Heartwarming farm stays in rural Japan

Akita’s Odate region offers the perfect respite from hectic urban life

Get in touch with a different side of Japan in Odate, Akita Prefecture, home to the world-famous Akita Inu (dog). Experience the laid-back local life through a farmstay with a local agricultural family. Stay overnight, bond with your farm hosts, and experience a day in their life. Tend to the rice fields, pickle vegetables or harvest apples—even clear the snow off the roof in winter. There’s always something to be done (and you’ll be expected to help with the work and the cooking—and you’ll love it).

After sundown, as it grows cooler, learn how to make kiritampo nabe, a stew and local specialty. Kiritampo is made from freshly cooked rice which is then pounded into a paste, shaped around a skewer, and toasted, traditionally in an irori, or sunken hearth. The finished kiritampo is then added to the stew, creating something like a dumpling.

This is a wonderful opportunity to have a real family experience with Odate locals and to make lasting memories.

Access: From Tokyo Station, take the Akita Shinkansen to Morikoka Station (about two hours 12 minutes), then take the Shuhoku Bus to the Kosoku Odate stop (about two hours 12 minutes). By air, fly from Tokyo Haneda Airport to Odate-Noshiro Airport (about one hour 10 minutes), then take the limousine bus to Odate Station (about 50 minutes).

Authentic kiritanpo-making experience with mini farming (Odate Cultural Activity Promotion Committee)