Yoshino, Nara (奈良県吉野町) – NEOLD Private House (ネオールド プライベートハウス) property & house tour 2024 May 29
[Applause] [Music] we are at a very interesting place this is a Nar prefecture but not the typical tourism Nara um Nar is a huge prefecture and this is an area called Yoshino which is a uh um well known for its Cherry Sakura cherry blossoms often um considered the top um cherry blossom View spot of all of Japan depending on who you ask also there’s a several UNESCO world heritage sites in Yoshino Mount Yoshino area and so this is a called ne ne old new and old but in they said it’s pronounced NE old and so it’s a private house meaning that it’s one group of guests per night and uh we have our uh helpers here you here you can stay just as a regular guest in like a Doan Japanese Inn but you can also have a lot of different experiences um like uh dress like a Shogun and be served and treated like a Shogun like the TV show they also have many activities like tea ceremony and um Sutra writing um they have private performances from uh gisha or um uh like No And and Kabuki theaters all kinds of things you could seat up to you know U 14 guests can stay at any given time up to it but uh you can it could just be you and your friends and your loved ones and so anyways this is the no stage this entire place is again for one group of guests and so this is the main building and we’ll take a look here but again Mount Yoshino area is extremely picturesque there’s famous historic temples and shrines in the area and uh again the cherry blossoms viewing is second to none it’s uh about 90 minutes from Osaka so not too far and so here’s the private house and uh this is uh the reception or it’s not really a reception because you know once you’re here it’s all yours anyways you can see this is the uh irodi Hearth and she is preparing dinner for us um this is a armor for uh a famous uh General from over a thousand years ago Minot yosun a replica of it as well as various uh weapons that were used so before we go into the other rooms I don’t even know so so anyways what we’re doing here is we have an experience where I am the Shogun and and uh she is the uh Princess um again there’s ninja experiences where you could uh learn how to you know throw shoi in and um you know actually learn how to do it and they’ll even film you this is the uh the uh counter dining area um this is mainly for breakfast or for large group of guests um and then if you go over here this is the uh men’s urinal and this is well and this is basically the men’s bathroom and then over here is the women’s bathroom or anyways who whoever wants to use it but this is the second bathroom um and then I don’t think there’s anything here here there’s a lot of secret Pathways here so it’s kind of hard to remember everything that was explained anyway so this is the uh the open parth they call it eodi and then uh let’s go this way oh so this uh nailed it was a coma means a old farmhouse that they Acquired and then they Beau y restored and modernized um and it uh opened in uh during co uh in early 2021 originally intended for foreigners who are japanophiles or who want to really get a taste of uh kind of the old Japan experience and um but for the last few years they say it’s about 50/50 between Japanese and uh foreigners so you can stay just by um um you know uh staying in the room and having a meal breakfast dinner half board or um no board intricate uh rock walls from the original Kinka beautifully preserved but then you can do all the add-on experiences here this is the uh the shower area I don’t know what’s over here no there’s nothing there all right turn [Music] around and then uh this is a conference room so if you for large groups of guests if you want to work you got a conference room with a big screen fast Wi-Fi power um everything you need to have a meeting or even a virtual meeting here so then I think this is where it came from if I’m not mistaken yep okay so let’s go upstairs so anyways there’s there’s all kinds of things that they they will actually invite um world class um you know Japanese uh shami string instrument performers um kabi performers um sorry I’m wearing a feudal outfit and it’s hard to kind of walk up and down these steps um so any if you go to NE e o d. co.jp you can see all the different activities that they have so this is a this was a storage room in the old Kinka um Farmhouse and they kept the you see the the the rocks or the walls mud bricks from the original walls are still well preserved so this is used as a little t- room or as a you can you can they can just have tatami um futons futon in this tatami mat so you can have you know people sleep here right coming down uh where did I come from I’m where do I need to go okay so all right and uh which way now uh let’s go up this way I don’t think I’ve been up this way sorry this Shogun outfit is causing me fits yeah you can see like the wooden beams here are originals from the when it was a farmhouse so they really only um they kept the foundation and they only did what they needed to do while preserving the look and feel so this is a another tatami room where they can pull out put out futons these are just large bean bag chairs for people who don’t want to sit in the floor and then this is this is a a bed and then over here so this is where we came from over here you have interesting a small opening and there another bedroom and a desk so you can see that um basically if you want to crme as many people as you want cram in here they’re you’re more than welcome to do so so they said probably about 14 people it could comfortably um house but you know I I I don’t know if they can deal with like 20 but um they they charge per person at least in terms of staying here as well as per person for the meals and then up here you have a viewing de ah nice it’s really comfortable today it’s about 70° beautiful outside the uh no theater stage that you can see live performances from if you choose to do so you can see the countryside all around these are kind of remnants of a a samurai style Japanese roof that’s uh lacquered anyway something you can do to pass the time and then they mentioned that um it when the rainy season starts hitting around June um there’s a lot of fireflies in the area so they’ll they’ll take you on Firefly hotaru they call them in Japanese viewings all right so let me tell you what we what we’re doing here so we we are um here there’s what’s called this oh there’s another one see earlier I showed you the dining area with the counter dining so this is kind of like I guess for for westerners this is equivalent of like remember um I think it was Batman and Robin the liveaction original show where they went down the shoot to their Batmobile well here ninjas often went up and down poles as a either you know as a way to escape so this is a one example of that so you probably want to keep it close so you don’t inadvertently fall off okay and then there’s supposed to be a bath bathing area um let me see if I can find it right and H cuz uh H I wonder if the I don’t think the bathing area is I think it’s no this is the end of the bedroom sorry so what we’re doing is What’s called the Shogun experience we’re actually the first guests that are doing it so I don’t know really what to expect um the main thing is they’re actually going to film a video segment of a Shogun battle um and uh I will be the the protagonist and there will be other uh obviously characters in the filming and where of course I will prevail and uh and so oh this is a secret door so you push here ahuh here’s the here’s the oh no I think I already showed this this is the shower area okay there’s a place where you go downstairs but I don’t remember where it went um FR is it here no it’s not there there is a place that goes somewhere and I don’t remember where it goes ah so oh yeah yeah yeah so this is the bathing area you see there’s towels there’s a Sam which are kind of loungewear and here is a shower area to wash and then this is a bath they it’s not onen there is no onen hot springs available in this area at least naturally and so they’ll but they’ll fill up this bath on demand um you probably want to give him a little bit of heads up since it’s a pretty large bath anyways so to prevent the bugs from flying in I’ll just shut this there’s one other room that goes in the basement which trying to remember where it was uh so see my [Applause] all right and uh so you go this way and uh yes so so what I didn’t show you is there’s a second structure so this is a secondary room another room um for other for for your friends or family or whoever um there’s a bathroom here there’s a bedroom here um this is also the changing room that is being used in The Powder Room for our Shogun and ninja experience that we’re going to have so um anyway so this is this is that and then we are going to go okay and then down this way so you go down this way all right I’m trying to put on my slippers okay so let’s go down to the last place to show and it looks like I’m going down to some prison like a dungeon but it’s actually not so this is kind of a a lounge in a bar area this is a storehouse um for the for the Farmhouse really nice place where you can hang out this is uh looks like a kind of a an old TV but actually it’s a new TV but designed to look old there’s a Nintendo old Nintendo game system hooked up and uh yeah so this is this is a nailed um private house so we’re what I’m doing here is um we’re doing what’s called the Shogun experience and uh we’re uh we’re met by our our vassals we have servants we have uh um uh you know ninjas to protect us and and others and then uh we were’re dressed up already as a samurai or a Shogun I am and and Mrs is dressed as uh the shogun’s princess so the next day they’re going to do a filming where I want to be in a fight battle scene when we’re under attack and of course I Prevail so that’s uh but there’s different types of experiences you can do one as a ninja um there’s a all kinds of things kind of blanking out because this is a really long video if you’re still watching this I’m I’m really impressed with you um but again there’s Kabuki performances no uh play performances there’s U musical performances like traditional Japanese ones there’s a um uh Sutra writing uh there’s you know calligraphy um you can have a flower arrangement you know pottery making and Ceramics courses um you know there’s uh all kinds of things cultural activities and so you know uh it’s it’s potentially a place that you can stay more than once in Yoshino Nara hope you enjoyed
NEOLD Private House (ネオールド プライベートハウス, http://www.neold.co.jp) is a luxury ryokan located in historic Yoshino, Nara Prefecture, which is less than 2 hours by car from Osaka. NEOLD only accepts one group of guests per stay in an effort to provide a bespoke experience for its customers. There is no set limit on the group size, although management said up to (about) 10 people can comfortably spend time together at NEOLD Private House.
While guests can certainly take advantage of NEOLD as a place to stay, the ryokan’s true calling card is in the variety of experiences that it offers. This includes Geisha/Maiko interactions, tea ceremony, Noh (traditional Japanese theater) / Kyogen (a comedic form of Noh) / Tezuma (traditional Japanese magic) performances, Shaminsen (traditional string instrument), Ninja and Samurai training and cosplay, “Himesama” (Princess) cosplay, Calligraphy, Cooking classes and even fishing excursions on the Yoshino River (followed by a BBQ of the freshly-caught fish.) NEOLD even offers an opportunity to fulfill one’s dream of becoming a Shogun or Ninja – there are various options, such as the ability to dress up as a Lord (and his Princess) or Ninja, and even be filmed engaging in a short battle sequence.
As part of the optional Shogun Experience (将軍体験), we were given a Lord’s welcome and even got to dress up as a Shogun and Princess. Here is the battle action scene that was choreographed during our time at NEOLD: https://youtu.be/p9agktpxOzU