Nou-En

In rural Japan, as in many areas around the world, small communities are suffering from rapid population decline as young people flock to the cities. A self perpetuating cycle develops in which rural communities lose their youth to entertainment and work opportunities in the city, which cripples the local economy by leaving behind small towns and villages lacking an able workforce.
Here in Sasayama, Hyogo Prefecture, the evidence of this can be easily seen on any walk or bike ride around the valley. In some villages more than half of the houses are vacant. Many fields have been abandoned and have begun the rapid transition back to a more natural state. Elementary schools with great facilities are being forced to close due to low enrollment. At our local elementary school this year's First Grade class has three students. Village elders possess a lifetime of priceless skills and knowlege that is not being passed on because of a lack of interested youth. Looking forward in time, it is worrisome to imagine the state of these communities if current trends continue.
Seeing these things, we here at Nou En have been motivated to work for positive change. Our aim is to encourage young people from around the world to return to rural communities. We organize enthusiastic volunteers (mostly through the WWOOF organization, http://www.wwoofjapan.com) to help local farmers in exchange for healthy food and invaluable local knowlege. We network and assist local organic farms with vegetable and rice production on a regular basis. We try to enthusiastically jump in and help local villagers whenever we can. In addition to these projects, we also have our own fields and gardens as well as chickens and goats that we care for.
Because part of our aim is encouraging people to want to live in the country side we also take time to enjoy the benefits of country living. We go hiking in the surrounding mountains, swimming in ponds and streams (especially during the hot humid Japanese summer!), barbecues with friends on weekends, kendo lessons at the local gymnasium and much more.
Mostly we try to provide a communal living environment where we work, learn, and grow together, all while striving to benefit and elevate the local community.

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Field Trip to Saihouji

Recently we took advantage of one of our nice days off to visit the scenic village of Saihouji, in
Kyoto Prefecture. The drive took us high up into the mountains and beyond any reminders of the outside world. From the village all that could be seen were mountains cascading away from a foreground of steeply terraced rice fields.





While visiting Saihouji we learned that the village
consists of only 36 people, however we were surprised to hear that the average age is some where in the mid-forties. This is in large part due to the work of Tomozou-san, a local young man who returned home to Saihouji after finishing school and traveling briefly. Starting with Tomozou-san's father, his family has been hard at work encouraging young people to move to the village and continue the way of life that is closely tied to the mountians through the changing work of the seasons and the daily demands of mountain life. They have established a temporary housing and work arrangement to provide interested people with a footing while they build or renovate their own house in the village and get established as farmers.



The dominant economy of Saihouji seems to be egg production. Three farmers keep laying hens on a commercial scale, which means that this small mountain village of 36 people is also home to some 6,000 chickens. In addition to providing reliable daily income the chickens produce an abundance of manure, which in turn provides both direct and indirect resources to sell either as organic fertilizer or in the form of organic vegetables.











To thank Tomozou-san for taking time away from his fields and other work to show us around, as well as generously giving us a flat of fresh eggs, we decided to all chip in and help him harvest and process his onion crop. With our collective 16 hands working together we were able to do in a few hours what would have taken Tomozou-san and his mother two days to finish.

Our trip to Saihouji was a great way to spend a day enjoying the beauty of the mountains, but more importantly we were able to network with another group of motivated people doing work that coincides with the Nou En philosophy. We were all able to get inspiration and ideas from one another and to top it off we were able to help out with a bit of field work in exchange for some good healthy food.

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