Hinohara, Tokyo

Hinohara is the only "village of Tokyo" on the main island of Honshu, a forestry village whose hamlets line the Minami-Akigawa and Kita-Akigawa rivers. Ringed by steep peaks, gorges and rich woodland such as the Hinohara Tomin-no-Mori forest, it retains strong old-village ties. Here you can start from a trial stay and join village life while renovating a fixer-upper vacant home by hand.