Japan
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We are a Japanese family who decided 30 years ago to live a different life style. We quit Tokyo and its fast paced environment for a charming sleepy city 1 hour away in the south of Tokyo’s suburb and 30 minutes from Hakone.
Oiso is a city nestled between mountains, rice paddies and the ocean with majestic Mount Fuji overlooking the scenery. Here, waves, nature, culture, hiking course, traditional hot springs all offer diverse activities and opportunities. Off the beaten track and away from the overcrowded touristy places we live in a place where local people are friendly to travellers. In our big house designed like a boat by Masami - the captain and father of the family - you will have a room in our artistic house where pieces of art are scattered everywhere. We both had an artistic career, Masami was an interior designer and Ikuko worked for a company who promote music. We now have various different projects going on: facilitating some local arts events, local festivals, hosting photo and filming shoots in the house… It depends on the the season.
We always enjoy a traditional dinner, playing music from Okinawa, conversation, sharing secret recipies or practicing calligraphy. We guess we are a unique family that dares ourselves to follow our dreams even though it doesn’t always fit the more conformative Japanese mould.
We are more than happy to share with you the medley of our quirky experiences and our ancestral Japanese culture. We have 3 sons (17yo, 20yo and 22yo) living with us, travelling or studying abroad. Two turtles, one goat and a dog are also part of the family.
Please come to visit us in Oiso to enjoy family life in a quiet area with easy access to famous Japanese sightseeing spots.
We offer a small wage depending on the local labour rate.
The owner's concept is that people create culture.
We believe that personal encounters with you will shape our destiny.
We want to make an environment where your uniqueness can flourish.
Your experience here will change your life.
Connecting people in the world will lead to a better future!
Gardening
Building
General Maintenance
Cooking / shopping
Help with Eco project
Help in the house
Animal care
Art project
Help with Computers / internet
You will be living with a Japanese family and we can help teach you about Japanese culture and help you with the Japanese language.
We also cook traditional Japanese food and can teach you how to make it too.
There are many cultural activities to do nearby, including Japanese calligraphy, judo, karate, shrines etc.
Oiso is also full of traditional Japanese architecture and history.
Oiso is very well-located, and a great base from which to explore the rest of Japan. Tokyo, Yokohama, Kamakura, Hakone are all easy to get to by train.
This host offers accommodation and payment.
We are looking for help from a carpenter, ideally with skills in traditional Japanese building methods.
We are looking for a web developer to help build a booking system for our personalised tour/retreat (we want to make a flexible and simple booking system so customers can choose from a variety of activities and so everything is as automated as possible).
Other than that we need general helpers for chores, cleaning, house maintenance, translation and driving (if you want to drive you must have an international drivers permit). We have a dog and two turtles and they need feeding and taking care of.
We are preparing for accommodation rooms and meals.
*️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️*️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️Please note that travel (i.e. driving to the campsite) and daily chores do not count towards the working hours i.e. walking the dog, laying the table for breakfast, giving the turtles their baths. Travel is maximum 45 minutes if we're going to renovate the other apartment and daily chores are about 30-45 minutes total*️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️*️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️
Japanese English
Your accommodation will depend on when you arrive, but we assure you it will be comfortable.
And lastly we have a camping van at a plot of land nearby.
In all cases you will share a bathroom and shower.
All meals will be provided during work days.
Please bring money to buy food on days off.
Internet access
Limited internet access
We have pets
We are smokers
More than two
Maximum 6 hours a day, 5 days a week
