Japan, Reimagined: Kohey Hara Guides Us to the Country’s Secret Sanctuaries

Japan has long captivated travelers with its quiet mysticism, deep reverence for nature, and healing traditions that have been refined over centuries. Yet for many Western seekers, these practices can feel beautifully enigmatic — understood more through sensation than explanation.

We were deeply honored to sit down with Kohey Hara, a visionary entrepreneur whose life bridges precision and intuition, global business and ancient wisdom. Born in Japan’s serene Setouchi region, a landscape of tranquil islands now emerging as a world-class wellness destination, Hara brings a rare perspective shaped by both analytical rigor and profound sensitivity to place.

After more than 25 years leading a pioneering animation company that connected Japanese culture with international audiences, he successfully exited the business to follow a deeper calling: reintroducing the world to Japan’s lesser-known healing landscapes. Today, he leads a transformative wellness retreat concept grounded in Zen principles, guiding travelers beyond the expected and into the hidden sanctuaries where nature, culture, and restoration quietly converge.

In this conversation, Hara offers a glimpse into the soul of Japanese wellness — revealing why the country’s most powerful healing experiences are often found far from the spotlight, in places where stillness becomes the teacher.

POH – Frank: When people think of Japan, they often imagine Kyoto, Tokyo, or Osaka. Beyond these famous places, which lesser-known regions do you feel carry especially strong healing energy—and what makes them so powerful?

Kohey Hara:  The places I find most restorative are those that remain untouched by mass tourism. Japan’s raw healing energy emerges most clearly in the quiet duality of the Setouchi (Seto Inland Sea) region and the Tohoku region of Northern Japan.

Setouchi is like a mirror to the inner world. Its calm inland sea, scattered with thousands of islands, forms a landscape of gentle repetition—soft horizons, steady light, and a rhythm that naturally stabilizes the heart. Time seems to slow here, inviting the body and mind to settle without effort.

In contrast, the north offers a different kind of restoration. Regions such as Appi Kogen and Matsushima are defined by vast skies, volcanic highlands, deep forests, and open bays shaped by wind and water over millennia. Nature here feels expansive and elemental—alive, but never demanding attention.

These landscapes are powerful precisely because they remain undisturbed. The silence is wide and breathable, the air clean and grounding. In this abundance of nature, the nervous system softens, thoughts quiet, and the body remembers how to return to its own natural rhythm.

POH – Frank: If you had to describe the core essence of healing in Japanese culture in just one sentence, what would it be? How is the Japanese approach to healing different from Western ideas of wellness, self-care, or therapy?

Kohey Hara: Japanese healing is not an addition of health, but a subtraction of the ego to return to our original, natural state. In the West, wellness is often a project—adding supplements, tracking data, or seeking external therapy to “fix” something. In Japan, we believe that beneath the noise of modern life, you are already complete. Our approach is about stripping away the “clutter” of titles and stress until only your true essence remains.

POH – Frank: In your experience, which landscapes in Japan feel most energetically alive—mountains, forests, islands, volcanoes, coastlines—and how do different landscapes affect people in different ways?

Kohey Hara: The high-altitude plateaus and mountains, such as those in Tohoku, offer a profound sense of liberation. Standing among white birch forests or gazing out from a volcanic peak, one’s perspective naturally shifts—from the small, personal concerns of daily life to a broader, more expansive view of existence.

In contrast, the coastlines and islands of Setouchi provide a different kind of healing through rhythm and grounding. The steady sound of the tides and the quiet resilience of the pine trees teach us about impermanence and gentle continuity. One landscape lifts us upward toward clarity; the other draws us downward toward peace.

POH – Frank: Who are the people that usually feel called to your retreats? What are they searching for when they come to Japan with you?

Kohey Hara: We welcome a diverse community of wellness-focused individuals. Many are travelers from the West—Europe, the US, and Australia—who have visited Japan several times and are now returning because they want to experience the deeper, more authentic power of Japanese wellness. They have seen the famous landmarks and now want to touch the spirit of the land.

At the same time, we see many solo travelers coming to Japan for the very first time, specifically because they feel a deep resonance with Zen. Regardless of their background, they are all searching for a journey that nourishes the soul and provides a meaningful reset that their modern lives cannot offer.

POH – Frank: Many healing traditions in Japan are very private and not designed for tourists. How do you respectfully open these doors for visitors without breaking the spirit of the culture?

Kohey Hara: We work through deep, long-term relationships rooted in trust. We never see temples or Zen masters as services to be booked, but as living lineages that deserve time, humility, and care. These connections are built over many years, not through transactions.

By thoughtfully preparing our guests—introducing them to the etiquette, mindset, and quiet respect these spaces require—we help them arrive not as sightseers, but as sincere participants. In this way, the doors open naturally, and only when the spirit of the place remains fully intact. In a sense, guests are invited to remove their shoes not only at the entrance, but inwardly as well.

POH – Frank: Is it truly possible for foreigners to experience monasteries and deep Zen practices? How do you create access while keeping the integrity of these sacred spaces?

Kohey Hara: Yes, but only if you don’t water down the experience. We keep the integrity by maintaining the rigid grace of the monastery. If the monks wake up at dawn for meditation and cleaning, our guests do too. We find that guests actually find more healing in the authentic, unvarnished practice than they would in a modified version. When the form is respected, the spiritual experience becomes universal.

POH – Frank: What are the unspoken rules visitors must understand when entering temples, monasteries, and healing spaces in Japan?

Kohey Hara: There is a physical choreography to respect. When walking the path to a main hall, stay to the sides, as the center is traditionally reserved for the deities. Before entering, use the water basin to purify your hands and mouth—a ritual to signal that you are leaving the outside world behind.

Inside, always wear clean socks and avoid pointing the soles of your feet toward the altar or teacher. Most importantly, respect the Ma, or the silence. This often means putting away technology to honor the present moment; some things are meant to be experienced through the soul rather than captured through a lens.

POH – Frank: What is your signature retreat experience, and why could this experience only exist in Japan and nowhere else in the world?

Kohey Hara: Our signature retreat experience is not a single destination or fixed itinerary, but a holistic journey that can only unfold in Japan—because it arises from the seamless integration of this land’s nature, culture, and timeless wellness traditions. Rather than following a preset path, each journey is shaped around what our guests truly need at that moment.

Depending on where they are in their lives, we may guide them into snow-covered forests and secluded onsen in Tohoku, where mindful movement and deep stillness meet vast winter landscapes. For others, healing may come through Japan’s ancient fermentation culture and the quiet wisdom of traditional cuisine. Some are drawn to immersive Zen practice—combining seated meditation, walking meditation, and the tea ritual—where the boundary between inner and outer life naturally begins to dissolve.

This experience can exist only in Japan because nature and culture here are inseparable. Forests, mountains, islands, hot springs, and centuries-old spiritual practices coexist in quiet harmony, allowing guests not simply to observe traditions, but to step into living ones. In Japan, healing is not an addition to travel; it is woven into the land itself.

POH – Frank: Can you share a moment when you saw a guest experience a deep personal shift or healing during one of your journeys?

Kohey Hara: I remember a woman who traveled with us on her own to the highlands of Appi Kogen. She arrived carrying the quiet weight of a very demanding urban life. One afternoon, we walked beneath ancient, moss-covered trees with a local guide who is truly a guardian of that land. As he shared the forest’s stories and rhythms, something shifted. I could see her shoulders soften, her breathing slow, as if the landscape itself was gently meeting her.

Later, we visited the wide pastures nearby, where she stood in silence among the horses that roamed freely there. In that calm exchange between human, animal, and nature, she told me she felt the mental noise simply fade away. It wasn’t a dramatic breakthrough, but something deeper — a quiet realization that richness isn’t something we accumulate, but something we remember when we finally allow ourselves to stand still.

POH – Frank: Let’s talk about Zen practices — what does Kinhin, or walking meditation, teach that sitting meditation alone cannot?

Kohey Hara: Sitting meditation, or Zazen, is a laboratory for finding your center in stillness. Kinhin, or walking meditation, is the application. It teaches you how to maintain that center while you are moving through the world. It bridges the gap between the temple cushion and the busy street, reminding us that Zen is not an activity, but a way of being in motion.

POH – Frank: We read about the Ensō circle — what is its spiritual meaning, and why is it powerful for people to create one themselves?

Kohey Hara: The Ensō represents the universe, the void, and the moment of enlightenment. When guests create one themselves, it becomes an act of radical honesty. You cannot hide your state of mind when you use a brush and ink; the line reveals your hesitation or your clarity.

Creating one is powerful because it teaches self-acceptance — once the ink touches the paper, the stroke cannot be changed. You must accept it exactly as it is.

POH – Frank: In Zen, there is the idea of “The Beauty of Poverty.” What does that mean in daily life — not as lack, but as richness through simplicity?

Kohey Hara: This is the concept of Wabi. It is not about being poor; it is about being unburdened. It is the richness of a room with nothing in it but a single ray of light, or the deep satisfaction of a single, well-made bowl.

In daily life, it means clearing away the “more” to discover that “enough” is actually the ultimate luxury.

POH – Frank: During the Matcha ceremony, every movement seems intentional. What happens energetically in this ritual that people can actually feel?

Kohey Hara: It is a synchronization of rhythms. The master’s movements align with the breath, and as a guest, your own nervous system begins to mirror that cadence. Many guests can feel their heart rate slow and their mental chatter fade.

The tea ceremony creates a shared field of presence in which the tea itself becomes the medium for connection.

POH – Frank: What is the Setouchi Goma Fire Ritual, and what does fire symbolize in Japanese healing traditions?

Kohey Hara: The Setouchi Goma Fire Ritual is a powerful practice of release and renewal. Fire represents transformation — it consumes what no longer serves us and returns energy to a simpler, clearer state. As prayer sticks are placed into the consecrated flame, participants are invited to let go of old patterns, attachments, and inner weight.

Watching the fire work through these intentions is a deeply physical experience. You can feel the shift in real time, as something heavy is released and something lighter takes its place. It is not an abstract idea, but a visceral, cathartic moment — one that often leaves people feeling unexpectedly clear, grounded, and renewed.

POH – Frank: If someone comes to Japan looking for healing, what do they need to let go of before they arrive?

Kohey Hara: They need to let go of the need for intellectual certainty. Many guests arrive wanting to analyze every ritual or optimize their experience as if it were a project. To truly be transformed here, you must release the “why” and the “how much.”

Leave your titles and productivity mindset at the airport, and be willing to embrace the beauty of imperfection. When you relinquish the need to control or produce, and simply allow yourself to witness the silence, transformation unfolds naturally.

POH – Frank: Finally, how can people get in touch with you if they feel called to experience the healing power of Japan through your work?

Kohey Hara: If you feel a pull toward this deep, quiet power, we invite you to reach out via our website at Tranquwell. Beyond our signature journeys, we specialize in tailor-made services for individuals and co-created retreats for groups.

We work closely with each guest to design a path that meets their specific intentions, ensuring that their time in Japan becomes a deeply personal and transformative experience. We are here to guide you to the places where your heart can finally be heard.