About mont | mont

Surrounded by snow-covered mountains, Nozawa Onsen rests on land shaped by time.
Beech forests quietly store water—a gift from the sky—within the earth.

As snow melts, it returns to the surface as hot spring water.
The same beech trees become the yagura towers that hold fire
during the winter Dosojin Festival.

From the mountains, water is born.
From the same source, fire is lit.
All things move in cycles, and in time, return to the forest.

mont is a restored century-old building,
born within this flow.

Wrapped in the warmth of fire and the stillness of snow,
surrounded by water and the scent of wood,
this is a place where people and nature quietly become one again.

Fire is lit, hot springs are shared, and blessings are passed on.
This village has long lived alongside the mountains.

The waters that rise from the earth are shared by all,
protected as thirteen public bathhouses.
Wild greens and Nozawana arrive with the seasons,
quietly enjoyed together.

Prayers become festivals.
People gather, prepare, and share fire—
a way of life rooted in nature,
still alive in this village today.

Snow and rain fall into the ancient beech forests,
slowly soaking into the earth over decades.
They return as water, as hot springs,
rising quietly back to the surface.

In winter, people glide over snow,
then rest their bodies in hot springs.
In summer, forest paths lead to the still surface of Lake Hokuryu,
where time is spent in quiet connection with water.

Warming the body,
drifting on the lake—
all are extensions of water’s gift.