An in-depth talk with guest Rie Jatani from Tami guest house in Yurihama, Tottori Prefecture

Being discerning, even if it takes longer or is more difficult; not budging on a particular point; wanting a fresh perspective. A place rooted in insistence on something to the point of being awkward can sometimes have a potent appeal, attracting people and events.

Guest house Tami in the town of Yurihama in the Tohaku district of Tottori Prefecture is one of these places. It’s many unique projects have included a ban on photography and “pay what you want” accommodation. You have no idea what sort of lodging it is until you go there. Recently, the number of migrants has increased as a result of staying at Tami, generating new social and commercial activities and shops/businesses.

Tami guest house co-founder Rie Jatani is originally from Osaka Prefecture. After being involved in art projects in Osaka, she launched the Kajiko guest house-based project in Okayama in 2010, together with Kotaro Miyake. Since moving to Tottori she has lived in former fisherman’s cottage Ukabu, an experience which germinated the Tami project. The project is founded on an unfailing and powerful sense of discernment.

Rie Jatani believes that travel and life ought to be simpler. The message of the Tami project is encapsulated in the ideas and practices cultivated there over a decade or so. What are Jatani’s thoughts on society, culture and the creation of a place like Tami? What interests her these days?

Tokyo Artpoint Project has been in business for 10 years. We would like to lend our ears to a practitioner who has spent the same decade in a different region, finding the way to her own unique enterprise. Because we live in Tokyo where everything travels at such a dizzying speed, why not ponder a vision generated by a long period of vacillation and repeated trial and error?