Kazushi Sato, 63, is the owner of Tsurunoyu Onsen, a hot-spring ryokan (traditional Japanese inn) in Akita Prefecture. Nestled within beech woods deep in the mountains, Tsurunoyu is surrounded by natural beauty — bears wander freely, feasting on mountain grapes, and edible wild mushrooms grow in enough abundance for Sato to pick them to serve at dinner. The ryokan's traditional wooden buildings date back more than 100 years, and were carefully restored by Sato and his wife 30 years ago when they took over the establishment, but the ryokan's history goes back further. It welcomed its very first guests in 1650. Between taking dips in the milky onsen waters, guests stroll among oil-lamp-lit thatched buildings and savor local dishes cooked in an irori (sunken hearth). It's a relaxing experience that the Satos take pride in, and Tsurunoyu has been ranked many times as Japan's most beautiful hot-spring resort. On a special Fuji Television program in 1998 about Japan's top 100 ryokan, it was voted as number one for its location, its architecture and its service. In 2008, it was made a Registered Cultural Property by the national government, and a year later it was awarded five stars by the travel publication Kanko Keizai Shinbun. Fame has not gone to the Satos' heads, however — the couple still humbly run around the grounds, keeping it clean and serving their guests.

Thanks to my wife, we have succeeded. No matter how tough life was, she stayed strong. We climbed the mountains every day to look for mushrooms and sansai (mountain vegetables) to serve our guests. We did this not only because such vegetables are delicious and local, but also because they were free. Back then, we experienced years when we wouldn't see a guest for six months. But my wife kept on picking and smiling every day.

Nature is perfect; all we need to do is copy her. The Japanese carpenters who built the Horyu-ji Temple in Nara Prefecture — the world's oldest surviving wooden structure, dating back to 607 — understood wood expansion and shrinking, which they considered when engineering the building's construction. In the forest, the side of a tree that faces north is always the strongest, so when they built the temple they used the wood that faced north on the temple's northern side. No wonder it's still standing tall.