Omachi? Why the hell not?

So I left Tokyo. My original plan was like this…

Tokyo -> Kyoto -> Osaka.

I was talking to a friend in Daegu about my Japan trip and he told me to try something out of the ordinary like Nagano. I did my AirBnB search and found this nice little area in the Nagano Prefecture called Omachi.

The place touted that it was an authentic Japanese cultural experience on a farm in the Japanese alps. I figured “why the hell not?”. If my experience is terrible, it’s just one week out of my life.

I was worried as I was definitely going into the boonies. My extended family is from a small farming community in the Midwest so I know what that usually entails. Technology won’t work properly and there will be a ton of empty to try and navigate. However, it may be nice to “unplug” and try to experience the “real” Japan. After all, Japan isn’t all flashy lights, tall buildings, and anime I will get plenty of that while I am here.

I stayed in a guest bedroom in an old farmhouse. This farmhouse is part of WWOOF program. I personally have never heard of it prior to this but apparently people volunteer to work on organic farms all over the world. The farm pretty much provides room and board in exchange for your labor. It’s a pretty good trade-off if you ask me.

There were other people in the house aside from the family which was nice. There was a mother, father, grandmother and daughter. The daughter was my main point of contact.

This was the first time I felt belonging while on this trip. I walked around the lake with one of the WWOOFers. He moved to Israel around 5 years ago and was involved in tech so that was a point of connection. Turns out, despite not being from the same part of the USA, we had a mutual connection from Israel, small world I guess.

We all did karaoke and also did some stand up paddle boarding. I didn’t get to do it much at all this season in Austin so doing this in Omachi was a great treat! We went to a festival with fireworks. Granted, I could’ve done this all by myself, but there was something about being with other people that made it…. better.

It was just being with other people that made it more special. Having someone show me around the town, explain the culture, Shintoism, etc. The evenings spent learning some basic Japanese, talking about life with my hosts and their guests.

Honestly, some days, just wandering around Omachi and looking at the Japanese Alps was amazing enough to me! The mountains would pierce the clouds and just miles of golden rice fields. Trees would blend in with the traditional Japanese rooftops. Walking along the highway you are greeted by two or three cars.

I took a somewhat rustic train to Matsumoto to see the castle. Matsumoto was like New York City compared to Omachi. Still, small town with a lot of charm and gorgeous castles. Train back to Omachi, gorgeous sunset over the majestic mountains as we pass by the small platforms for passengers. Farmhouses, temples, trees and smiling people. The rustic rural of Japan have much to show.

Finding connection and community in the middle of nowhere Japan… why the hell not?