Profile information
Host rating
100 %
Last replied
9 May 2025
Reply rate
92.2 %
Usually responds within 6 days
Feedback
22
Email verified
Badges (4)
Details
Description
We are a family of five who live in Shiga on the shores of Biwa Lake, in Japan.
Our house is right in front of a lovely, family-friendly beach where you can enjoy a number of different watersports. It is also next to mountains that offer great hiking and skiing in winter.
Although we live in the countryside, we are only 45 minutes by local train to Kyoto city.
My background is in sustainable development which I graduated in and now teach at university, and much of the work we offer involves our efforts to live as sustainably as possible.
We live in a self-build eco house with smallholding (homestead) type of grounds. We have vegetable plots, an orchard and fields, plus goats, chickens, rabbits, and a green parakeet, which together take a lot of our time to look after, especially in the summer.
We are mostly looking for help with gardening, animal care, and general outdoor help, and sometimes garden/animal sitting at times when we are away.
We have also been renovating a farmhouse and barn in a mountain village 25 minutes from our house. They come with three acres of land which we are also starting to manage by adding fruit trees, reforesting and general small-scale farming.
Much of the outdoor work, especially in summer will be quite physical and dirty (sweaty) - so please be prepared.
I'm a native English speaker with basic Japanese. My wife is fluent in English, Japanese and Korean.
Types of help and learning opportunities
Help with Eco Projects
Gardening
DIY and building projects
Animal Care
General Maintenance
House sitting
Interests
Sustainability
Farming
Architecture
Gardening
Plant care
Carpentry
Nature
Beach
Hiking
Camping
Fitness
Winter sports
Water sports
UN sustainability goals this host is trying to achieve
Cultural exchange and learning opportunities
I'm from the UK, my wife is from Japan but is Korean. We are always happy to meet people from any culture.
Help
During the summer months most of the work will involve smallholding land management; cutting grass, clearing waterways, weeding, wood cutting - all private (non-profit/non-business) activities.
If we are planning to be away for a few days, we may need workawayers to take care of the animals (goats , chickens, rabbits and turtle, a bird and fish) and if it is summer, to water the vegetable plots and garden area.
We are looking for Workawayers to provide around an average of 3 hours of work per day in return for accommodation. We are very flexible and days off or adjustments in work hours can be worked out between us as needed for sightseeing or with the weather is bad etc.
During the summer we have very high humidity and temperatures so the work can be very physically challenging - please be prepared.
Skills/experience that would be particularly welcome include farm experience, mechanics, arborists, experience with permaculture.
Non-smoking tidy persons would be appreciated.
Languages spoken
English: Fluent
Accommodation
We have a self-contained annex flat which we mostly use for Air B'n'B but which we block off and use for Workawayer accommodation when needed. There is a small kitchen, shower, washing machine.
It is next to our family house and a smaller house, which is also used Air b'n'b accommodation.
While we enjoy meeting and spending time with new workawayers, because of family and work, there may be days when we might not be able to mix socially.
To help with food, we usually drive workawayers to a supermarket to do a weekly food shop. And although we don't provide daily food, we always aim to have workawayers over for a shared family meal for at least one evening during their stay.
What else ...
Our house is right in front of a lovely, family-friendly beach where you can enjoy a number of different watersports, It is also next to mountains that offer great hiking and skiing in winter.
Although we live in the countryside, we are only 45 minutes by local train to Kyoto city.
Our local train station is 5 minutes away from our house and has 2 to 3 trains every hour.
As our place is in a rural area so shopping might feel a little restricted. There is a big shopping center and other stores 5 stops away (JR Katata) or a local supermarket 3 stops away (JR Wani) from our train station (5 minutes on foot from our house).
In the village, there is also a small local general store that offers basic groceries and a number of small local places to eat out, which we can give you details of when you arrive.
There is also a 24-hour convenience store about 10 minutes bike ride away.
For those who enjoy outdoor sports, there is a Biwako Valley ski resort just 20 minutes away by local train and bus.
In summer, the cable car provides a great day out on the summit of Mt Hira.
You can enjoy swimming, kayaking, and SUPing after your work and right in front of our house.
A five minutes bus ride or 15 minutes cycle away, there is also an ONSEN (hot spring) and excellent hiking trails.
A little more information
Internet access
Limited internet access
We have pets
We are smokers
Can host families
Can host digital nomads
We have very fast, reliable internet.
Space for parking camper vans
We have parking space for a camper van.
How many Workawayers can stay?
Two
Feedback (9)
He is an extremely friendly, interesting, and for the type of work we had, was a very knowledgable and experienced person to have stay with us. He stayed for around two weeks and was always very keen to help and share his experience. He looked after our goats, chickens and other animals while… read more
They were working outside in the fields and garden and well as helping inside with the changeover of our guest house - bedding, tidying, and cleaning.
They also left their accommodation space very… read more
Photos
Feedback
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Accuracy of profile:
(5.0)
Cultural exchange:
(5.0)
Communication:
(5.0)
He is an extremely friendly, interesting, and for the type of work we had, was a very knowledgable and experienced person to have stay with us. He stayed for around two weeks and was always very keen to help and share his experience. He looked after our goats, chickens and other animals while… read more
They were working outside in the fields and garden and well as helping inside with the changeover of our guest house - bedding, tidying, and cleaning.
They also left their accommodation space very… read more
The animals were very friendly, the family were lovely and we really enjoyed helping out and learning a little more about sustainable living.
During our time there we were looking after goats, chickens, rabbits and birds (which were especially affectionate) as well as watering the… read more
It was really nice working with them both. They have a lot of… read more
It was really nice working with them both. They have a lot of… read more
They worked really hard and were very diligent with all the tasks they were given. While they stayed with us it was very hot and humid working conditions which they easily coped with without any trouble.
They were also a very nice couple to get to know learn about our… read more
They both took on any job given to them and carried them out very diligently - even though they had a large portion of relatively boring work to do - weeding - while they were with us.
They also took good care of their accommodation.
we would gladly welcome… read more
In addition to being very easy going and friendly, they both worked very diligently, no matter what tasks they were presented with. In addition they were always happy to work and make the most of their time with us.
During their time with us our family became very fond of their company and we… read more
Iain is very clear in the job to be… read more
They were also very hardworking and did all the jobs they were given very well.
We would be very happy to have them back anytime and can strongly recommend… read more
They also took great care of there accommodation and left it very tidy.
We were all sad to see them leave but we are sure they will continue to be very popular workawayers for the next lucky host who has them… read more
We helped Iain to plant some trees, build a pond (with a full-of-personality little island) near their house and also clear a pond and paint some walls in a traditional Japanese house in the mountains nearby. Both work and conversations with Iain were stimulating,… read more
A very nice… read more
We would be very happy to welcome him back anytime.
No complaints, and I would happily have them to stay again.
They did a great job looking after our animals while we were away. The more physical tasks thought they sometimes seemed to find hard to… read more
