The Benefits of Green Tourism in a Tiny Farming Community

What a surprise to discover that Ajimu, a small mountain town in Oita Prefecture with a population of about 6,500, should attract nearly 10,000 visitors every year from home and abroad! Let’s find out about the food and lifestyle of this area – the birthplace of “green tourism” – that attracts so many people.

An Everyday Rural Life Experienced at a Traditional Japanese House

Chicken rice balls, daikon radish cooked in sauce, rape blossom tempura –various local dishes are displayed right in front of my eyes while aromas of fresh dojō (pond loaches) and sesame oil waft from a wrought iron pot on the irori (an open hearth). “Please help yourself. We have a lot more,” says Miyako Nakayama, who lives in one of the local farmhouses.

Miyako, who was born and grew up in this 180-year-old house, welcomes visitors of various nationalities and ages – students on school trips from both eastern and western parts of the main island as well as visitors from Europe, Thailand, South Korea, China, etc. During a busy season, Miyako receives more than 100 guests a month.

Miyako describes how she interacts with her guests: “We have drinks in the afternoon and then go for a walk around here. In the evening, we gather around the irori for dinner. We have a wide array of guests, and we use gestures and body language to communicate with foreign guests. Strangely, we can somehow understand each other. If we feel connected, language barriers don’t get in the way.”

Dojō Hot Pot: a Specialty of Ajimu

Miyako’s house, “Funaita House of Folklore,” is where visitors can experience a traditional life at a farmhouse by bathing in a Goemon bathtub (a traditional round iron bathtub) heated with logs or drawing underground water from a well. Among many things to offer, Miyako is most proud of her own local cuisine with the help of fresh local ingredients. Today’s main dish is a dojō hotpot cooked on the irori. Usa City, where Ajimu is located, boasts the largest production of dojō. Komagata Dojō, a famous restaurant in the Asakusa Area of Tokyo, gets its supplies from this area, too.

Miyako says, “We used to fish dojō in the streams around here a long time ago. We deep fry them in sesame oil and loosen up their flesh with a spatula. The dojō hotpot in Tokyo uses the whole fish, but we don’t. We then cook them in miso (bean paste)-based soup till it’s ready. Here, try some.”

Delicacies from a Rural Mountain Community

There are many other dishes – boiled seasoned spinach, turnips and daikon radish in sweet vinegar, kabosu (Japanese citrus fruit), etc. Their natural, robust taste is truly invigorating. Nakayama grows all these vegetables in her field and cooks them with traditional recipes mostly given by her mother.

The most popular dish of all is chicken rice balls, an exquisite delicacy made with rare breeding hens. In Ajimu, tucked away into a mountainous area, fresh chicken has been a special treat since long ago. In earlier days, people raised chickens in their yards and cooked them for their guests: “Our life is self-sufficient. We make soy sauce and miso by ourselves. People used to even make charcoal and put it under their kotatsu, (a covered heated table). Farmers make everything by themselves.”

In Business for 24 Years

Nakayama started her farm stay business about 24 years ago: “When we first heard about this project, I didn’t think anybody would come all the way to such a remote place,” but she was wrong. Thanks to word of mouth, she has received an ever-increasing number of both new and regular guests.

“That’s why I have continued this business for 24 years. It’s fun, though. Well, people ask if anything disappears from my house while strangers stay here. On the contrary, I don’t know what to do with so many things my guests bring for me.”

Ajimu: the Birthplace of Farm Stay

In and around Ajimu area, there are about fifty houses, including Nakayama’s, that offer farm stay. This movement was initiated by the Ajimumachi Green Tourism Society, an incorporated NPO (nonprofit organization). I talked to Tsubasa Abe, a staff member of the Study Group.

He says, “Last year, we received 9,500 domestic and international guests. The guests stay at private farmhouses and experience an untouched rural life. Each farmhouse offers its own activities such as harvesting vegetables and pickling them or cooking rice on the kamado (a traditional cookstove).”

The farm stay program in Ajimu started in 1996. It was a way to revive the aging farming communities in the area. The idea came from the green tourism that had already been commonly practiced in Europe, whereby tourists stay in farms and fishing villages to enjoy nature, food, and culture.

Abe explains, “Ajimu thrived as a grape-growing town, but growing and selling produce would not ensure long-term viability. We wanted to revitalize Ajimu by offering local experience through interaction with people from outside. It would be good for us, too, to rediscover the fullness of our daily life as we get feedback from them – how rich our ordinary life is to be able to cook and serve home-grown food.”

Green Tourism Throughout the Country

Abe goes on to explain, “Farm stay sustains our economy, but hosts say unanimously that the interaction with their guests gives them a purpose in life. They can continue their services because they are driven by the joy of connecting with people from big cities, foreigners, and young students as well as other members of the local community.

With the Ajimu movement as a role model, farm stay initiatives are expanding all over Japan because green tourism is organized in such a way that it can be practiced anywhere. Farm families accommodate guests in their spare rooms and serve their everyday meals. No special facilities are required.

As for the guests, they can experience meals and a lifestyle of unstaged, authentic farming communities.  On the one hand, the community needs to revitalize itself by interacting with people from outside, and on the one hand, visitors want to see the traditional image of Japan – such a mutually beneficial relationship is what lies behind the spontaneous expansion of green tourism in different areas.

The Ajimumachi Green Tourism Society accepts guests for \7,800 yen per night with two meals.  Though the money gained through the farm stay services sustains the local economy, the true gain is priceless connections with visitors.  It would be a great idea to become part of such a cycle of enrichment.