Dreamton Village

Once the capital of Japan, Kyoto is famous for many historic temples and shrines, as well as for its beautiful nature. But no one is likely to expect a quaint British countryside-style village here, emerging from among the woodsy hills right off the beaten path.

Visitors to Dreamton Village are first greeted by a gift shop called the British Store and Pont-Oak, a tearoom-restaurant serving afternoon tea, meat pie, and fish and chips. Further into the village, there are a few antique shops, a little chapel for weddings, cottage bed-and-breakfasts, and of course a pub, quite an uncommon sight in this—or any, for that matter—part of Japan.

In fact, the Village is designed to make the visitors forget that they're in Japan, and to give them an illusion of being in the Cotswolds. The village "godmother," Mayumi Haruyama, who goes by the nickname of Marrie, conceived the concept of Dreamton when she was approached by the city council to make use of a hectare-wide patch of unused land, remembering her visit to the Cotswolds. It was rather similar to Kameoka, where the Village is located, complete with the mistiness.

Once the project was set in motion, her main approach was to construct a sense of authenticity. Every piece of building material, from furniture to windows to cement, was imported from Europe. The restaurant employees are dressed in maid uniforms, not the typical kind you'd see in Japan but one in a quasi-Edwardian style. Outside, there are even some sheep to perfect the illusion.

Quite clearly, Dreamton is not a populated village, but it's not exactly a theme park either. All in all, it's just an extension of the tearoom-restaurant that went far out of its way and managed to build a village-sized recreation of the British countryside, quietly waiting for people seeking a refuge from the busy modern life in Japan.