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Host rating
100 %
Last replied
18 Jul 2025
Reply rate
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Usually responds within 53 days
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Details
Description
We’re an Australian family building a creative life in Hida Furukawa – a peaceful town near Takayama in the Japanese Alps. Our nonprofit supports community-based art, food, and renovation projects – especially those led by women and gender-diverse people.
Please note:
- We generally don’t book more than 6 weeks in advance
- We don’t host for less than 1 week
- If you can complete tasks remotely (e.g. writing, research, photography), we may be able to arrange a short stay or an advanced booking
We live in a 1960s machiya (traditional townhouse) that we’re slowly transforming into a home, artist-run space, and project base. Volunteers help us stay on track by supporting house care, garden work, and creative admin tasks.
What You’ll Do
- Care for the vegetable field (weeding, watering, harvesting)
- Help with cleaning, laundry, and household organising
- Optional: assist with art or gluten-free food projects
Food & Kitchen
- We provide self-serve breakfast (toast, cereal, milk, tea, coffee)
- Lunch and dinner are not provided, but we do encourage shared cooking
- The kitchen is available for breakfast, lunch, drinks, snack storage, or if cooking dinner for everyone
Otherwise, please eat out – there’s a 24hr convenience store 2 minutes away and a local deli (¥350–¥600 meals).
Timing:
- We start the working week on Monday
- Volunteers can arrive Saturday night or Sunday
- For stays of longer than a week we ask volunteers to explore the region Friday/ Saturday/ Sunday and spend at least one night away from the house (Osaka, Kyoto, Kanazawa, Naka Sendo Trail etc are all close enough for an weekend trip)
- We are happy to loan you camping gear & help you go camping in the mountains near waterfalls
Accommodation
You’ll stay in a renovated machiya with tatami rooms, futon bedding, and access to a washing machine and fast Wi-Fi. We provide summer bedding, fans, and heaters as needed. Most volunteers get a private room. There in no air-con (although its much cooler in the mountains, it still gets hot)
We welcome kind, independent people who respect shared space and want to contribute meaningfully.
Types of help and learning opportunities
Charity Work
Art Projects
Language practice
Help with Eco Projects
Teaching
Gardening
DIY and building projects
Farmstay help
Creating/ Cooking family meals
Help around the house
General Maintenance
Help with Computers/ Internet
Cultural exchange and learning opportunities
You’ll have the chance to:
- Practice Japanese (we’re actively learning too!)
- Learn local planting & gardening methods
- Join art processes like taku-hon or sculpture
- Support a gluten-free food initiative
- Explore the world of akiya renovation and machiya design
- Discover Hida’s rich tradition of carpentry and craft
Help
You're someone who:
- Notices what needs doing and gets on with it
- Works well solo or alongside others
- Enjoys the outdoors and being hands-on
- Can keep shared spaces clean and respectful
- Supports gender equity and shared responsibility
If you have Japanese language skills or a driver’s license, please mention it in your message – it’s a big help!
This summer, we’re looking for practical, self-sufficient volunteers to assist with:
Main Tasks
- Caring for our large vegetable field (watering, weeding, harvesting)
- Helping with general house tasks (cleaning, organising, laundry)
- Cooking dinner for Kate and/or other volunteers (if desired)
Optional Projects – Based on Skills
- Helping with a gluten-free community project (photography, admin, communication, map-making)
- Creative tasks: taku-hon print rubbing, assisting with art installation, minor renovation tasks
- Digital skills: helping with websites, social media, or visual design
Languages
Languages spoken
English: Fluent
German: Intermediate
Japanese: BeginnerThis host offers a language exchange
We are intensively learning Japanese. We would love to practice! We have lived in Thailand and Japan, so even though English is our first language we try to speak clear "international" English
Accommodation
We provide self-serve breakfast: toast, cereal, yogurt, fruit, tea/coffee, and local Hida milk.
Lunch and dinner are not provided, and the kitchen is not for personal use (no self-catering). Instead, you have 3 options:
1. Cook for Kate and/or the house – Kate will pay for the groceries
2. Join shared dinner – contribute ¥500 if another volunteer is cooking
OR
3. Cook a cake or treat – (with Kate’s OK) - we’ll cover groceries for both the treat and one of your dinners
Otherwise, please eat out or make your own arrangements. Local meal options start around ¥400–¥800.
The kitchen is available for:
- Making tea or coffee
- Preparing breakfast (with provided groceries)
- Storing snacks in the pantry/fridge
- Cooking shared meals (by arrangement only)
This helps keep a calm, respectful kitchen dynamic in a small shared space.
You’ll stay in our traditional machiya townhouse in the heart of Hida Furukawa. The house is under renovation but very liveable.
- 6 bedrooms, with 1–3 guest rooms used by volunteers
- Tatami flooring, futons, summer/warm bedding
- Shared toilet and bathroom
- No A/C, but cool mountain nights
- Washing machine & clothes drying space
- Wi-Fi in most areas
You’ll usually have a private room. If multiple volunteers are here, we’ll plan room-sharing fairly and openly.
LOCATION & DAILY LIFE
Hida Furukawa is a calm and creative town, surrounded by mountains, rivers, and beautiful wooden buildings. The pace of life is slow, the neighbours are kind, and inspiration is everywhere.
- 15 min by train to Takayama
- Excellent bus/train access to Kanazawa, Kyoto, and Osaka
- Local onsen, hiking trails, and bike paths nearby
- Cafés, izakayas, and public baths all within walking distance
- 6 bicycles available for volunteer use
SHARED VALUES
This is a women-led non-profit supporting creative and community work — especially for women and gender-diverse people.
We ask all volunteers — especially cis men — to be thoughtful about how you participate:
- Share housework and invisible labor
- Avoid defaulting to leadership roles
- Listen well, make space, and be kind
This is a space built on trust, fairness, and respect.
TIME COMMITMENT & SCHEDULE
- 3–5 hrs/day for 4 days per week + 1–2 hrs on a fifth day
- Max 21 hours scheduled per week (plus up to 4 hrs informal contributions)
- Flexible scheduling around weather or travel plans
- Field watering happens early (around 7:00am)
Your first full day includes:
- 7:00am – Field introduction (after light snack)
- 8:30am – Breakfast
- 10:00am – House orientation & task briefing
- 11:30am – Time off to explore
- 6:00pm – Optional shared dinner
What else ...
Important Info
- This is a working household, not a homestay
- Volunteers are expected to be independent and contribute reliably
- Please be up to date with flu and COVID vaccines
- If you feel sick before or during your stay, let us know ASAP so we can reschedule
How to Apply
We’d love to hear from you! In your message, please tell us:
- What draws you to this kind of project
- Your relevant skills or interests
- If you have Japanese language ability or a license
- Your proposed dates
- Whether you're travelling solo or with someone
Most of our reviews are from when we ran a volunteer-supported artist studio in Melbourne. We’re rebuilding the profile now that we’re based in Japan full-time — and we’d love to welcome you.
A little more information
Internet access
Limited internet access
We have pets
We are smokers
Can host families
Can host digital nomads
We are very flexible about the timing and amount of Workaway work that people do and are very happy to host students, artists or digital nomads If you only want to stay for a couple of days, or want to book more than 6 weeks in advance we can sometimes work out an arrangement for remote work in exchange for accomodation. We have fast wifi and shared work/ studio space, we also have a shed suitable for work-working or messy art projects too
Space for parking camper vans
We have an off-street parking space but it is sometimes occupied, its possible to park nearby though and we know a bunch of good spots nearby
Can possibly accept pets
Potentially. It depends on the pet
How many Workawayers can stay?
More than two
My animals / pets
Feedback (12)
Their family was highly welcoming towards guests, so much so that it almost felt like a second home in the matter of days, with food in the fridge and an occupied bathroom. When… read more
There was also a French workawaying couple staying there which allowed us to have a bit of a roster with pets so… read more
Photos
Feedback
Their family was highly welcoming towards guests, so much so that it almost felt like a second home in the matter of days, with food in the fridge and an occupied bathroom. When… read more
There was also a French workawaying couple staying there which allowed us to have a bit of a roster with pets so… read more
Very lovely people who made me feel at home as soon as I got there. Even though I was only there for a very short period they treated me as if I was part of the family.
I'm happy I got to take part, even just a little bit, in helping them out with a few things around the place. The… read more
They will do their best to make you feel as comfy as possible. The tasks they ask you to do are suited for every workawayer.
Spend some time with Kate and Adrian to… read more
If you have a chance to have Michal volunteer with you - take it! He's great.
Hope to see you guys again if you come back to Melbourne. Thank you so much for everything you did for us, and for the Polish pronunciation lessons. Now we can say Mt Kosciuszko properly :-)
