1 week Ago By Kim Kahan
Picture it: quaint countryside scenery, Mount Fuji nearby, convenience stores, teishoku restaurants, people chattering pleasantly as they pass through the streets. Then add some artists, a few bars and a hip and happening art space. As a final touch, throw in a bit of mezcal, and the nondescript area turns into a bonafide destination.
This is Hokuto, in Yamanashi Prefecture, about two hours away from Tokyo by car. It’s become a thriving creative community in recent years — the sort of place you’ll happily drive a couple of hours to get to. Stay the night and explore Hokuto’s gorgeous nature while also soaking in its abundant cultural attractions: the best of both worlds.
Culture in the Countryside In 2023, I made the spontaneous decision to visit Hokuto, a rural city near Mount Fuji. I’d heard of the area, as it’s home to Mangosteen Hokuto , a complex that blends food, drinks and art. I was familiar with Mangosteen — a company specializing in food and alcohol and known for importing high-quality mezcal — through their eponymous liquor store-slash-bar-slash-deli in Tokyo’s Setagaya neighborhood.
Opened in 2022, Mangosteen Hokuto’s three main components are Mangosteen Brewing Lab, a craft beer brewery; a Chinese restaurant with dishes designed to go well with its brews; and a liquor store, at which you can purchase canned beer that’s brewed on-site as well as mezcal and natural wine. It also doubles as a bar and event space. Next door is Gasbon Metabolism , a multipurpose art facility operated by the Tokyo-based media company Gas As Interface.
It opened in the same year as Mangosteen Hokuto — a complete coincidence. Why Yamanashi, and why Hokuto? “I’d been visiting for close to 15 years ..
. and I’d always thought that it’d be the perfect place to start a brewery,” Daisuke Saito, the owner of Mangosteen, tells Tokyo Weekender . “When COVID happened and eating and drinking outside was put on hold, I figured that it was a good time to make it happen.
” The Mangosteen Hokuto branch was only supposed to be a brewery at first — a factory for the bar’s new craft beer line — but because it was so spacious, Saito and company decided to expand operations. They haven’t looked back since. A Growing Collection of Art Galleries in Hokuto Gasbon Metabolism is housed in an old factory, which Gas As Interface purchased in 2020.
Kouki Nishikawa, the manager of the facility, explains why they felt the need to do something different: “We had started to question if white cube galleries, like the ones springing up across Tokyo, were really the best place to showcase art,” he says. Entering the art space, it’s striking how much room there is. It feels almost like you’ve stumbled into a concrete warehouse, with its high ceilings, exposed interior and large rooms — worlds away from a compact gallery one might encounter in Tokyo.
(As a direct comparison, Gas As Interface also runs the delightful Calm & Punk Gallery in Tokyo. It’s tucked away near Aoyama Cemetery, in a tiny room with white walls.) The founders of Gasbon Metabolism aimed to create a space where making art is as important as exhibiting it.
It’s usually free to enter, and wandering around the gallery, you might happen upon art materials, old works by artists from the company’s roster, reference materials, stacks of art books and old posters and flyers from previous exhibitions. It’s the opposite of the smooth, pristine galleries found so often in Japan’s capital. Gasbon Metabolism isn’t the only noteworthy art space in Hokuto.
Kiyoharu Art Colony, a complex set on the site of a former elementary school, was established in 1981. Within its grounds, you’ll find unconventional art galleries like the Museum of the Light, designed by world-famous Japanese architect Tadao Ando, where the building itself is art. Next door, Stove, an award-winning restaurant in a quaint but stylish Japanese-style house, provides a striking contrast to the more imaginative architecture of the art colony.
A 15-minute drive away is the Nakamura Keith Haring Collection, which opened in 2007. The closeness of the two spaces means that visitors will often combine a visit to one with the other. Where To Eat in Hokuto: Gourmet Food With the Freshest Ingredients Adding to Hokuto’s appeal is its burgeoning gastronomic culture.
In addition to Stove and Mangosteen, there’s a notable newcomer in town: Koma , a vegetarian deli restaurant opened by Dawid Nowosadzki and Ayako Ono, who earlier this year moved to Hokuto from London, where they both served as head chefs at internationally renowned restaurants. Diners at Koma are treated to an Instagrammable array of gorgeously presented deli items. At the time of writing, its lunch plate costs ¥2,300 and offers three deli options alongside a choice of mains, which are made using Koma’s own soy meat.
Ingredients are seasonal, with an emphasis on organic and fresh. Ono, who was raised in Hokuto, felt drawn back to her hometown after her glittering career in the city. “I always wanted to return,” she tells TW.
“There are so many great organic farmers who know the craft of growing some of the best vegetables on the planet.” Opening in Hokuto makes it easy for Koma to deliver farm-to-table meals. “We are getting very seasonal, rare vegetables,” Ono explains with enthusiasm.
“Our menu can change a few times in one week.” It’s undeniable that Hokuto has seen some notable changes in the past few years. Everyone that we spoke to for this article said that they’ve noticed a shift in the community as more people move from urban areas.
Saito from Mangosteen notes that the creative community is growing: “Although I wouldn’t say that the city as a whole has changed, the locals often comment that there are a lot more creatives in the area. It definitely feels like the community is expanding.” Nishikawa from Gasbon Metabolism agrees: “Ten years ago, Hokuto felt like a typical rural area in Japan.
Now, it’s become more lively, and there are more cafés, restaurants and upscale hotels, with more interesting people visiting from Tokyo.” He advises any keen visitors to stay overnight in the area to experience it to the fullest. Koma’s Ono adds, “Hokuto has a lot to offer, starting from beautiful nature with mountain views, a peaceful and relaxing environment, clear water, many great restaurants, iconic traditional Japanese sweet shops, sake breweries, bakeries and so on.
If you are looking for a city escape to have a good, relaxing time, this is the place to be.” Related Posts This Record Shop and Art Gallery are Cultivating a Cultural Hub in Kansai Koganecho: A Former Red-Light District Turned Trendy Art Enclave Takigahara: Creating a Community in Rural Japan Related Posts.
