Kaori was the absolute best host that we could have hoped for. We arrived in Narimasu quite late at night, around 10:30pm, with not really a clue of where to go after we got to the station. But Kaori had stayed up so late at night to greet us and walk us to our room, for which we were so very grateful.

She went to great lengths to provide us with breakfast, even on her days off, and every single breakfast was just as delicious as the last. Her cafe was so charming, filled with local artworks and a lunch menu that suited the theme (which we thought was very cool!)

The room was perfect for our needs and in a fantastic location, only minutes to the station. Narimasu is incredibly quiet despite being it's location, and the locals are so lovely.

On some days we had to leave the apartment quite early without breakfast, and because of this, Kaori felt she needed to make up for it in some way (we didn't feel like she owed us anything as we were perfectly happy), but she invited us to a charity musical event in her cafe and out to dinner with her family and friends. This made us feel so welcome and really made us feel a part of their community.

Kaori is our Japanese mother; she is so caring, funny, and helpful - when we mentioned places we wanted to visit, she would go off and gather as much information as she could find and present it to us the following day. She liked to contact us occasionally when we traveled far away from the place we can affectionately call our Japanese home to make sure we were alright, and sometimes throw in the odd pun.

All in all, we are unable to praise Kaori and the room enough. We miss you and Japan greatly, and look forward to seeing you again as soon as we can.

Kate and Calam