About Satoyama Experience
Welcome to Satoyama Experience!
This is a website dedicated to present a glimpse of life in the Japanese countryside and to provide foreign and Japanese travelers opportunities to explore and experience the depth of the Japanese culture that now only remain in the countryside, or Satoyama.
While common tourist destinations such as Kyoto and Tokyo are indeed special places within Japan, there is another Japan deep in the countryside. This site is to provide some interesting perspectives on this “other traditional” Japan.
We start with posting information about the Hida region of the Gifu prefecture since 1) this is where we are located and 2) we think this area represents the Satoyama lifestyle well. We don’t necessarily want to post general tourist information, but want to show how people live here so travelers can gain a better understanding and appreciation of the areas they travel to. In order to do so, we want to first focus on a local area to better express this.
Why we made this website
We want to communicate our perspective of Japanese countryside living to those interested in Japan so they can gain a different perspective when travelling here. Most of us involved in this website came to live in the countryside (Hida region) from the Japanese cities or abroad, and we now see a very different Japan.
We believe that the Japanese culture and soul can be seen in the Satoyama, a place in between wildlife and human habitat or what we now call the countryside. For thousands of years, most of the Japanese population lived in the countryside, and many of the cultural and religious practices which are now associated with the Japanese culture stemmed from living in this environment.
Unfortunately, much of the Japanese culture has been losing ground after World War II and can’t be experienced much in the cities anymore. Since much of the culture was passed on through word of mouth and experience, rapid aging and depopulation in the countryside is making this cycle more and more difficult.
However, we are slowly realizing that the knowledge that did survive to this day is key to living a more sustainable life with deeper experiences. We hope that by sharing this information with you, we can all appreciate this culture and contribute to passing the wisdom on to future generations.
Who we are
This website is presented by the Chura-boshi Company, based in the Hida region of the Gifu prefecture in Japan. Chura-boshi Company has several services including Rural Japan, a travel agency for those wanting to travel the Japanese countryside and Hida Satoyama Cycling, which hosts cycling tours through the Japanese countryside.
Established by Taku Yamada and Shiho Yamada in 2007, the company is a trail blazer in creating unique tours in Japan for those travelers wanting to go “off the beaten track”. Prior to settling in the Hida region, the founders traveled the world for two years visiting over 30 countries and all continents except Antartica. After returning to Japan, they realized the abundance and depth of the Japanese culture remaining in the countryside. They eventually decided to settle in the Hida region and started Chura-boshi Company. The company now has 7 full time staff, most of them having experience living in various areas of Japan and outside of Japan.
