Welcome to Ōmishima! Benton Guesthouse is a former abandoned 'akiya' lovingly renovated into our Shōwa-era rental. Our house is furnished 'natsukashii' nostalgic style, conveniently located in the middle of the Shimanami Kaido island chain. Our guesthouse is a true Shōwa-era style countryside home. Built in 1953 with traditional Japanese joinery, this house was formerly an 'akiya' abandoned for 10 years. Many of the antique belongings were carefully restored and used to decorate this house. We hope guests will enjoy stepping back in time. PRIVATE RENTAL HOUSE: We only rent to one group of guests at a time. There are no "shared spaces". You have private access to all living spaces: 1 Western-style bedroom suite, 2 Japanese-style bedrooms, living room, full kitchen, office, bathroom (toilet room, laundry room, shower room), 'doma' entrance room, and traditional 'engwa'. BEDROOM: Western-Style Bedroom Suite (Downstairs): Sleeps 2 in a 'double' size western-style bed. The bed area can be closed off from the sitting area, using the vintage shoji screen doors. YES, air conditioning. BEDROOM: Japanese-Style Bedroom Suite (Downstairs): Sleeps 4 on Japanese floor mats, with new tatami mat flooring. This room is next to the 'engawa' sunroom. YES, air conditioning. BEDROOM: Japanese-Style Bedroom (Upstairs): Sleeps 4 on Japanese floor mats with new tatami mat flooring. Large wooden windows can be opened for a breeze. YES, air conditioning. HEATING: For the winter, we have electric and kerosene heaters, plus a cozy 'kotatsu' heated table, 'hanten' house jackets, and blankets. COOLING: For the summer, we have air conditioning in all bedrooms and the living room. The other rooms are cooled by electric fan, or windows (with mosquito screens installed) KITCHEN: 2-burner stovetop, toaster, cookware, dishes, glasses, silverware, refrigerator, rice cooker, blender, Keurig coffee maker, instant hot water kettle, with complimentary coffee pods and tea bags. NO microwave.

We’re Evan & Dani Benton. We're from the US; we both grew up in Oregon, then lived in Louisiana, then Mexico. Now we've re-planted our roots permanently on Ōmishima island, in rural Japan. We're able to live in Japan as two foreigners thanks to the Startup & Business Manager visa, which is based entirely on the success of our small business, Benton Homestead: honeybees, guesthouse, and natural farm. We're also renovating our own house, a former ryokan abandoned for 40 years! You can follow along every step of the way! We encourage you to visit our YouTube channel (Benton Homestead Japan) so you can see the love and hard work we've poured into this house. To be very clear: the whole guesthouse is your private space; there are no "shared spaces". We're attentive hosts, but we do not live on-site. Our house is just down the street, so we're easily available when needed. We enjoy meeting guests, and have a lot of love for Ōmishima and the surrounding area, so we're happy to answer questions!

The Kamiura-cho Inokuchi neighborhood is located on the east side of Ōmishima island. It's near both bridges, which makes it very conveniently located for guests traveling the Shimanami Kaido, by bicycle or by car.