Your travel experience will vary greatly depending on where you stay, making the choice of accommodation essential to planning an enjoyable trip. While a cleanly appointed hotel room or a hot spring inn rich with Japanese aesthetics is sure to satisfy, if you’re coming to Fukushima, why not also consider something more rustic to get a taste of the local culture?
One option is to stay at a noka minshuku (‘farmer’s inn’).
Fukushima Prefecture is rich with farmland, with much of its area covered with fields and rice paddies.
The popular crops on local farms vary with the area, such as rice in the western Aizu region, fruit in the central Nakadori region, and vegetables and other seasonal crops in the coastal Hamadori region.
Farmers’ inns are part of a style of travel growing in popularity in which you stay at a home actually involved in farming. Unlike normal trips where visitors travel from place to place for sightseeing, doing a farm stay will give you a deeper experience of the land and its appeals as you work and eat with the local residents.
First and foremost among the various activities you will experience is the farm work itself. Farm stay guests assist their host through activities including harvesting crops in the family-owned fields and paddies. It’s not a problem if you’ve never done this type of work before, as these veteran farmers will kindly guide you through the tasks.
When the work is done, join your hosts and other locals in preparing meals from the freshly harvested produce. The taste of meals prepared from hand-picked produce are beyond compare. Your bonds with your host farm family will deepen as you dine together around the dinner table, and you will likely experience the same sense of comfort as when visiting relatives.
Each area of Fukushima has its own unique culinary culture. For example, Kozuyu is a soup made with a broth of scallops and filled to the brim with numerous local veggies such as carrots, taro, and shitake mushrooms. This dish local to Aizu has long been enjoyed as an essential part of any celebratory occasion. Don’t hesitate to ask your host family about the history of the dishes and tips for preparing them so you can make them at home to fondly recall your trip in years to come.
During moments of free time, you can relax in a tatami room, nap on your futon, and experience the simple pleasures of the traditional Japanese lifestyle. If the inn is a traditional Japanese home, you will likely also encounter such items as irori (special sunken hearths located in the middle of the living room), or the blanket-covered kotatsu table under which you can warm your feet in winter months. Other activities you may enjoy vary depending on the area, and may include traditional crafts and outdoor activities. This type of trip can also be enjoyed with your whole family!
Many farmer’s inns are located in mountainous areas. These areas give you an immediate sense of the changing seasons, with blossoming flowers in springtime and the verdant green of summer. You will likely see Japanese farming villages in a new light as you take photographs on your walks or simply gaze at the gardens in between other activities. Thus, simply relaxing and taking in the quiet unavailable in bustling cities is another pleasant way to spend your time here.
Tips
It is often the case that you will actually be living together with the farmer’s family, so you should refrain from being too noisy or going out and about without first consulting them.
Further, farm stay inns don't provide the high level of customer service normally found at hotels and other tourist accommodations. Therefore, you should take care to do your part, such as helping to wash the dishes after meals and by keeping your own room clean during your stay.
During the course of your stay of several days, you will doubtless experience the bountiful nature, cuisine, traditions, and lifestyle of Fukushima. So, come do a farm stay in Fukushima, and perhaps you will discover your second home, a place where you will wish to return again and again in years to come.
