Nori showing off our new sign in Matsuyama right before opening in early 2012
Some birthdays are bigger than others! Sen Guesthouse (in its 2 iterations) has reached the bright age of 10…and what a decade it has been.
Our mixed dorm in Matsuyama
It all started with an idea to form a place where travelers from all over the world could meet, enjoy life, share ideas and yes, do a bit of partying. We originally chose Matsuyama because, besides from being just a wonderful city, it sits right on the 88 temple pilgrimage and one of our missions was to become a sort of hub for foriegn walkers of the pilgrimage.
The 3rd year anniversary party!
Our time in Matsuyama was filled with friends, fun, events, lots of traveling and hosting lots of travelers. I’m happy to say we were one of the highest rated accommodations in all of Matsuyama and I do believe we did help influence the growth in popularity in non-Japanese O-henro.
The stairs up to the guesthouse in all their glory…
All things must end, and we felt that our Matsuyama Sen Guesthouse had accomplished what we had set out to do and we were in need of a new adventure. We also had a wonderful little baby girl around this time and we wanted the chance to raise her in the countryside. So, in 2018 we packed up our life and belongings and moved to Shodoshima where we opened a new guesthouse and begun a very different sort of life and a very different sort of guesthouse.
Our mission is the same, but with a renewed balance where we now favor a bit more relaxation and peace that matches our beautiful environment here in Shodoshima. Our new property is on the ocean, nestled in the forest, and the people we host here can hopefully leave with a sense of this unique environment.
Walking dual language Shodoshima 88 pilgrimage map
Our passion for the 88 temple pilgrimage is not diminished at all, in fact we are committed as ever - Shodoshima has it’s own 88 pilgrimage. We, along with Matsushita-san, have made the first ever dual language (English/Japanese) walking guide map of the islands temples and the route which has been very well received.
Nothing better than frolicking on the beach!
Then comes 2020 and Covid-19 makes its grand debut disrupting everything, especially the tourism industry; and for a guesthouse pitting it’s survival on hosting foreigners, it was quite the shock. Luckily our little island was spared the worst of it, and we were able to actually spend more time with our wonderful friends on the island who were also forced to close their independent businesses.
Me and Masaya (mamemame beer) cutting it up at the beer house.
Two of these are Masaya and Fumi of mamemame beer, who, with along being producers of wonderful beer, are very supportive of the local community. Being the beer geek that I am, we hit it off from the beginning: we collaborated on some tasty brews and became good friends. Like many people during this trying time, we decided to do a bit of pivoting, and with a bit of Covid government support, we opened up a beach side “yatai”, which we are calling Sen beer house, in 2021.
Beer house 2021
This new venture has breathed new energy into our lives, it has let me personally explore beer on a more substantial level- thanks to mamemame letting me brew my beer at their brewery. It has also led us to interact way more with the local community, something that can be lacking when you run an accommodation which naturally focuses on customers from off island. We are serving food, which has opened up some culinary avenues for me also, along with having friends cater the yatai on some evenings.
Sen Guesthouse 1st floor common space
These last 10 years have been the best of our lives, I’m proud of us for all that we have achieved and can’t wait to see where the next 10 or 30 year takes us. We could not have done this without the support of our friends and family, we are truly blessed to have so many people in our lives that believe in us and what we are doing.
