“Denpaku” is an accommodation venture based on Amami Islands that works on community development. The project’s goal is to preserve a village culture with a 750-year history while offering visitors authentic island time. At its centre is architect Yasuhiro Yamashita, a native of Amami. By carefully refurbishing vacant kominka (traditional Japanese houses) into lodgings and operating the community hub Magun Hiroba, the initiative creates comfortable stays that make guests feel as though they are living within the settlement.
Four accommodation styles—Denpaku Traditional House, Denpaku The Beachfront MIJORA, Denpaku Akakina Hotel, and Denpaku Dormitory&Laundry—offer guests different styles of stay, each connecting them to time, nature, people, and everyday life.
You can see many aspects of sustainability with Denpaku’s accommodations. Refurbishing century-old homes instead of building from scratch slashes embodied carbon (industry studies suggest a typical kominka makeover can avoid roughly 40 percent of the emissions generated by new construction), while also passing on Amami’s unique architectural features to future generations, including coral-stone walls, raised-floor construction and the typhoon-resistant “Hikimon” framework.
Furthermore, Denpaku’s experience programmes has a circular approach: by joining activities such as the Hachigatsu Odori (or “August Dance”) or cooking local dishes alongside village residents, visitors channel tourism revenue back into the community. This sparks a cycle that sustains its dialect, traditional crafts and everyday life.
External recognition also supports Denpaku’s approach towards sustainable tourism. Denpaku holds two Green Key eco-labels, verifying its water, waste and energy management, and its support helped Amagi Town secure a 2024 UN Tourism “Best Tourism Village” title. Booking a stay therefore does more than secure a room; it strengthens a living culture and an island economy determined to leave no one behind.
Denpaku’s sustainable efforts have earned external recognition, securing two Green Key international environmental certifications. Furthermore, with Denpaku’s support, Amagi Town on Tokunoshima was chosen as one of 2024 UN Tourism’s “Best Tourism Villages”. Booking a stay therefore does more than secure a room. You’d be strengthening a living culture and an island economy that is determined to leave no one behind.
Nature lovers will want to consider staying at the Denpaku The Beachfront MIJORA. The property is trial-running an on-site hybrid system that combines small-scale wind and solar power, and each villa comes with a food-waste compost bag whose contents feed the herb garden and the restaurant “2 waters,” which sources 85 percent of its ingredients locally. Amenities are made of bamboo instead of plastic, and only plant-based detergents are used for cleaning. Buildings clad in yakisugi (charred cedar) are kept to a single storey to preserve the landscape of the village and withstand typhoons. Be sure to check out the sunset cruise with “Denpaku Catamaran” too!
