A new boutique hotel called mont has opened on the main street of Nozawa Onsen Village, Nagano Prefecture. The facility opened on Monday, January 19, 2026, in a fully renovated 100-year-old former inn.
Official website: https://mont-nozawaonsen.com/
Official Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mont_nozawaonsen/
Background: A Regeneration Project Connecting Village Memories to the Future
Nozawa Onsen Kikaku Co., Ltd. was established as a joint venture between the local community and external partners with the mission to "sustainably pass on the culture and nature of Nozawa Onsen to the next generation." Following MusicBar GURUGURU, a hub for music and interaction, and Nozawa Onsen Lodge, which preserves a renowned architectural work by Takamasa Yoshizaka, mont is the company's third regeneration project in the village. The 100-year-old wooden inn, which once welcomed many travelers at the heart of the village, had become vacant. The project preserved the building's historical value—its structure, staircase, and exterior—while incorporating the comfort and design sensibilities desired by modern travelers. Rather than just a place to stay, mont has been revived as a cultural hub for the village.
Concept: A Place Where Mountain Blessings Circulate and Converge
Located in the center of Nozawa Onsen Village surrounded by snow-capped mountains, mont's concept for regenerating this 100-year-old former inn is "circulation"—the cycles that sustain life in this land.
"A place where mountain blessings circulate and converge. Where fire and stillness are born."
In Nozawa Onsen, surrounded by snow-capped mountains, beech forests thrive on the land, quietly storing water—a blessing from the heavens. The snow that blankets the mountains melts and eventually returns to the earth's surface as hot springs. The beech trees become the wooden towers that light the sacred fires during the winter Dososhin Festival. The mountain's blessings create water, and the same blessings kindle fire. Everything circulates and eventually returns to the forest.
The inn mont, born from regenerating a century-old building, exists within this cycle. Wrapped in the warmth of fire and the silence of snow, the fragrance of water and wood, guests can spend time here where people and nature reunite as one.
The mont Experience
The people of this village have long lived alongside the mountain's blessings. The flowing hot springs are shared through 13 public bathhouses, wild vegetables and nozawana greens grace seasonal dining tables, and wishes for bountiful harvests and safety unite the community through the fires of the Dososhin Festival. mont serves as a gateway to "village life coexisting with mountain blessings."
1. Wood-Fired Restaurant Celebrating the Cycle of Fire
The first-floor main dining room features a wood-fired griller reminiscent of beech forests and festival fires. Guests can enjoy Shinshu meats and vegetables—ingredients with traceable producers—prepared simply yet boldly while watching the dancing flames. (22 seats total / open to non-hotel guests)
2. Guest Rooms Embodying Stillness and Water
All 10 guest rooms inherit the thick beams and earthen wall textures of the historic building, creating spaces to surrender to the snow country's silence and the passage of local time. Each room features different artwork inspired by earth, water, and prayer, allowing guests to encounter different aspects of Nozawa with each stay. Guests can enjoy Nozawa's spring water, local sake, and craft gin while experiencing the quiet moments where the village's nature and people intersect.
3. Locally Rooted Operations Team
Guests are welcomed by a team centered on local members and those who moved to the area, captivated by its charm.
The mont Logo
The facility name "mont" means "mountain" in French. It symbolizes a hotel representing Nozawa Onsen Village, where people live receiving the mountain's blessings, while also embodying the desire to serve as a gateway ("mon" meaning gate in Japanese) to the village's attractions. The logo combines the alphabet letters "mont" with mountains, water, fire, and tree rings that symbolize Nozawa Onsen.
mont Collaborators
Planning and Operations: Nozawa Onsen Kikaku Co., Ltd. / NEWLOCAL Inc.
Architectural Design: Norihisa Kawashima Architect & Associates
Construction: Nozawa Sogo Co., Ltd.
Interior Design: CLOCK Inc. / studio vandrer inc.
Woodwork: LOGGER WOODSUPPLY CO.
Furniture Production: In a Station
Planning and Opening Support: Staple Inc.
Art Direction: Misa Goto
Logo Design: omote
Photographer: Shota Nakayama
Comments from Architect Norihisa Kawashima
In this project, we updated an existing building that has harbored the town's memories at the center of Nozawa Onsen Village, respecting its existing character while adapting it to modern use. We conducted restoration surveys of existing drawings and organized legal compliance, bringing the building into conformity with current regulations while improving earthquake resistance, insulation performance, and equipment efficiency. We maintained the building's overall form and structure, limiting roof work to waterproofing renewal to preserve its character, while comprehensively updating the exterior walls and openings to create a protected thermal environment that remains comfortable even in deep winter snow, while maintaining a connection to the town. Establishing a safe, continuously usable framework and comfortable environment serves as the foundation for passing buildings on for long-term use, and we believe this approach can be applied to similar existing building stock in other regions.
Comments from General Manager Ai Ueda
mont is an accommodation where guests can experience village life in Nozawa Onsen.
Rather than existing solely for tourism, we want this to be a gateway for guests to quietly immerse themselves in the culture and history the village has cherished, and the flow of time connected to them. Gathering around fire, feeling water, savoring the passage of time. We hope this becomes a place where the distance between the village's deeply rooted nature and culture and our guests draws closer, allowing them to experience travel's margins. Many of our operations team members are migrants who moved here, drawn to this land. We want to carefully deliver the richness of Nozawa Onsen that we feel in our daily lives naturally, without exaggeration. We hope the time spent at mont becomes not just a travel memory, but a stay that lingers in guests' hearts, remembered in unexpected moments.
Facility Overview
Facility Name: mont
Address: 9521-1 Toyosato, Nozawa Onsen Village, Shimotakai District, Nagano Prefecture 389-2502
Access:
- By Train/Bus:
- Hokuriku Shinkansen: Tokyo Station to Iiyama Station (approximately 1 hour 50 minutes)
- Bus: Iiyama Station to Nozawa Onsen Central Terminal (approximately 30 minutes)
- By Car: Please use parking facilities within Nozawa Onsen Village
Opening Date: Monday, January 19, 2026
Guest Rooms: 10 total rooms (Queen 2 rooms / Twin 4 rooms / Double 4 rooms)
Facilities: 1F Restaurant (22 seats: open to non-hotel guests)
Operations: Nozawa Onsen Kikaku Co., Ltd.
Reservations
Accommodation Reservations: https://www.chillnn.com/198658d72122d1
Restaurant Reservations: https://www.tablecheck.com/ja/mont/reserve
