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The "Oshi" Fandom Retreat: Whole-House Stays Where You Can Host a Screening
A night away with friends who share the same oshi (the performer you support) is known in fan circles as an “oshi-katsu retreat,” a getaway devoted to fan activities. The program is always the same: a marathon screening of live concert footage, replays of that one unforgettable show, a first watch of the new album or release together. And slotted between screenings, conversations that run longer than the footage itself.
This kind of retreat is hard to pull off at a hotel. You can’t turn up the volume, cheering out loud is out of the question, and the screen is small. A karaoke box runs on the clock. What you need is a big screen, walls you don’t have to worry about, and time until morning. In other words, a whole-house rental with a projector or a theater.
Here is the blueprint. On arrival, check your connections first (HDMI or mirroring? Bringing your own playback device and cables is the safe bet). For dinner, shop ahead for things you can snack on while the show plays. During the main screening, penlights in hand, cheer out loud as much as you like. For the late-night session, lower the volume and shift into talk. The next morning, play an afterglow playlist while you check out. This whole sequence is allowed only because it is a private rental, with no strangers on the other side of the wall.
The name says it all: THEATER1, Hinohara Village
A whole-house rental tucked into the panoramic view of the Sengen Ridge in Hinohara Village, Tokyo. It has a 100-inch theater, plus an open-air wood-fired bath and an outdoor sauna to enjoy. From the name alone, this is a house that seems to exist for screenings. Deep in the mountains, sound is no concern either. A soak in the open-air wood-fired bath between acts makes for a rather cultured sort of retreat.
100 inches in every room, by the sea: OCEAN’S TERRACE Shibagaki
Oceanfront glamping facing the Sea of Japan, five seconds on foot from the beach. Every one of its large dome tents, the first of their kind in Hokuriku, comes with a private 100-inch theater, and some units add a private open-air bath or barrel sauna. Watch the sun sink into the horizon in the evening; once it sets, the dome turns into a screening room. With BBQ featuring Hida beef and live abalone, it also makes a fine after-party for fans who traveled far for the show.
A projector and a sauna in Kujukuri: THE SECOND, Kujukuri
A whole-house villa in Ichinomiya on the Kujukuri coast. It has a projector, a Finnish sauna and a cold plunge bath on the wood deck, and free rentals including a gas grill for BBQ. Burn off the heat of the screening in the sauna, and take the talk to the open-air cooldown on the deck. Conversations about your oshi go even deeper with a sauna-cleared head.
A place where your “love” can go full volume
In everyday life, the passion of fandom lives with its volume turned down, little by little. A retreat a few times a year is the day the limiter comes off. Your oshi on a big screen, friends burning at the same temperature, and time until morning. A whole-house rental quietly allows all of it.
Stays in this article
OkutamaTokyo
THEATER1(シアターワン)檜原村
A villa letting 5,000 tsubo of forest at 600 m in Hinohara Village. Alongside an open-air wood-fired bath, an outdoor sauna and a fire pit, it has a 100-inch 4K projector and 7.1-channel theatre sound.
KujukuriChiba
THE SECOND Kujukuri Beach House
A four-bedroom whole-house beach house three minutes on foot from the Kujukuri shore. A Finnish sauna and cold bath sit on the wooden deck, with room to cool off outdoors. Dogs are welcome.