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Host rating
100 %
Last replied
5 Dec 2025
Reply rate
84.5 %
Usually responds within 54 days
Feedback
75
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Email verified
Badges (4)
Details
Description
Welcome to our page!
“We can host volunteers at short notice — get in touch January15th~end of march.
Especially people who likes teaching English, housekeeping, also we do some project etc…
Untill January 15th We need people who help for project !
Hello everyone, it is Achan for a necessary update,
Let me introduce myself, I came here （Kagawa） 5 years ago as a volunteer and never left. For those of you who have already come, I am sorry to inform you that the previous owner, Hisan (Hiro, Hirosan) sadly passed away in May 2023. Hisan`s family doesn't live here anymore. But I decided to stay and humbly take over the legacy of someone who inspired me and many others in his unfortunately short but meaningful and intense life.
I reduced the farmland activities as I need to focus on making a sustainable source of income out of my grass-cutting and wood activity, and I started to run a guesthouse on a part of my house in January 2025. For the rest, it is pretty much as it always was. And now I am married to Loic(his job is construction and making campervans) from France and live with a few Japanese cohabitant.
※need help
Now we are trying to make rice ourselves(June〜Oct), extend Vege garden to have a sustainable life.
And sometimes local people come to have an event, for the kids and people who want to do something meaningful for somebody!! If you are participating, we are happy☺️
We cultivate our expansive land in Kagawa, Yamaguchi prefecture, Japan through hard work and a forward-thinking mindset. We live in a historic Japanese house that we are in the process of remodeling ourselves. Some of our ongoing projects include electing, new buildings, and preparing farmland for growing fruit and vege. Through these projects, our goal is to create an environment where people from all walks of life can work and live together. We live an old-fashioned life!
Traditional culture and ways of doing things are important, but it's also essential to embrace new and better ways of doing things. We become smarter and wiser people by accepting different schools of thought, introduced by the new people who come to stay with us. We embrace new ideas and are constantly making changes!
Note: We are usually very busy during the day and can only check messages in the morning and at night. You can contact us by phone in the days before your arrival.
The preferred length of stay for workawayers is one month. You are welcome to stay longer if we get along well.
We would ask workawayers to help with our various projects for around 5 hours a day, 5 days a week. If there's a task you prefer, or if you have any specific knowledge or interest in a job, we can accommodate your preferences.
In exchange, we provide all basic food you might need, a private room in our main house, and much more.
We want to be a place that gathers people, locals, and travelers through meetups, language exchange, fire camps, camping, and so on. local volunteers usually come on weekends.
Sometimes we join local events like planting rice and festival of town if you like.
If you have your international driver's license, we may ask you to drive a vehicle as part of your work. On your days off, you may borrow one of our vehicles if one is available, in exchange for donation for maintenance cost and fill up fuel before returning.
By the way in Yamaguchi City and Ube City, there are free Japanese lessons for all levels it is on except for August, December and April. We can make sure it is on before you come.
「Food」
There is food that has passed its expiration date, but it is in our reserves and you do not need to eat it.
We continuously buy fresh food of which some are close to expiring in order to reduce food waste and save money. We feel very strongly about not wasting food, so we try to use everything we buy.
Of course, inedible foods are fed to dogs and chickens.
We can go shopping together once a week if you want. I would buy only basic ingredients for everyone.
There is a local grocery nearby bicycle distance, if you need a anything extra.
・morning individually（you can use ingredients）
・lunch&dinner happy to share（we cook eachother）
basically I would ask for preparing food cooperatively with other volunteers.
sometimes I would prepare food for everyone but It's helpfull to cover eachother🙌🙌
[Housing]
The bathroom is being renovated and may feel like it's half outdoors, as you can see in the photo.
During the winter, the inside of the house is very cold. This is because it’s in the process of being renovated, so the house is not very airtight.
Inside the house, it is a concrete floor, we keep our shoes on, because we mainly work outside, dust tends to accumulate.
It's a tough living environment for people who are used to city life. We use a fireplace instead of electric heating, so there's not that much temperature control. We have hot water bottles you can use in Futon.
We ask that everyone work together to cook, clean and maintain the house. If you enjoy working together with others this is the kind of place where there are lots of chances for you to consider what you can do for others and the house as a whole.
We are looking for people who want to grow and become better, who are willing to cooperate with others and challenge themselves.
We want to welcome anyone with good energy, intention ideas, and dreams.
We are looking forward to meeting you and sharing some of our lifestyle with you. We hope to learn from you, as well!
No one is perfect, and if living together can be a challenge and the source of some issues, I believe that through communication, and attentive listening to one another needs we can live in harmony.
Types of help and learning opportunities
Language practice
Teaching
Gardening
DIY and building projects
Animal Care
Farmstay help
Creating/ Cooking family meals
Help around the house
General Maintenance
Help with Computers/ Internet
House sitting
Interests
Farming
Van life
Architecture
Animals
Music
History
Gardening
Languages
Cycling
Adventure sports
Nature
Outdoor activities
UN sustainability goals this host is trying to achieve
Cultural exchange and learning opportunities
We are making a simple life which is based on necessities.
We'd like to help make your dreams and wishes of your trip to Nippon real.
Help
[Contents of main help]
＋Orchard management
(Cutting grass, maintaining vegetable field, burning vegetation, planting trees, and cutting/moving firewood)
Fruit orchards need to be maintained, and grass needs to be cut, this is one of harder jobs, especially in the summer!
＋Architecture
(Adding to and maintaining the main house, making camping huts, and more..)
The house we live in still needs help with improvement, so if you are a carpentry skills, It's so helpful to do DIY work.
(which means part of the guest house is already done for renovation, our living space is still in a wild style )
＋Other
(Taking care of the Dog, making the campsite, household chores, maintaining the forest, making a fire oven and so on...）
☆DIY WORK.
(cleaning and cooking too)
We generally have activities that involve Recycling and Updating.
We live a pioneer lifestyle, so we have to set basic lifelines by our self.
We have a lot of empty properties, so we often start projects from almost nothing.
We also need someone who loves house keeping. We are happy to ask someone to spend a few hours a day and keep the house in shape.
For example
＋laundry
＋cooking simple meals, we like very simple meals
＋cleaning the kitchen, toilets, bathroom, and common space
Languages
Languages spoken
English: Fluent
Japanese: Fluent
French: BeginnerThis host offers a language exchange
This host has indicated that they are interested in sharing their own language or learning a new language.
You can contact them directly for more information.
Accommodation
Traditional Nippon style house.
+ basic private room separated by patched shoji or fusuma.
+ kitchen and shower, two toilets
+ futon sleeping on tatami mat
+ no air conditioner/heater
NOTE: The accommodation is quite basic, the building was renovated/built by us, so be prepared for "pioneers" style sleeping.
What else ...
We are the reception, we'd like to be an open house for everyone.
We want you to have a good memory of Japan!
ARRIVAL INFORMATION - To get here please come to the train station, then you can call us then we will come around in 10 minutes to pick you up if we are available.
Or if you are fine with walking about 3km from the nearest station, we will give you the address - let us know.
A little more information
Internet access
Limited internet access
We have pets
We are smokers
Can host families
Can host digital nomads
Internet is weak, so you can only use it around the kitchen. But it is a public space so don't be shy.
Space for parking camper vans
yes! My partner is making campervans in the place, he came from France! if you are interested in rental van for traveling, I hope it can be nice for you!
How many Workawayers can stay?
More than two
My animals / pets
mashy (10 years)
Very friendly pal
Chat with Workawayers who've visited this host
Feedback (40)
i felt a very good energy in you and I wish your project of a donation-based guest house comes to life at some point.
Tuba is a very helpfull and hard-working volunteer who takes initiative, and she is a fantastic cook.
I understand your opinion on dishes, and sorry if I might have been the main cause of your distress… read more
Well the guesthouse is going well for now, it opened in January 2025. It's kind of busy sometimes, thanks to a lot of volunteers, including you, of course. Thanks for joining this project at its foundations. In the winter, we were almost freezing… read more
From planting cabbages (I hope they've grown!) to renovating paper doors (one day I'll make a perfect one, one day!), the work was very varied and everyday was different. I also helped cutting grass, getting rid of garbage, building a small concrete wall, giving (or trying… read more
Photos
Chat with Workawayers who've visited this host
Feedback
These are extra optional ratings when members leave feedback. The average rating left for each option is displayed.
Accuracy of profile:
(4.9)
Cultural exchange:
(4.6)
Communication:
(4.5)
i felt a very good energy in you and I wish your project of a donation-based guest house comes to life at some point.
Tuba is a very helpfull and hard-working volunteer who takes initiative, and she is a fantastic cook.
I understand your opinion on dishes, and sorry if I might have been the main cause of your distress… read more
Well the guesthouse is going well for now, it opened in January 2025. It's kind of busy sometimes, thanks to a lot of volunteers, including you, of course. Thanks for joining this project at its foundations. In the winter, we were almost freezing… read more
From planting cabbages (I hope they've grown!) to renovating paper doors (one day I'll make a perfect one, one day!), the work was very varied and everyday was different. I also helped cutting grass, getting rid of garbage, building a small concrete wall, giving (or trying… read more
Thanks for your very kind review as well,
Aviv first didn't start with the most exciting jobs as he took down and recycled cold rooms, but he did it in good spirits was methodical and did a great job,
Luckily he could express more of his potential with making a… read more
The work:
Was very varied- planted some veggies, cut some trees for a mushroom farm, created some woodwork(never did before and they had the patience with me), helped build a van garage and more.
The work is very satisfying because you get to see the house grows and… read more
Thank you for your message!
We could enjoy time with you thanks to your smile and brightness. You actively participated in the English class. Everybody missed you.😇
Harvesting rice and boat race with you was good memory for us too.
For job as well, you had good motivation and positive thinking.
you gave us hand drawn picture for memory.… read more
The house itself is like a social hub where people stop by to chat, make food, or just… read more
Thank you for yourmessage! and sorry for late reply. We called you Radek, you were so Kind for everyone and Kids who come to my house every week for English class. They were happy to talk with you.
And about work tasks , you had not so much confident but even if new job for you like using chainsaw and cutting grass machine, was realy… read more
Thank you for your so much contribution for the house in Kagawa.
I learned a lot of things to do from you and the way of thinking as well. I liked your analysis and quick decision ,😄😄
Chair which you made with passion, we will use it carefully with heart, thanks a lot!
Let's do yoga together again!
Achan
I don't know where to… read more
and sorry to be late.
She helped a lot about gardening, helping orchard, cooking, and cleaning etc...
So many things were new experience for her and I felt it was a bit hard work for her because of sun sometimes, but she had never gave up and did good jobs with her good motivation.
She tried to do so many things… read more
This is my first time to be a volunteer and live in an other country for almost one month, but Achan and other volunteers makes me feel not very nervous.Achan is very patience to me,actually my English is bad, sometimes when she teach me something to do,i… read more
Thank you for writing feedback, and thank you for helping a lot.
She stayed for almost 2 months, and she helped with gardening, cooking a lot (I like your Japanese taste haha), cleaning, and helping Aⅽhan and other volunteers as assistants (Everywhere I went, I think you were helping everyone). it looks small, but you were an… read more
I really enjoyed my time here, this place is full of life and always something to do, experiences like traveling to another location together, going to onsen, grass cutting, renovation work, meeting locals and helping them in their homes, going to events, and helping with… read more
Adele＆Leo stayed almost 2 months in total and helped a lot.
I can't raise my head... in new vegetable garden for me, you made bamboo fence in your idea. this vege garden is still growing up in so many ways,
I think you made our vege so much happy and energy, Thank you.
Also Hen house(fixed and built-up for new baby), Second room… read more
Thank you for helping and sharing time with us.
After coming back traveling, it took almost one month to get back nomal Kagawa.
you 2 helped a lot not only basic tasks which I asked, but also technical tasks like making outside oven.
Basically I could trust you, you can do by yourself, nice combination with Carmen, taking care… read more
Accomodation was nice in old japanese style, if a futon is not enough for you i recommend to bring a inflatable camping mat. Grocery shopping was done together and cooking was shared. I was never hungry and food was always good. The jobs were varied including… read more
how are you?
Thank you for leave feedback.
I found it today, I'm also traveling like you for now to learn perspective from volunteers.
I learned a lot from Yonatan and Soof, you mainly helped organizing about my messy garage haha.
it took almost one week, but you kept working until finish completely I guess it's big… read more
you work very hard, make good food, try to contract with kind with local, and try to do your best all the time.
you stayed only 2 weeks, however it was so nice time to live together.
you helped mainy for construction, for example fixing chimney, making big garage with roof, making parking space with… read more
The community is really welcoming, with the other workawayers, as well as archan being a great hostel, always smiling and laughing and in general good spirits.
The house is an ongoing project so anything you wish to create or order, archan is often… read more
Thank you for coming and helping!
We are encouraged from you have good energy and hope including other workawayers.
you tried again and again with good energy not only working but also learning Japanese. you are not afraid of making mistakes. I learned a lot of things from you.
I think it's ok to make some mistakes sometimes,… read more
We cooked and ate meals together and explored the surrounding… read more
thank you for your kindness and help.
it was only few days, so I could not share all our things and experience. however your feelings full of hope and your beautiful voice, guiter made my heart healed.Thank you.
There was not enough time for me☺️any time coming back!
Archan
I have to tell you thanks a lot. You told me actively what you want to try some works. and even if I did not stay a day, Klervi and Maxime helped our project a lot yourself. Thank you for helping comfortably. Thanks to you, we could plant tea seedlings and the henhouse became beautiful. Enjoy the rest of your Japan trip. I… read more
I just want to say thanks to everyone… read more
We have learned a lot from Yvan. You pointed out that the content of our profile is missing, for example, most ingredients are expired and not clean inside house like dust.
I want to tell you sorry and thank you. however I could change our profile not enough.
and you had a day to exchange opinions with Hi-san, I just… read more
I still have a lot of inexperienced things, and I think… read more
After I left Tokyo deciding to do Workaway and WWOOF, I stayed here for a month as the third destination. Honestly, I was overwhelmed by the wildness of the house and the environment there. However, the host family who live with birds, dogs, mice, cats, insects, were also surrounded by beautiful mountains and waterfalls, turned out to be extremely lovely people. They are heartful and lively which remind me of the people from Studio Ghibli movies. Especially, Hiro-san, who I have spent most of my time with, was genuine and had a plethora of curiosity as well as deep insights. He had his own ideas about several matters about the world and is good at expressing them. Miki-san, his wife, looks good in jeans and a white T-shirt, she often gives compliments and is a kind person. If you grew up in a city just like me, I am sure that it will spark within you an interesting inspiration as well as expose you to unique experiences. I hope all workawayers can and will in the future spend a good time there as well.
we had very positive, smiley and deep conversational days especially together with them.
now time is on going with many unstable situation, we had talked a lot of them, we know they having very fine days.
we can say they keep the understandings of botanical time, you will be very lucky if… read more
we had appreciated those time we shared 2019.
they were real help, lots of experienced within their life already, they had much more skilled than us and other volunteers.
although, they stayed in support for those time to make those peace and memorial moment.
we had learned how we can do for next meeting what we can believe this… read more
thank you for sharing time in Autum of 2019. we are appreciate that you team up and make a goat house.
we are happy to welcome you anytime! you are member of our farm team in the world!
we appreciate your help. even though you are not used to be it, you cutted grass, specially that hot summer time, and feed goats. we were for sure glad to talk with you, because the conversation with you was thoughtful.
we are happy to welcome you anytime.
thank you!
The family is incredibly welcoming, and there have been plenty of other volunteers… read more
thank you for share the time in summer of 2019 and challenge farm job, farm house!
i know that you study japanese, so l want to talk with you in japanese.
またね！
thank you for those days what we had shared 2019.
of course we are very happy to meet you again whenever and wherever we are.
i remember you are popular for everyone, and you shared us a good idea we appreciate for it.
thank you to those days what we shared 2019.
from them i learned attitude as host, i mean they are kind to everyone and i feel warm atmosphere from them.
i felt like i was able to have a exchange of mind with them, so they are family on earth.
we are very happy to welcome back anytime.
thank you and have a good trip miki
We spent two weeks in Kagawa Yamaguchi and we loved every minute. The entire family was very welcoming. We were told from the moment we arrived that we were not to feel as if we were guests but this was our home. As a result we really felt comfortable and… read more
thank you to those days what we shared 2019.
it will be the one of the great seeds for the future.
they will be the best friend.
challenging, taking care for all around, meaning conversation and questions
we will surely what to see again anytime, anywhere
thank you and have a good trip
We did eat meals without our host but had the freedom to use whatever was available in the kitchen. Hiro trusted us a lot and… read more
it was really nice to meet with you.
I was impressed that you are serving for everyone. your smile makes us happy.
またね
Also so much free time to walk or ride around and having fun with the others workawayers!
So, thank U… read more
The tasks we had to do were different, from bamboo cutting… read more
it was really nice to meet with you.
we are welcoming you to come back anytime you want.
またね
We are grateful to have a wonderful and warm host family (Hiro, Miki, Aka, Saka). Hiro has a big vision to develop the area and we are glad to play a part in this.
We… read more
it was really nice to meet with you.
You are like a cheering party for our project.We feel it is very encouraging.we are welcoming you to come back anytime you want.
またね
ありがとう from Nippon
They make people feel happy. They helped us a lot and love children and dogs.また来てね。
thank you for those days how we had shared 2019.
it was really nice to meet with you.
Carole and JB have good mode, constant concentration, they will be great help for anywhere. we are welcoming you to come back anytime you want.
またね
ありがとう from Nippon!
hope 2019 will be the great progress for you and all your relations.
we are looking forward to listen from you.
また来てね！
ありがとう from Nippon
we like very much about his identities, what we believe it is probably one of the most precious treasure of France.
また来てね。
it's a family with a big heart.If you like to share it with people go there eyes close.
I know what a real "family" now
Thank you for that
ありがとう from Nippon.
Theo is good sensed, flexible guy who helped almost every task of our activities.
we like to see each other. また来てね
enjoy
The work is not too hard because Hiro take care of its volunteer and its also very fun and versatile, you can learn or devellop your skills and visit around, it really is a great place.
ありがとう from Nippon.
maurizio & Oliva are absolutely lovely couple, who can lead surrounders to good direction.
we hope to see them again
また来てね。
This was our first workaway experience and we just want to say thank you to Hiro and Miki for open their home and life to us during the 3 weeks that we spend in their place. It was really interesting and inspiring see how they work are fight to get the kind of life they believe in. They… read more
ありがとうfrom Nippon.
Noa & Moshiko made many symbol for the moments, we had very good time together with them.
we see clearly open the future, like the sun rise what you had saw at those days.
sousou
