Experience rural life on the historic Nakasendo trail in Narai-juku, Japan

Details

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  Description

  *We get a lot of messages, so apologies if you don't hear back soon*
  
  Our hotel is located on the historic Nakasendo trail, a 5-minute walk from the beautifully preserved post-town of Narai-juku, surrounded by mountains, forests, and rivers in the Kiso Valley.
  Narai-juku is a designated 'Preservation District for Historic Buildings', due to it's high number of traditional, Edo-period houses. These old wooden buildings line the town's main street, which extends for 1.4km.
  Our hotel mainly hosts foreign guests from all around the world, many of whom are walking the Nakasendo route. The hotel is also quite small, with 5-6 rooms, hosting a maximum of 14 guests at any given time. This makes things very manageable in terms of workload. The general feeling of the hotel is casual and laid-back.
  
  Staying and working with us is a great chance to explore the Nakasendo and experience rural Japan, traditional post-towns, scenic hikes, and historic cities like Matsumoto and Kiso-Fukushima. We are uniquely positioned in the center of the main island, making it relatively easy to travel anywhere in Japan from here. You can even take flight to Sapporo from Matsumoto airport nearby.
  
  
  The hotel is relatively new, and we have many plans for future expansions to our business, such as opening a café for hikers and possibly a bathhouse. As such, there is a variety of day-to-day jobs such as cleaning, greeting guests, serving food, garden-work etc.
  
  We provide accommodation, meals, and hourly pay. You’ll usually work up to 6 hours a day, with plenty of days off to relax or travel around.
  
  We’re a small, friendly team. When you come here, you will be considered part of our crazy family. We’re happy to welcome people who are curious about Japan and enjoy meeting travelers.

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  Types of help and learning opportunities

  Language practice

  Light gardening

  Creating/ Cooking family meals

  Help around the house

  Light maintenance

  Help with Computers/ Internet
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  Interests

  

  Water sports

  

  Adventure sports

  

  Mountain

  

  Winter sports

  

  Cycling
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  Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

  You’ll experience Japanese culture directly by working with a local host, a Japanese chef, and our team, learning how things are done in everyday life and in a hospitality setting. The Kiso valley is famous for various crafts, and it may be possible to arrange classes for lacquerware, chopstick carving and comb-making. There are also free Japanese language classes in a nearby city.

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  Host offers payment in line with the minimum wage

  This host offers accommodation and payment.

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  Help

  Tasks include helping our Japanese chef in the kitchen, cleaning, preparing rooms for guests, gardening, driving guests between the railway station and the hotel, and front desk work.
  Training is provided for all tasks, so you won't be expected to be perfect right away, don't worry.

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  Languages

  Languages spoken
  English: Fluent
  Japanese: Fluent

  This host offers a language exchange
  Japanese and English are spoken within the team.
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  Accommodation

  You’ll stay in a traditional Japanese-style room with tatami flooring and a futon bed. We do our best to provide a private bedroom, but sometimes you may need to share a room depending on the situation. But don't worry, we won't surprise you with this, it will be discussed before your arrival.
  We provide hourly pay of ¥1,060.

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  What else ...

  On your days off, you can explore the area and travel around easily. With a train station nearby, it’s easy to reach different places by train or bus.
  We are developing a tourism website, and as such, can provide many recommendations for local trips and activities.

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  A little more information

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    Internet access

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    Limited internet access

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    We have pets

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    We are smokers

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    Can host families

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  How many Workawayers can stay?

  More than two

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