Clouds atop stretching over golden crops of harvest-ready rice fields, here and there a glimpse of the babyblue sky being hugged in the distance by mountain ranges that are studded with various evergreen trees, far and wide a few colour-changing species sprinkled within - that's the kind of Japanese countryside you're able to see if you come here during early autumn. Many foreigners choose to schedule their first Japan trip around the cherry blossoms called "sakura" in the spring, and while I'm obviously not going to lie and say sakura aren't beautiful - in my personal opinion, they are not worth to schedule your very first Japan experience around.
As a sad side note, it's been getting harder and harder to predict at what time the cherry blossoms will bloom in spring due to climate change. On top of that, sakura is simply a very fickle blossom. It is undoubtedly beautiful to look at and enjoy as well as obviously being extremely picturesque for your Instagram portfolio. However, if a storm or just some sudden rain showers suddenly appear, most of the pink petals will immediately fall to the ground, leaving the sakura with a rather dreary body.
Different varieties of sakura in the spring. (2020)
I'm not saying don't come to Japan to see the cherry blossoms - they are definitely worth a visit. I'm just saying that maybe your very first time in Japan shouldn't neccessarily be during spring, but rather late summer to early autumn. Not only are usually less tourists (Japanese as well as foreign ones) crowding the most visited areas, but in my personal opinion, the colour changing leaves in the autumn season are just as - if not even more - beautiful to look at and enjoy than the sakura in spring. Fun fact: The leaves changing colour season has its own word in Japanese, Kôyô season. (For any readers who have watched the Netflix show Beef, that's probably why they named the company of one of the main characters "kôyô haus", presumably a sneaky way to elaborate on the fact that she wasn't ever doing things for herself, but instead tried to push her own identity aside by using her husbands Japanese heritage to name the company. But that's honestly just my interpretation.)
Kôyô season in the cute little town of Mashiko, Tochigi prefecture (2021).
Back to "inaka" - which is what we call the countryside in Japanese. It obviously looks different across the country due to what kind of argriculture is prominent in the given region. However, since Japanese laws are extremely strict on import and export when it comes to Japanese rice, you will most likely see blooming or (recently) harvested rice fields all over, no matter where you go. This is also why it's hard to find affordable Japanese rice overseas. The Japanese government and farmers initiatives have been putting these laws in place to protect Japanese farmers from going bankrupt in light of being so close to China and it's huge potential to outdo all Japanese rice farmers simply by having way more space to produce crops. If you ever come to Japan, enjoy the Japanese rice as much as you can since it comes with almost every meal anyway - you will probably not be able to reproduce the same experience once you go back to your home country.
Rice fields at different stages - green and somewhat reflective due to the water that fills up the fields in spring, in autumn harvest-ready golden colour (background) as well as dug up earth from a field that had been recently harvested. (2020)
The overaging population is a huge problem in Japan that is becoming more and more apparent every year. In the last few years there were even estimates that more diapers for elderly people were sold than diapers for babies. You would think that my Japanese in-laws would be more pushy for us to make some grandchildren, but instead it was my German mother who made me really feel pressured in that regard. This is due to the fact that she is basing the real concerns I voice when I speak about the future, within the society she is living in and used to. My Japanese in-laws however are like "I mean, if there were grandkids, we would spoil the shit out of them, but if you decide to stay childless, as long as you're happy with each other, we'd totally understand" and I truly believe that it's because they know how hard it is to raise children in the pretty shitty economy that is apparent in all of Japan. I used to shit on the German government and social system all the time, because let's be real there's always room for improvement, but honestly, do Germans not know how good they have it. That's really something you realize once you leave to live in another place. Basically free education? Don't know her here in Japan. Essentially the opposite, because apart from general school fees you also have to invest in school uniforms and if they want to participate in afterschool clubs or activities - which is usually socially pressured upon them - that also adds up. And don't even get me started on the crazy university fees. With all of these reasons and more it's really no wonder that many young Japanese people choose to stay childfree, no matter how much they might love kids.
Overaging combined with the low birth rates every year have especially become an extensive problem in the Japanese countryside. In many of these rural villages, almost all of the residents who live - and work! - there are above the age of 60. Some younger family members might be paying a visit from time to time, but it's really just a handful that decides to actually stay and live there. Nobody can blame them, it is a pretty rough lifestyle, especially if you consider living in the North of Japan where the snowfall in winter can get pretty out of hand. And I obviously can't speak on generational trauma that might make some younger people want to run away to the big city where they can live in anonymity and don't have to care/take care of caregivers that might have abused them in childhood. As someone who lives with the outcome of experiences that made me never want to see certain family members ever again, I can not only relate, but I firmly believe that this emotional aspect most likely plays a key role in this whole situation.
In recent years there has been a heavy influx in so-called "Akiya", literally "open(vacant) houses", that are withering away with noone taking care of them. Since there are many elderly folks living there, often times alone, many of them pass away without any family members to make sure all the paperwork is properly taken care of. If the papers are not handled properly, they are legally not able to be removed and in turn become a hazard during natural disasters as well as a nuisiance in every day life. Most of these houses haven't been built to accomodate earthquakes and other disasters since they were constructed in times where technology wasn't as far advanced as it is today. To renovate them and bring them up to standards would cost a pretty sum, and even acquiring one of these Akiya can be quite the financial investment. You basically pay a ton of money for a house that is almost falling in on itself and will definitely cost you a lot more on top of the price to acquire it. Still, in the last year or so, there has been a boom in sales from young Japanese people as well as even foreigners, who try to renovate and reuse those old vacant Japanese houses. One of those initiatives is led by my friend Thomp-san who is currently trying to crowdfund the renovation of one of those Akiya in a small town named Hirono. The campaign itself is in Japanese, but I'm still just going to drop the link for you here in case you want to check it out. It will end on the 30th of September. Click here to get to the site.
The Onsen towns like for example Hijiori-Onsen which I talked about in my last blogpost are no exception to this. While I was helping out at the Ryokan, a traditional Japanese hotel, my "youngest" coworker who everyone admired for their "youth" and strength was 59. I'm not saying 59 is old, but I found it to be kind of concerning that the "youngest" person to work there could literally be my parent. My oldest coworker was almost 80, by the way. The owners also opened up to me about the fact that there probably won't be anyone who will take over once they can't work anymore. I want to say this was a one-time occurence, but honestly, whenever I go anywhere in the "inaka" and speak with locals about these things, no matter where I go, they all voice the same concerns about the future.
Just some pictures I took in Hijiori-Onsen, Yamagata prefecture (2023).
For me personally, the countryside always sparks joy and in turn also my creativity. It did also help me heal a lot. As is very apparent in modern day culture with cottage core or people who try to grow all of their own food, I know I'm not alone with that admiration for the countryside. However, I wouldn't throw cottage core in the West into the same boat as the Japanese "inaka". Whereas I have made both experiences by living in the countryside of Germany and the "inaka" of Japan, I can assure you that those experiences were quite dissimilar.
The "inaka" is a lovely place to enjoy vacation which many Japanese people do as well. In the major tourist spots you will most likely mainly see other foreign tourists, but if you come to a place like Hijiori-Onsen you will become the main character. On my very last day, we had three young white men check in to the Ryokan. Everyone was so appreciative of me being there since I was able to help with translation. We even ended up taking the same train the next day since said three guys, who were brothers by the way, were headed in the exact same direction I was. I was very glad to have met them, because if it would have been Tokyo, we probably wouldn't even looked at each other - but since we met in such a tiny far-away village in the mountains we became acquainted. All of them were really kind, continously saying that Hijiori-Onsen was the height of their Japan trip due to it being such a non-touristy experience.
More Kôyô season pictures at various locations in Tochigi prefecture (2022).
This is another reason why I personally really like the countryside. It brings people together in a much more natural way than our current times have made us to believe what human connections are like - or are supposed to be. Throughout the course of my life, I've lived in a variety of places - including the big city of Berlin. I spent many of my formative years there and I did make many good as well as bad experiences. However, it wasn't until I moved to the tiny countryside town of Hiranai in Aomori prefecture that I realized it was so much harder to make new friends and form new connections with people in the big city. I do acknowledge the fact that life in the country also has it's very apparent downsides - everybody knowing everybody means everyone is always involved in everbodies business, even if it's not their own. But it also means that there will always be someone you can count on during hard times, at least that's what I was priviledged to experience. When I had a heavy feaver due to a tonsillitis, I texted my friend who I worked with on the farm and she brought me food as well as medicine, which was unbelieveably kind. When I became homeless in Germany due to a fire that led to a water leak and horrible mould grow all over my apartment, I had to beg many people until someone was finally letting me crash on their couch. It was very humiliating and just one of the moments of my life back in Germany where I couldn't believe how unkind people sometimes are towards each other.
Since 2019 I have been living in a rather large city in Japan and even though I tried this and that, it has been rather hard to form new connections and make new friends. I have been living here for the better part of four years now and there is only one person I would call a friend - but with all that's going on in their life, I wouldn't feel comfortable leaning on them in times of hardship. Then I go to the deep "inaka" of Yamagata prefecture in Hijiori-Onsen for not even two weeks and immediately get along with most of the people there. So much so that I made the promise to be back, as well as them saying they would be glad to have me help out again. Not to mention the fact the owner kindly offered that I could always blow up her phone in case there is something going on I feel like I can't talk to anyone about. It's just interesting how people in the "inaka" are so different.
I feel like since most of us are always so overstimulated in big city areas or just very crowded places, we don't really have energy left to give to others let alone ourselves. People with higher empathy constantly overstep their own boundaries in scenarios like this, because they have a hard time finding a place to recharge in more crowded environments. I'm not saying big cities aren't fun or that everyone should move to the countryside - I'm very aware of the fact that some people are just not build to live in an environment like that. For me, however, the countryside has given me so much more than the big cities could ever have, even if they seemingly have "so much more to offer". There is beauty in the simple kinds of hardship, like having to shovel snow or taking care of vegetables you planted. Of course, it's hard to get out of bed at times, but for me, having structure like this has worked wonders. Where I currently live, there is no snow, so when I fall into a wintertime depression-like state, I feel useless and become bedridden. If I live in a more rural area, no matter how I feel when I wake up, I know I have to get up to shovel away the snow. And once I got up and did that I feel so much more useful and accomplished, even if I literally just moved solidified water from one place to another. It really is the simplicity of the thing that I feel holds so much beauty.
In the end, I just want to note that I think both sides have their positives and negatives and everyone has to decide for themselves if they want to live in the big city or move to the countryside. With Japan however, I get the feeling, that many young people feel pressured to leave their hometown in order to get a good education at a high-ranking and well-known university to then eventually find a well-paying job, when this whole shtick could be the reason many of them are so miserable. I hope in the future, there will be more young people realizing the beauty in the simple life and decide to go back home after leaving town for a while. As someone who has traveled and moved many times, I think it teaches many valuable lessons to immerse yourself in other places and get to know not just different people but also different versions of yourself, so I am not advocating for people to not leave their tiny countryside hometown at all. I just hope that in the future, the beautiful Japanese "inaka" won't die out completely.
Random pic I took in Gunma prefecture while passing through. It is very lovely though, early autumn (2023).
That's all from me. Thanks for reading!
EFA
(Yeah, I went over the character limit again. Beginning to think that 11000 characters max might just not be feasible. About to rethink that part of my rules.)
A new week, a new letter - and even though I didn't think I would be able to make it, somehow I did!
The Japanese countryside holds so much beauty and whenever I drive across it, I'm just in awe. I hope that some of you are maybe able to experience it yourself one day!
I was originally thinking about writing about cats which wouldn't have been a weird topic to chose since I love cats and Japan loves cats, but I'm pretty sure everyone knows what cats are and Japan isn't the only country that loves cats. However, focusing on the countryside is a little more unsual. Again, I don't think this is my best work, but I'm honestly just glad to have been able to make it in time before the weekend is over. :) I hope you guys still enjoyed it. Thank you all for reading!
The Japanese countryside sounds absolutely lovely! I had a similar experience involving country vs city attitudes. Yet I keep choosing the cities! Great job with Week C!