[Now Open] — OTOKAERI: Come Home to Yourself in a Kagoshima Forest, Summer 2026

Experience · OTOKAERI — June 8, 2026

OTOKAERI — A Sound Bath Retreat in the Forests of Kagoshima, Summer 2026

This summer, ONTSUBU LLC opens OTOKAERI — a three-day retreat in the forests of Kagoshima, designed as a time to return to yourself through sound. The name combines the Japanese words for “sound” (oto) and “welcome home” (okaeri): a homecoming, by way of listening.

At its heart is a simple idea drawn from ONTSUBU’s research — that music does not merely heal us; it returns us to ourselves. The retreat is built around “Ma,” the Japanese concept of meaningful space — not silence, but the rich, relational space between sounds.

The Place — A House of “Acoustic Aging” Timber

The venue is a house built from “Acoustic Aging®” timber — southern-Kyushu cedar dried at room temperature while classical music, including Bach, is played to it. Wood that has quietly listened to music for years creates a naturally resonant space. Here, you simply immerse yourself in sound. The facility is provided in partnership with Kaiken Corporation.

The Acoustic Aging® timber house and its special tea room.

The Sound — Composed by Miyuki Tani

The music for OTOKAERI is composed by Miyuki Tani, FRSA (ONTSUBU LLC) — a professional drummer, composer, and arranger who is also a licensed Professional Engineer (the Japanese national Gijutsushi qualification). For her, music became family at the age of nine.

Over seventeen years, she has performed alongside some of the world’s leading musicians, keeping rhythm before audiences of more than 100,000 people across roughly 100 countries. That rare combination — a performer’s intuition and an engineer’s precision — is what shapes the sound you’ll experience here.

Three Kinds of “Ma”

Over three unhurried days, you spend time with three kinds of space within yourself:

• The space of the heart — facing yourself in the forest, through walks and journaling.
• The space of time — an unhurried schedule, forest baths, and special tea.
• The space of breath — two 60-minute sound bath sessions, morning and evening, in the resonant tea room.

Inside the Acoustic Aging® timber house.

Sessions — Summer 2026

Full details — pricing, what’s included, access, and reservations — are available on the Experiences page. (Page in Japanese.)