(Mount Fuji in the distance seen from our campsite.)  With the smell of burning wood on us this morning it is the best time to write about our first festival in Japan. The Japanese Fire Festival held in Fujiyoshida, at the base of Mount Fuji, is a 500 year-old tradition used to honor the Fuji […]

During the Obon festival we had three days off. For the holiday everyone travels back home to be with family and to remember and honor their ancestors. It is a big deal, kind of like Christmas in the States. Rachel and I, along with two other WWOOFers (Margot from Austria and Chloe from Australia), decided […]

About 1 week ago we stepped into a rice paddy and out of the jet lag daze that we have been in. From the exciting streets of Tokyo, where there was something new around every corner and more, we took the local trains to Kanda’s Natural Farm in the Yamanashi Prefecture, aka countryside. Very few […]

This trip is come about through a culmination of Andy’s desire to travel to Japan, which traces back to when we first met and my idea to travel on a one-way ticket.  The culture draws us both and through our research we have met many who speak about Japan in a way that made us […]