakubo; Photo by Osamu Nakamura and the Red Dragonfly; Artist- Shintaro Tanaka; Photo by Anzai Super High-Resolution Human Size Photographs of Insects; Artist- Norihisa Hashimoto; Photo by T.Kobayashi Hachi & Seizo Tashima Museum of Picture of Picture Book Art; Artist-Seizo Tashima Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale: Website  Want to advertise with us? Visit My Modern Met Media Celebrating creativity and promoting a positive culture by spotlighting the best sides of humanity—from the lighthearted and fun to the thought-provoking and enlightening The recent Porsche craze is definitely to blame The more I come across colourful and unique takes on air-cooled 911s and if you like cars you cannot possibly dismiss the sort of dynamics that old vintage Porches offer beautifully simple and unique in both mechanical layout and the subsequent way that they drive Spending an evening in Tokyo with Magnus Walker chatting about cars with likeminded people has done nothing but poke at the inner urge I haven’t even really begun to scratch the surface of what the air-cooled scene is all about here in Japan and come back to you with one of the greatest examples of a classic 911 that I’ve found here in Japan This is a car that impresses for the both the way it’s been restored and cared for This 1972 RSR replica belongs to Mamoru Ogose the man behind one of the biggest successes in the JDM tuning word – GruppeM GruppeM will be a brand that signifies quality and Ogose-san was right there at the beginning of the tuning boom in the ’80s While the business initially concentrated on Japanese cars Ogose-san quickly steered his business towards imports He really made his mark when he began to import K&N filters into Japan and that led to GruppeM designing and manufacturing its own very successful line of air boxes On top of this he has brought in a ton of other foreign products into Japan helping shape and steer the scene towards quality Honda NSX fans will surely be familiar with the GruppeM supercharger kit that Ogose-san developed – a sought after upgrade to this day With a business grown out of his own passion for cars it’s not surprising that there has always been some interesting machinery in Ogose-san’s personal garage and this 911 was one of his very first cars with over 20 years of development and refinement it’s been sculpted into something rather special it’s unfortunate that he never has enough time to actually play with it on track and if I had to wait for him to actually take it out for a few hot laps to feature it So we came to an arrangement – he would have his senior mechanic transport it to a venue of my choosing and I would try my best to give it the sort of shoot that a car of this caliber deserves Which is why the surrounding scenery might look a little familiar… With an empty Ebisu East Course to play with I even sat in for a few laps as the mechanic took the car around the undulating course to put some heat into the engine and driveline With the sun cresting the surrounding mountain tops and a warm veil of light cast over the valley the timing really couldn’t have been more perfect The 911’s exterior simplicity was beautifully highlighted This is a shape we’re so familiar with these days expressed in its most basic of forms and wearing the right sort of enhancements to denote it as a performance variant The rear boasts those wide fenders that Porsche had to homologate for use in racing and originally graced the sought-after Carrera 2.7 RS It’s not hard to see why this has become the most replicated look for a vintage 911 the ducktail spoiler completing it all with a lovely subtleness Just like the car in its most basic of forms Ogose-san never intended to get lost in the details His goal was to create something that would represent a vintage take on the modern-day 991 GT3 – a performance-oriented special purely built to offer the most undiluted performance driving experience That’s why the car sits on period-correct Fuchs wheels for a start They’re 15-inch in diameter all around and plenty wide to fill the pumped wheel arches There’s a nice amount of dish on the 11-inch rears shod in appropriately-sized 285/40R15 Pirelli P7 rubber The fronts are a little narrower at 9-inch and run the same model of tyre in a 225/50 fitment It sits just right on a set of specially-built Bilstein dampers mated to springs that make the most out of the performance at hand and keep the car flat through the turns but never upset the handling balance Considering that car hits the scales at 1000kg so damper valving and spring rates aren’t too aggressive Braking is taken care of by 930 Turbo 4-pot calipers that are fitted at each corner with cross-drilled rotors The car had to look just right with those RSR touches but at the same time be backed up with the right sort of capabilities this is not a car built to wow people at a stance-oriented meeting – it’s built solely to offer the most fun behind the wheel but it’s a classic homage that’s been fine tuned over time with upgrades that don’t make it any less of a Porsche And then there’s that 2.8 badge on the grille Lift up the lightweight FRP engine cover and you are treated to quite a sight Ogose-san has preferred to do away with any sort of component that would make the car look any less of a classic than it is bored out to 92mm and stroked to 70.4mm to give it a swept capacity of 2,808cc It runs a static compression ratio of 10.5:1 and is fully balanced and blueprinted The engine can rev out to 8,000rpm and develops 300PS So that’s 300PS-per-tonne remember – not too far away from the 330PS-per-tonne that the 991 GT3 comes packing Hopefully that puts the potential performance of this car into perspective but even more so how it would feel through your hands as you wrestle it from corner to corner That power is channeled to the rear wheels via a 915 5-speed transmission which does away with the dog-leg first that the original car’s gearbox came with that fifth cog does help in extracting maximum performance Check out the ‘Made in Germany’ label stamped into the taillight surrounds all of these things have held up to the test of time rather well The ducktail engine cover is a piece that GruppeM produces along with a long list of goodies for most generations of the 911 The exhaust is as period-correct as the rest of the parts used in the build and features a pair of elongated center pipes amplifying that raucous signature rasp that characterises Porsche air-cooled motors and it creates a wonderful mixture of mechanical noises that merge into an intoxicating high-pitched wail It’s not too hard to see why 911 guys are so attached to their cars The underlying sense of simplicity is carried through into the interior with a few select additions An RS pull-strap would have been far too much of a modern addition to the flat and featureless door card so this leather strap works as more contemporary touch Step inside and you are greeted by a pretty basic and familiar dash layout the black-on-black interior suiting the feel of the car rather well this is a project built for pure performance so colour coordinating trim would have been a trivial exercise A Momo Prototipo is the steering wheel of choice for these older cars and it’s hard to argue that its design isn’t the perfect match the tachometer has been rotated so that the 7,000rpm mark is lined up vertically This is one of those touches that we see on a lot of Porches in Japan and something the old highway racers used to do too except it’s now sporting an 5-speed H-pattern knob from the 915 The car runs a certified half rollcage so both rear seats have been deleted – or rather covered in the same grey carpeting the rest of the floor is upholstered in Race seats and Crow harnesses are the final touches and although they slightly go against the stock feel of the car they were purposely fitted to hold both driver and passenger tightly in place when the car is being driven as it was intended Ogose-san has turned his favourite Porsche from history into a true vintage performance car that stays loyal to the RSR it perfectly replicates It’s an impressive piece to grace anyone’s private collection so the most surprising thing is that he has another one that looks almost exactly the same Dino Dalle CarbonareInstagram: speedhunters_dinodino@speedhunters.com GruppeMMore Porsche related stories on Speedhunters One body style that can rightfully be deemed timeless I saw your IG post - congrats on the Hasselblad $$ Where on earth did they find original P7's Only tires I know that are still available in that size are the P7 Corsa's and Yoko V141's I remember saying that the BBi motorsport 911 about 3 months back was my all time favorite 911.I lied.Humana humana humanaI love this thing!!! So...there's a mistake on the brand of the tires You can clearly read Dunlop SP Sport 8000 on them...not Pirelli Right now the slantnose seems to be my favourite 911 functional build that will look as good 20 years down the road as it does now.Please The only thing cooler is the Heuer timers in its place.. "specially-built Bilstein dampers mated to springs," you mean the car has been converted to coilover I just thought it was an oddly lengthy way of saying custom coilovers Damn it is perfect.Just needs some black/grey seat belts https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FC22xGxkxTI It's a shame they don't know how to install seat belts for driver safety... There is only 2 things wrong with this car1: the color of the Crow Harnesses pop way too much.2: i do not have the keys in my posession You can't go wrong with the classic Porsche look I can only imagine this must be wonderful to drive on the track matthewyaa It felt sublime from the passengers seat haha speedhunters_dino roninlotus211 Don't you think it would be the right thing to do and teach guys how to be safe... http://www.speedhunters.com/2014/06/takata-ask-the-expert-answers/ I traded my BRZ in for a 997 Carrera 2S this month I can't afford the type of air-cooled car I want yet so I thought I'd get my feet wet with a contemporary one first Although I discovered at the track last week that I wish I could rotate the tachometer to see redline better but utilized a different four-wheeled remedy love the accent provided by the Crow harnesses 1964-1971's had the dogleg 901's.But thanks for featuring If you want to overload on these kind of builds go check out the Rennlist or Pelican Parts forums... My two year old can't stop saying Porsche now.. yes I have had an LN Engineering IMS bearing installed as a precautionary measure please disable the ad blocking feature and reload the page This website uses cookies to collect information about your visit for purposes such as showing you personalized ads and content By clicking “Accept all,” you will allow the use of these cookies Users accessing this site from EEA countries and UK are unable to view this site without your consent Children play in a public bath facility in Ogose Aiming to have the most amount of the citrus fruit in a bath the facility procured 2,100 katsuragi yuzu the specialty of Moroyama in the prefecture which was relaxing,” said a 37-year-old woman from Sakado in the prefecture “I think I’ll be able to stay healthy this winter.” Our weekly ePaper presents the most noteworthy recent topics in an exciting © 2025 The Japan News - by The Yomiuri Shimbun Look out for your first newsletter in your inbox soon We help you navigate a myriad of possibilities Sign up for our newsletter for the best of the city By entering your email address you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy and consent to receive emails from Time Out about news, events, offers and partner promotions. Tokyo The Moomins may have come from Finland originally, but Japan has really warmed to the cute characters, with multiple destinations dedicated to the Finnish fairytale. The most famous is Hanno in Saitama, where you can spend a day at Moominvalley Park a nature-filled theme park packed with attractions that look like they’re straight out of the books by Tove Jansson.  A journey from Ikebukuro Station to Hanno Station takes around 50 minutes and you’ll then need to take an additional 15-minute shuttle bus to the park but it’s worth booking a night at one of the official Moomin-themed hotels in the area to get the most out of the trip.  Here are the best hotels in Japan for Moomin fans who want to be surrounded by their favourite characters RECOMMENDED: These places in Japan look like scenes from ‘Spirited Away’ Photo: Oku-Musashi KyukamuraThe Moomin Special Room at Oku-Musashi Kyukamura Hotel is a spacious room decked in nothing but Moomins from the bed covers and cushions to the rug – with plushies of all sizes you can cuddle up with A stay is limited to one night only and starts at ¥22,000 per person It includes breakfast and dinner at the hotel a one day pass for Moominvalley Park and all guests get freebies like slippers a hand towel and a tote bag with the logo of the theme park you’ll also have access to a complimentary ride to and from Moominvalley Park at designated times during the day Distance from Moominvalley Park: 30 minutes by car Photo: Ofuro Cafe UtataneTokitama Himitsukichi Comoriver is the only place in Japan where you can get a Moomin-themed glamping experience The spacious tent can fit up to three people and is furnished with Moomin-themed bedding and cushions There’s only one Moomin tent on site A night here starts at ¥11,666 per person a one day pass to Moominvalley Park and a ticket to go to a nearby onsen hot spring fruits and coffee from a local coffee shop while dinner features a luxurious barbecue with plenty of side dishes like salad and some marshmallows you can roast for dessert Distance from Moominvalley Park: 35 minutes by car Photo: Ofuro Cafe UtataneOfuro Cafe Utatane is the ideal spot for Moomin fans who want to see more of urban Saitama – it’s further from Moominvalley Park but it’s right in the city centre of Saitama The hotel’s Moomin Special Room is decorated with Moomin motifs and has Finnish and Scandinavian household goods to make guests feel like they’ve just been transported inside the fairytale There’s also plenty of artwork on the walls including a Moomin mural right above the bed A night here starts from ¥10,880 per person which includes a one day pass to the amusement park You’ll also have access to its Finnish saunas and a relaxation space where you can lounge around in a hammock and massage chair as well as a library stocked with all kinds of Japanese manga Distance from Moominvalley Park: 1 hour by car O Park Ogose in Saitama offers a three metre-tall Moomin-themed dome tent. The secluded glamping site is surrounded by lush greenery, which you can enjoy from the comfort of your tent – you’ll feel like you’ve been transported into a fairytale. The well-appointed room comes with two double beds as well as pillows, plushies and a lamp shaped like Moomin. You’ll also receive amenities like slippers, hair brush and tote bag adorned with the Moomin Valley Park logo. A relaxing stay here comes with a dinner prepared with locally sourced ingredients – think grilled wagyu beef with orange sauce and plenty of fresh veggies. For breakfast you’ll be greeted with a bread platter, eggs, salad and more. An overnight stay starts from ¥13,030 per person and each dome tent can host up to three people. All guests will have access to the two on-site hot springs as well as the bedrock bath and the library with around 8,000 books, magazines and comics. Distance from Moominvalley Park: 21 minutes by car Photo: Shinya KigureMake your stay in Japan extra special: these unique hotels blur the line between galleries and accommodation Photo: Sara Winter/DreamstimeEmbrace the warm weather at these gorgeous beaches islands and mountain retreats from Okinawa to Hokkaido Thanks for subscribing! Look out for your first newsletter in your inbox soon! facebooktwitterpinterestinstagramAbout us We could never get bored of this electrifying city we call home, but we will admit that Tokyo’s concrete jungle can get a bit overwhelming at the best of times. If you’ve found yourself fantasising about ditching your city apartment to go live in the forest instead, we’ve got the perfect getaway to heal you from your burnout in the great outdoors And we’re not talking about camping.  At these woodsy resorts just an hour or two from Tokyo you can soak in open-air onsen as you breathe in mountain air or cosy up to a fire for a barbecue with pals for the ultimate glamping minibreak No elaborate plans for what supplies to bring how to pitch a tent by sundown or what food to prepare – glamping is all about having the hard stuff sorted out for you.  RECOMMENDED: Prefer to venture further? Here are the best glamping sites in Japan Photo: fb.com/oparkogosThe spherical tree tents of this resort look as though they’ve come straight out of a storybook. Be lulled to sleep in gently swaying spheres, suspended high in the treetops of this forest just a stone’s throw from Moomin Valley Park.  Not a fan of heights? The resort also features more traditional, spacious tents that can be booked for a full night or just for a couple of hours during the day. The tents come with a charcoal barbecue and you can select a meal plan for different ingredients to throw on the grill. There’s even a hammock for you to curl up in for when the inevitable food coma hits. Standard plans from ¥18,496 per person. Photo: Grandvaux Spa VillageInspired by Switzerland’s vineyard region of Grandvaux, the Grandvaux Spa Village is a new glamping site built within the long-established resort of Resol no Mori. The impressive number of leisure facilities the resort offers, including a golf course, swimming pool and equestrian park, means that guests who are glamping can choose to spend their time luxuriating in nature with a glass of Swiss wine or put their energy into trying out a new hobby.  Here, you can embrace a slower pace of life by starting your morning with some yoga, then go on a guided trek to forage herbs in the forest. In the evenings, you can choose between two mineral hot spring baths (indoor and outdoor) to soak in before grabbing a seat at the bar for a nightcap.  A standard tent with a skylight can accommodate up to four people, but you can also opt for a package where you get a separate tent to use as a sitting room on the adjoining terrace. Group packages from ¥48,600. 日比谷花壇のステイ 里楽巣 フジノThis mountainous glamping facility in Fujino has only two luxury dome tents, and the site itself might not be very big, but that doesn’t mean you’ll be lacking in things to do. Activities on offer include coffee roasting workshops, berry foraging, woodworking classes and, of course, flower arrangement sessions to enrich your mind and soul. As far as meals go, barbecue lovers will always have the option of grilling fresh produce over a good old fashioned fire pit, but there are also Japanese and Western-style course dinners guests can feast on. Breakfast also features a choice between Japanese or Western flavours, with both options featuring more freshly picked, pesticide-free local produce. Standard plans from ¥21,000 per person.  サーカス アウトドア トーキョーForget camping cots and portable lamps, the tents at this glamp site are heavily decorated with as many cushy, vintage furniture pieces as they can fit. Just remember: lounging on a plush leather loveseat under a chandelier is still glamping as long as it’s in a tent. Go all out and book a yurt that comes with a butler, or opt for a more affordable option with a barbecue dinner included in the meal plan. Packages start from ¥60,500 per person.  Photo: fb.com/bambooforest.ichiharaThis spot is a cross between a zoo and a glamping site where you can rejuvenate in nature while interacting with friendly animals In addition to the treehouse-style accommodation there are also two types of luxury tents: a chic yurt (from ¥29,000) and a dome tent (from ¥29,000) These two options provide an affordable glamping experience for larger groups looking for something more simplistic.  Each dome or tent comes with its own private shower and toilet so you won’t have to worry about sharing with other guests Breakfast is a selection of western-style dishes such as yoghurt and granola whereas dinner is a generous spread of steak Standard plans from ¥29,600 per person 10217 Ichinomiya, Ichinomiya, Chosei, Chiba  The resort’s air-conditioned yurts can accommodate up to five people and you can even bring your family dog along for the ride. The facility has a 24-hour service desk should you ever need anything and staff are proficient in English and Spanish as well as Japanese. Standard plans from ¥28,600 per person. If you’re attracted to the idea of glamping but can’t bear to spend a night away from your bed, a feasible alternative might be a glamping-themed dinner on the rooftop of Tokyo Solamachi, also known as Skytree Town. This way, you can have the same experience of an outdoor barbecue or campfire stew before finishing off some cocktails in your own mini yurt before going back to the comfort of your home. Meal plans start from ¥3,650.  Find some of Japan’s most beautiful temples, hiking trails and nature attractions no more than a few hours from Tokyo Photo: Blanscape/DreamstimeExplore versions of Himeji Castle, Kyoto’s famous torii gate tunnel, a Japanese old town and more in and around Tokyo Photo: Hoshinoya FujiFrom historical Kyoto to snowy Niseko resorts and ryokan will have you dreaming of a holiday in Japan A guide to the most popular Glamping sites in the Kanto region did you know there are places where you can enjoy nature but also a place where you can have a luxurious experience but it is possible to do if you go to a glamping site Glamping is a relatively new word that has the meaning of the words “Glamorous” and “Camping” Glamping sites are becoming more and more popular in Japan to the point that you can find one pretty much at any prefecture you visit You might think there aren’t that many places where you can have this experience near Tokyo But there are actually various locations near Tokyo (and some even within Tokyo) where you can bathe in nature while having services that of a high-rated hotel I will introduce to you our picks of the 5 best glamping sites near Tokyo The good thing about all these places is that access is fairly easy and they all provide unique services that reflect the attractive points of where they are located Although most foreign visitors have the impression that Tokyo has the best things to offer in the city areas there are a lot of beautiful places where you can enjoy nature in ways you can’t experience in many other places Fureaihiroba Glamping (ふれあい広場 グランピング) is a glamping site in Akiruno city It takes somewhere between 90 minutes to 2 hours to get there by car or by train and bus from central Tokyo or you can come and stay at the glamping site The luxurious tents here have a capacity for up to 6 people there are many tourist places you can go including hot springs and of course many nature spots such as waterfalls ▶Official Website: https://fureaihiroba.tokyo/ The next glamping site is located south of Tokyo. Nature Healing Lounge THE OUT (ジ・アウト) is a wonderful glamping site near the pacific ocean in Kamakura city, Kanagawa prefecture Kamakura is a highly popular touristic area where you will find many things to do People will usually stay at hotels or Japanese-style Ryokan if you would like something a little different and want to be in touch more with nature This glamping site has various spaces with unique settings from which you can choose to stay All the tools and equipment for camping will be provided by the site and you can bring your own food and drinks ▶Official Website: http://theout.jp/ Chiba prefecture is probably where you will find the most glamping sites when it comes to accessibility from Tokyo Mother Farm Glamping (マザー牧場 Glamping)  is one of the most popular ones being a glamping site within the vicinity of the popular tourist site “Mother Farm” Mother Farm is a large theme park in Chiba prefecture that has many rides fields of flowers and animals that you can interact with This theme park itself is a fun place to visit but this is just a portion of what you can enjoy if you come to stay at the glamping site If you’re in Tokyo and wish to be in touch with nature in a luxurious way this is definitely something you should take into consideration ▶Official Website: https://www.motherfarm.co.jp/glamping/ BIO-RESORT HOTEL&SPA O Park OGOSE (ビオリゾート ホテル＆スパ オーパークおごせ) is a glamping site in the Iruma, Saitama prefecture taking less than an hour from the city area This glamping site offers various types of rooms: from the typical tent-type room and the dome-shaped room to rooms with a sauna incorporated The site also has many services and activities ready for you to assure you spend a luxurious a BBQ site where you can enjoy it in groups of up to 10 people per table ▶Official Website: https://opark.jp/ This in itself makes this site a popular place for both glamping and camping For those planning on staying on this site you can choose between three types of accommodations which are the villa There are many activities to get in touch with nature because there is the beautiful Lake Kawaguchiko and there are many forests that you can explore ▶Official Website: https://en.gv-hanz.jp/ In the following article, we have compiled information on various types of accommodations in Japan, including hotels and traditional Ryokan. With our Japan Accommodation Guide find the perfect lodging experience for you I hope this article has sparked your interest and made you consider looking at some of these glamping sites in Japan If you enjoyed this article and want more information about Japanese nature locations be sure to check the following articles as well