Set within a partially cleared portion of the site, the proposal carefully occupies land previously occupied by an existing building, allowing the surrounding landscape of Yakushima to remain largely untouched. The project begins with restraint, both in footprint and intervention, establishing a respectful relationship with an island defined by time, effort, and arrival.

Yakushima is not easily reached. Even with means, the journey requires patience: plane, boat, car, and finally foot. This deliberate effort becomes the conceptual foundation of the home. Rather than presenting itself all at once, the architecture unfolds gradually, rewarding movement with moments of discovery and wonder. The home is conceived not as an object placed in nature, but as a spiritual experience revealed through sequence.

The result is a home shaped as much by movement and anticipation as by form. Architecture becomes a companion to the journey itself: quiet, deliberate, and deeply tied to the act of arrival. This is Not A Hotel, it is an experience.

“I turned my inward eye upon myself, and from that time not a syllable fell from my lips until we reached the bottom again.”Francesco Petrarch, The Ascent of Mount Ventoux, 1336