Live Like A Japanese Local Through These Farm Stay Experiences
One of Japan’s biggest appeals as a travel destination is its wide array of culturally immersive experiences available for tourists to enjoy. A great example is Japanese farm stays, which allows travellers to get away from the hustle and bustle of cities like Tokyo and experience Japanese rural life accessible via car, plane, or train.
These Japanese farm stays — with their warm and laidback neighborhoods, traditional architecture, and delicacies signature to the locale — will make you feel like you’re living like a local. Taking a visit to nearby rice paddies and produce farms where you can easily get your pantry supplies fresh and easy during your stay? It doesn’t get more local than that.
Ready to embrace the farm life and do as the locals do on your next Japan trip? Check out these two farm stays to get you started.
1. Furumaya House in Kyoto
©Furumaya House
Ambience and stay-in experience
This family-run Japanese farm stay in Kyoto is surrounded by lush greens and beautiful hills. It offers two traditional-style guest rooms in a thatch-roofed farmhouse, complete with tatami (woven-straw) floors, seated cushions and low tables, and comfortable futon beddings. It also provides guests with a yukata (Japanese lounging attire) to wear around the house, allowing the guests to immerse in the experience. You can also rent bicycles so you can completely enjoy the laid-back feel of the countryside.
Apart from these, you can also take part in other activities like Japanese home cooking classes, tea ceremonies, kimono fitting, guided tours, and even ‘true local’ experiences like wood chopping and harvesting homegrown vegetables.
Food
Its menu is rich with dishes made from ingredients sourced from the surrounding farms and rice paddies. You can enjoy yakiniku (Japanese barbeque) in the terrace garden on breezy summer nights. There are also vegan and vegetarian options upon request.
Connectivity
While everything seems old-school in this Japanese farm stay, you can still document your experience in real-time because the Furuyama House provides 24-hour Wi-Fi.
Location and contact information
Address: 156 Kamigawai Miwa-cho, Fukuchiyama, Kyoto
Phone: +81-773-58-2236
E-mail: furumaya.info@gmail.com
Website: https://www.furumayahouse.jp/english
2. Moshi Moshi House in Yamanashi
Ambience and stay-in experience
Kamijo Village, where Moshi Moshi (hello hello) House is located, is like a place stuck in time in a good way. It paints a great image of a slow-paced lifestyle where one is surrounded by greens, shrines, and statues. It also attracts a lot of filmmakers looking to use the place as a backdrop for their period pieces.
Moshi Moshi House got its name after the Japanese way of answering the telephone because it used to be the only place in Kamijo Village that had a phone line service. At present, it’s one of the oldest houses in the area that are well-preserved as a Japanese farm stay.
The guesthouse retained its classic Japanese architecture, from sliding doors and screens to tatami floors and futon beddings. However, parts of the 200-year-old farm stay have been renovated; it now also features a modernized kitchen and bathroom but they still have the Japanese minimalist aesthetic.
Food
Moshi Moshi House is an overnight facility that doesn't have a catering service. However, guests can cook their own meals in the kitchen. Cooking utensils and tableware are available for use, free of charge. There is an old-fashioned kamado (fireplace), sunken hearth, and a barbecue garden. Upon request, guests are also offered the opportunity to try their hand at cooking the local specialty, houtou, a vegetable udon soup. If you are lucky, you may even get a chance to enjoy shaved ice with unique flavors, such as pumpkin, during the summer months.
Connectivity
Moshi Moshi House provides 24-hour Wi-Fi access so you can still keep connected while enjoying your countryside stay.
Location and contact information
Address: 1099, Shimoodawara, Enzan Kōshū-shi, Yamanashi
Phone: +81-0553-32-4748
Email: ienamihozonnkai@gmail.com
Website: https://koushu-minka.jp/e-index/
Here’s to an exciting and relaxing Japanese farm stay experience at these locations!
