What brought you to Japan? What brought you to the inaka/city?

Finding land, working a small plot or anything else countryside related
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Jesse
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What brought you to Japan? What brought you to the inaka/city?

Post by Jesse »

I've always enjoyed hearing the unique stories of people with outcomes in Japan. So I'm curious simple life folks: tell me your story. What got you to the little island nation of Nippon? I am also curious about the reasons people end up in their location. How did you get to the countryside? How did you end up moving to a town or city? What actions, positions, relationships, and interests got you guys where you are today? Let me know. Inspire me!

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Zasso Nouka
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Re: What brought you to Japan? What brought you to the inaka/city?

Post by Zasso Nouka »

Hi Jesse,

Great idea for a thread.

We moved to Japan specifically to get into farming. Farmland in the UK is incredibly expensive and most farms were completely out of our price range and the organic market already has some fairly well established players. So we sold our house and moved into an apartment in South Ibaraki and started searching for land to farm and build a house. That took quite a long time and we saw lots of different plots yet none of them were quite right, yet when we first came to this plot we new it was the one for us. Surrounded by forest with neighbours nearby but not immediately on your doorstep and the people we spoke to in the village were all very friendly and quite open to the idea of new people moving into the community. Which brings me to my next point.

This particular village has been very welcoming to new people, we've been included in village activities and events right from the start. Previously when living in London there was very little community atmosphere but here it's completely different, neighbours drop by with fresh vegetables when they've harvested theirs and we in turn give them some of ours later on. When someone goes on a trip to an onsen or somewhere they buy omiyage for their neighbours on their return, we have several events like the summer BBQ or times where each group goes out for a meal together and there the little festivals held at our two shrines and temple where the whole village comes together. Things like that really help build a friendly community atmosphere. Being part of a community and living somewhere that people are friendly and helpful is one of the best aspects of living in the countryside, the other being the peace and quiet whilst surrounded by a pleasant environment.

Hope that helps you.

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Re: What brought you to Japan? What brought you to the inaka/city?

Post by Jesse »

Zasso Nouka wrote:We moved to Japan specifically to get into farming.
Wow, London to forested Japanese village is quite a jump! What did you do before farming? And is there any particular reason you chose Japan?

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Re: What brought you to Japan? What brought you to the inaka/city?

Post by Zasso Nouka »

We were both career people back in London, myself in network security and Mrs N was at a large food importer. Network security isn't as interesting as it sounds, no battles against dark forces on the internet just mostly humdrum everyday activities. So farming was a complete change for both of us, however the biggest change was being with each other 24/7 and while it was difficult at first it has actually made us a stronger couple.

Now as to why we choose Japan, as I mentioned before land and setup prices were completely out of our price range in the UK and farms there tend to be a lot larger than Japanese farms. Also they don't have the Michi No Eki system, yes there are farm shops but they aren't as widely established as michi no eki are here. There are farmers markets in the UK and we do attend farmers markets here in Japan but you need everyday sales to be able to make a living and that is where a good michi no eki comes in. So by choosing Japan we were able to find land we could afford and set up a farm without having to worry about much larger operations out competing us and we would have a ready sales route for our produce.

So tell me Jesse, what attracts you to Japan and why do you want to live in the countryside here ? Do you have a definite plan on what you want to do or are you open to opportunities that might arise once you get here ?

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Re: What brought you to Japan? What brought you to the inaka/city?

Post by gonbechan »

I have been here so long, I forgot why I came.

But as for the living in the countryside bit.
My work is freelance for the most part, remote work for all of it, so it does not matter where I live.
We have lived in all sorts of places in Japan and its a no brainer when it comes to choosing the slower life.

At the moment we are on the edge between suburbia and fields, literally.
We used to live a mere 500m away where houses are close together, trees were little bobble ones in gardens..
The difference of having the air move over the fields and the river is startling.
There is a several degree difference in ambient temps.
The sound of frogs at night beats the sound of fighting neighbours or screaming kids handsdown.

We plan to move out to way, way more rural where we can grow our own veg and raise our own chickens, and rent out this house as a little bit of base income.
We are constantly looking for the perfect place.
Not too small, not too big.
No overlooking neighbours as I have a plan to put in an aboveground pool and not be too strict about dress (or undress) code.
We want to be able to sit outside at night and cook our meat on a fire.. without worrying about disturbing anybody.
And if the Zombie Apocalypse does go down, we can batten down the hatches and weather it out.

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Re: What brought you to Japan? What brought you to the inaka/city?

Post by Eric in Japan »

A rainy day brought me here.
Gather round children. You have a nice drink?
Well, sit right back and you'll hear a tale,
A tale of a fateful trip.
That started off one sunny day
Aboard a tiny ship (actually I walked to school that day).

Gilligan's island references aside, I was walking back from classes back in '92 when suddenly it began to pour rain. And I mean pouring down, flash flooding, "OMG, where can I get out of this rain?" rain.
I jumped into the first doorway I could find, which was my University's Study Abroad Center.
While I was waiting for the rainpocalypse to end, I browsed some leaflets.
"Study in Germany- NOW!"
"Live and Study in a genuine Castle in Wales"
"Canada, because it is a foreign country, eh?"
and I came to
"Study in Japan- In-state tuition, free round trip airfare."
Hmm.... price is right.... So I filled out the application, and as the rain had let up, I headed back to my shared house and helped my roommates and 100 or so of our closest friends polish off 4-5 kegs of cheap beer.
A few months later, I got a letter- "Congratulations! You have been accepted to Minnesota State University-Akita!"
It took a while before I remembered I had filled out the application on a lark.
So I went through the process, and arrived in a strange land that smelled of fermented soy and diesel fumes. (Ahhh, Narita!)
My sum total of Japanese at the time was "Domo Arigato, Mister Roboto."
Six months of study extended to one year, one year into two, I met a beautiful girl in Hokkaido while researching the economic impact of the saury catch from Kushiro port on economy of Eastern Hokkaido.
I went back to the US for 3 months, and after my wife had filed the wedding papers at city hall on Feb. 29, 1996, I came back (We recently celebrated our fifth wedding anniversary).
Since then I have worked for City hall, taught in an Eikaiwa in Chiba, and when an acquaintance from the MA in Japanese from Sheffield decided to move from Ibaraki to Shikoku to study Shaolin Kung fu, I bought his school with students and have been here ever since.
My real estate agent student found us some property on the side of a mountain, we hired a "Half Build" company to put up most of our house (anything that had to pass code), and I finished the rest.
A long, strange trip it's been.
"... so, the cucumbers said to the cabbage, `Lettuce Go.`"

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Re: What brought you to Japan? What brought you to the inaka/city?

Post by donguri »

I first came to Japan as a tourist in 2003, to check out a few shows on a big tour by a band that I loved. During my journey I met a lot of lovely people in the music scene and in particular fell in with some friendly folks in Nagoya. I knew of their band from a couple albums they'd released in the US and we had a few mutual friends in the States through music as well. At the time the band was not active (the touring band was a different group) because they were missing a bass player, and well, I happen to be a bass player who was enamoured with Japan and ready for a big change in my life. Six months later I was living in Nagoya. It was all meant to be, crucial pieces of the puzzle just fell into place.

A few years ago I started to get really into hiking and as I spent more and more time in the mountains and woods, I started to realize that I felt so much better when I was in a natural environment. Life in the city center became more and more of a bummer~ the constant visual pollution, lack of horizon, pressure to consume, consume, CONSUME, bad air, lack of space, "fresh" vegetables that never spoil, surveillance cameras at every turn, no connection to the actual process of living ..... My partner and I started daydreaming about a life in the country and wondering how we could make it work, that's when I first discovered the old CLJ forum.

We still don't have it completely figured out, but we've made steps. We bought a small cabin and property in the middle of a hinoki forest that's a little more than an hour from Nagoya. It's been a learning experience on so many levels. Frustrating as hell for a while, but now that we've got it to a usable state, it's pretty awesome. We got married and are currently living in a suburban area that is still close to my husband's Nagoya-based family business, but there are rice fields, persimmon orchards and various farms about 2 minutes away. Full-time living in the cabin is not possible~it would take way more time and money than it would be worth to make it completely fit for winter living, but we're OK with using it as a get away spot and learning center. No problem with late night jam sessions, excellent air and water, TREES-big ones, fresh, local vegetables available at a few different michi-no-eki type places and endless opportunities to hone my DIY skills.

Ideally, we'd like to be living further out there, but the realities of making a living, his family-business and my band make it a tricky transition.

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Re: What brought you to Japan? What brought you to the inaka/city?

Post by BK How »

Does anyone know if there is any farm willing to hire foreigners? I want to start working and learning with a farmer first before I could start my own farm.

I could see some ads about hiring farm workers but they seems to be accepting Japanese only. I have less than 1 month remaining in Japan so I got to be quick.

Sorry if I post on the wrong place.

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Re: What brought you to Japan? What brought you to the inaka/city?

Post by gonbechan »

Have you tried WWOOF?
There is also
http://www.onelifejapan.com/tours/farm_volunteer.html
and
http://nakagominouen.com/en/publics/index/45/
But I think you have left it a little late, and also it isn't really the season where there is much farm work.

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Re: What brought you to Japan? What brought you to the inaka/city?

Post by Zasso Nouka »

Many farms employer foreign labourers because young Japanese people rarely want to go into farming so try approaching farmers directly. Of those that do many will provide accommodation and would obviously sponsor a visa, wages are legally fixed so they can't pay you less than a Japanese national.

I'm not saying this will happen to you but I have heard of one Bangladeshi guy not too far from us that was adopted by the family he was working for because they didn't have any sons and their daughters didn't want to take over the farm and he gained Japanese citizenship that way.

Good luck.

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