
Ask HN: Where is your #1 happy place, why and why not just move there? - octygen
Where? Tanigawadake Raspberry Youth Hostel. In the mountain valley town of Minakami, Gunma province, Japan you&#x27;ll find a strikingly orange building. It has an epic view of Mount Tanigawa (nicknamed &quot;The Mountain of Death&quot;), the rest of the mountain range and a small river. It&#x27;s ~2h north from Tokyo on mostly shinkansen.<p>Why? The views, the air but mostly the people. The man (Masatoshi-san) that runs it has an inspirational story where he quit his 8-to-midnight job in Tokyo and bought the hostel after a hike in the valley. He moved his family there and now he gives (free) daily tours of the region to every single person that visits driving them to all his &quot;secret places&quot;. The food at the small restaurants around is fantastic and it&#x27;s within easy driving distance to 10+ onsens (hot springs) including Takaragawa Onsen, one of the premier ones in Japan despite its remoteness. Over the years, I&#x27;ve met many people in that valley that just work remotely and have their kids go to the fantastic Buddhist mountain school nearby.<p>Why not move there? Visiting Japan is easy. Living in Japan seems daunting from a logistics, culture and language perspective. I live between Montreal and LA now.
======
TheRealSteel
Scotland. I did! I am lucky to have British citizenship via my mother (I'm
Australian) so I have the luxury of moving here. No regrets. Also typing this
from inside a hostel.

