Japan
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We are an English-Israeli couple, living in a 19th-century farmhouse midway between the mountains and the sea in a beautiful valley. We want to share the work and experience of living here, raising chickens and rabbits, and growing organic herbs, fruit, and vegetables.
Gardening
DIY and building projects
General Maintenance
Farmstay help
Help with Eco Projects
Help around the house
Animal Care
Travellers would learn organic permaculture farming, with a wide variety of herb and vegetable crops and chickens of various types and ages. They can also learn things like organic cooking, fish filleting, herbalism, and natural health. We serve our guests only organic food, and they have the experience of living in a 19th-century Japanese farmhouse in a beautiful rural area. In their spare time, we can show our guests the sights of the area, and guide them to other places and experiences.
We need help with various tasks on our farm - specifically preparing animal feed, feeding animals (chickens and rabbits), harvesting and watering herbs and vegetables, and setting up enclosures and other facilities for the animals. If you have basic or better building skills, we also have an ongoing barn conversion project. We can teach you how to do all these things.
Most of the work is not very complicated but can be hard work. This is not a petting zoo, and guests should be ready to work. Some of it happens early in the morning, so guests will need to be able to get up early.
We have no paid staff, but the guests will work alongside us, doing the same tasks we do. We provide instruction and guidance, but will expect guests to work independently once they are familiar with tasks.
We're looking for people who can stay for a month or more, because it takes time for volunteers to settle in and learn the work.
English: Fluent
Hebrew: Fluent
Japanese: Fluent
A Japanese-style room (futons on tatami matting) in our home, a Meiji-era farmhouse. The room is specifically a guest bedroom. It can comfortably hold up to four. Guests can also use our gym, cinema, and other facilities.
If we have multiple guests, they would need to share the room.
Nearby attractions include hot springs (2km away), beaches and fishing port (12km), ski resort (7km), hiking, various geopark sites, and seafood and noodle restaurants. We are 10km from a train station and highway interchange, and the Shinkansen (bullet train) from the town centre gets to Tokyo in just over 2 hours.
Internet access
Limited internet access
We have pets
We are smokers
Can host families
We do not use Wifi, but we provide a LAN cable in each guest room, connecting to an optical fiber line, so the connection is fast. There is a basic laptop for volunteers who don't have their own, and one guest room has a private desk space. I work from home as a freelance translator, and have for 28 years in many countries, so I'm familiar with the lifestyle.
More than two
Maximum 25 hours / week
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Accuracy of profile:
(4.5)
Cultural exchange:
(3.5)
Communication:
(5.0)
