Homestays are an effective way to expertise life via the eyes of a resident whilst you’re travelling. In Japan, native data is useful to navigate cultural variations, and a homestay is the final word expression of that. ‘You don’t need to organise something,’ says Canadian traveller Derek Friday. ‘It’s actually nice to have people who find themselves on the bottom to escort you, particularly in the case of language boundaries.’
Derek stayed with a gaggle at Hananeko Home within the leafy city of Kawanehon-cho, and was plunged headfirst into the agricultural group. All through his in a single day keep, he picked contemporary greens, attended a conventional tea ceremony, walked via the neighbourhood with a view of Mount Fuji (‘it was surreal for me,’ he says) and realized how one can cook dinner conventional Japanese meals.
‘I acquired to learn to make tempura from scratch, which was one among my absolute prime favorite issues that I did on the journey, as a result of I used to be in somebody’s dwelling of their kitchen doing what they do usually,’ Derek says. ‘I acquired actually assured with cooking and flipping in sizzling oil with chopsticks.’
On the host’s aspect, homestays are additionally a priceless expertise – they provide a possibility to satisfy travellers from all around the world, and introduce them firsthand to their tradition. Natsuo Muramatsu moved to his visitor home after retiring, and has been a homestay host for 5 years, opening his dwelling to the corporate of strangers. ‘I needed to satisfy folks from totally different nations and luxuriate in conversations and cultural exchanges,’ he explains.
Our company usually say that staying right here looks like the true Japan.
The actions Natsuo shares with guests embody swimming, catching crayfish, having barbecues and making mochi rice muffins – the latter of which Derek additionally loved throughout his homestay. The method begins the day earlier than by cleansing mochigome – a glutinous quick grain rice – and soaking it in a single day, then steaming it for an hour earlier than placing it in a bowl and pounding it with a wood device.
‘Yosho!’ is the cheer you’ll hear when folks make mochi collectively – it’s a option to encourage and help each other. ‘It was so enjoyable,’ Derek says. ‘I didn’t realise the method of creating mochi is absolutely that straightforward.’
Reflecting on his homestay in Kawanehon-cho, Derek remembers it feeling pure, regardless that he was on the opposite aspect of the world from his typical environment. ‘Pulling as much as the house, I felt no apprehension,’ he says. ‘It didn’t really feel so overseas – I felt very at dwelling.’
Natsuo recommends that travellers keep for a minimum of two nights, however ideally per week, to take in all that Japan has to supply away from crowded vacationer trails. ‘There’s way more to take pleasure in, just like the starry night time sky, which is gorgeous right here,’ he says. ‘Our company usually say that staying right here looks like the true Japan.’