After Tokyo, we headed North to the Yamagata prefecture, which is quite rural and not usually on the tourist trail. We went to help on a rice farm and stayed for two weeks with the welcoming and sweet family. We ended up working on various crops, including aubergines, edamame beans, asparagus, persimmons and of course rice.
We had to get used to the early rising (breakfast at 7am, and sometimes some work before breakfast) and were often going to bed at 21h after a hard day of work! The rice collecting was the most physically demanding because it means carrying lots of rice, straw and poles, as well as working with loud machines.
Sometimes on our free time we would go explore the area, which has really cute villages, temples and impressive mountains, especially beautiful with the autumn season. And lots of onsen – hot volcanic sources – particularly nice after a long day of work!
What also made this an unforgettable experience was the little moments we shared with the whole family (from the grand-parents to the grand-children) and other staff and helpers. We had all our meals together (rice 3 times a day, of course 😛 ), went to the onsen, cooked, sang, and did silly things like aubergine battles.
Here’s a little video summary of our time there:
And here’s some pictures from our “work” as well as “play” times.
The aubergine field
The same aubergine field after we cut it all for winter
Cleaning the aubergines with a toothbrush to remove any dirt or mold. Japanese standards!
Aubergines drying
Hard to wake up so early…
Planting the asparagus
Drying the persimmons
The apples here are HUGE!
Beautifully aligned “rice monsters”
Rice drying on the rice monsters
Working hard!
Sexy farmer outfit
Little break
Building a big wall out of straw
Typical breakfast – rice with veggies, some meat or fish, pickles, and always a soup
Another day, another rice wall
The only animal on this farm is a chicken that everyone cuddles!
Cesar went fishing with the family in the Japan sea
The fisherman and his tiny fish 😛
Typical dinner- rice again
The grandpa gave us calligraphy certificates to thank us
The certificate!
The certificate with his personal stamp and pictures of the crops we collected
Farewell picture
The cute bus that took us to the cute village
Visiting Ginzan Onsen, a hot source city – they say these baths inspired Miyazaki for Spirited Away
Beautifully decorated fronts of buildings
Little hot foot bath if you are tired
Climbing to the Yamadera temple
Temple grounds
Yamadera temple
Temple grounds
Autumn colours
Autumn colours
Volcanic rocks – not snow!
Volcanic sulphuric water lake
Volcanic rocks (no that’s not snow!) and gases
Those volcanic gases actually kill people!
Hot river
Let’s cook an egg!
Incredible colour of the acidic water
A hot waterfall! Let’s swim!
Warm like in the bathtub, acid like lemon juice! (PH=1)
Enjoying the back massage 😀
And now we are on our way South where the weather should be warmer. We rented a big van in which we can sleep and will be travelling around Japan for another 6 weeks 😀