Located on the shores of Lake Toro in Kushiro-shitsugen National Park, this area is registered under the Ramsar Convention and allows visitors to live surrounded by beautiful nature. This time, we'll be introducing "THE GEEK," a unique facility that combines a sauna and a craft hostel, located just a minute's walk from Toro Station.

Touro Station is about 30 minutes from Kushiro Station on the JR Senmo Line. From there, craft hostel "THE GEEK" is located on a small hill, just a 1-minute walk away.

The facility opened in 2020. Owner Keisuke Tatsukawa, who was born in Hyogo Prefecture and raised in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, fell in love with the area at first sight when he visited Toro. Wanting to convey the charm of the area through "creating a space," he renovated a former youth hostel and launched "Craft Hostel."

The term "craft hostel" may not be familiar to many people, but it embodies the owner Tatsuya's vision: "Just like craft beer, which is made by small breweries using traditional methods and unique recipes, I want to create a hostel that values the creation of the space and where you can see the faces of the people who create it."

The Kushiro Marsh can be seen from the window. The beautiful scenery spreads out before you, like a picture frame.

The original experience that led Tatsukawa to develop an interest in creating spaces was an incident that occurred when he visited the Ace Hotel in Portland while studying abroad in the United States as a university student.

Local elderly couples, members of the LGBTQ community, students, tourists from Europe and the United States with social status such as "presidents," and people of different religions all gathered together, accepting each other's differences as a matter of course, and before you know it, everyone there was having a great time. Tatsukawa says he still vividly remembers the surprise and excitement he felt when he witnessed such a scene.

He returned to Japan with the desire to "one day create a space like this in Japan," and after several years he created "THE GEEK."

Once you pass through the entrance to "THE GEEK," which is filled with Tatsukawa's thoughts and dedication, you will find a chill lounge exclusively for guests. It is a homely space where visitors can relax in their own way.

In addition to the cafe menu and alcoholic beverages, including Akkeshi Whisky, which was awarded the highest award at an international tasting competition, this lounge space also offers simple course meals made with local ingredients, from appetizers to main courses and desserts, creating a space where you can enjoy cuisine unique to this region.

They also serve dishes made with cheese, milk, butter, yogurt, and other ingredients from Shibecha, Japan's leading dairy town.

Akkeshi Whisky has been brewed since 2016 using traditional Scottish methods.

We also recommend authentic Irish coffee made with carefully selected raw beans, as well as coffee cocktails such as mint mojito latte and Irish whiskey latte.

The second floor has three types of guest rooms: the "Marsh Room" with a panoramic view of the Kushiro Marsh, the "Japanese-style Room," and the "Dormitory Room." This room can accommodate a variety of accommodation styles, from those who want to relax in a private room to those who want to share the same space with people they meet on their travels.

On a clear day, you can sometimes see Mount Akan Fuji and Mount Meo Akan from the "Wetland Room."

A Japanese-style room with tatami mats

The custom-made beds in the dormitory rooms are separated by curtains, and each bed has a light and power outlet at its head.

The water that flows from the taps in the guest rooms is taken from the Nishibetsu River, an underground water source of Lake Mashu, which boasts the clearest water quality in Japan. Tasting this natural water, which is only available to the 7,000 residents of Shibecha Town, is a rare experience.

Tatsukawa's attention to detail doesn't end with the facility itself. The activities that take advantage of the resort's location within a national park are also packed with the charm of something unique to this area.

First, canoeing. The area where "THE GEEK" is located is actually known as a "canoe mecca," and many of the canoe courses overlooking the Kushiro Wetlands apparently start from Lake Toro. Starting from Lake Toro, you can travel along the Arekinai River, which then joins the Kushiro River. The road meanders slowly through the marshland, heading towards Kushiro Port, offering a mystical view that will remain deeply etched in your memory.

Also, given Shibecha's history as a horse breeding area that supplied horses for military use during the Meiji era, "horse trekking" is included as one of the activities. Furthermore, the trekking course at Heart Ranch, a horse tourist ranch with which THE GEEK is affiliated, is spread across a vast area of 590,000 square meters, the size of 10 Tokyo Domes. With a variety of courses to choose from, it's a place you can enjoy no matter how many times you visit.

Other attractions include cheese fondue, made with cheese from the Okhotsk region, one of Japan's leading dairy farming regions, and smelt fishing, which involves digging a hole in a frozen lake in winter. All of these are experiences that you absolutely must have in this area.

The nearby town of Okoppe is the only place in Japan that produces Gruyere Emmental cheese, known as the "King of Cheeses" in Switzerland.

"Ice Lake Camp" on the frozen Lake Toro. This activity is only available for a few months a year when the lake is frozen.

There are many other activities available as well. If you want to know which activities suit your interests, it might be a good idea to ask the staff at "THE GEEK."

You can enjoy authentic loyly in the sauna room, which has a wood-burning stove modeled after a locomotive.

Of the many activities available, Tatsukawa is particularly fond of the sauna. In fact, when he first opened the hostel, he included it as a highlight to attract visitors.

The sight of a steam locomotive running through the snowy fields is breathtaking

While walking around the area with the thought, "If I'm going to build a sauna, I want to offer an experience that can only be found in this area," I noticed that it was the only place in Hokkaido where a steam locomotive (SL) passes through. When I promoted it as "a sauna where you can watch a steam locomotive while bathing in the open air," it became so popular that tourists, including those from overseas, started to call it the "SL sauna."

Beyond the pier-style wooden deck is the shade of a birch tree and a cold bath.

The sauna itself is also unique in that it can be enjoyed in a climate similar to that of Finland, the home of saunas, with temperatures exceeding 30°C for several days in the summer and temperatures dropping below -20°C in the winter.The cold bath uses underground water from Lake Mashu, the clearest in Japan.

THE GEEK is filled with a wide variety of unique features, including facilities and activities, but the underlying philosophy remains consistent.

"I hope that 'THE GEEK' will be an opportunity for people to experience the history and culture of this area," says Tatsukawa. For those who want to learn more about the Toro area and Kushiro Wetlands, starting with the fun and comfort of the area, 'THE GEEK' will be the perfect guide.