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[Sea/Mountain/River] Why don’t you become part of our family in Yokooka village?

Kisakatamachi Yokoka, Nikaho-shi, Akita-ken

4-5 days~

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rice fieldmale ownerTohoku regionagriculturefishing industryLivestock farmingwith young peoplenear the seanear rivernear mountainsnear hot springsLocal Cuisinesatoyamatraditional craftsmanvillagein the moutains

Local Characteristics

[Location] Yokooka Village is located in Kisakatamachi, Nikaho City, Akita Prefecture. Facing the Sea of Japan, Nikaho City has the only natural environment in Japan with Mt. Chokai, an independent mountain of 2,236 meters, and a straight line distance of about 16 km from the sea to the mountain.

[Locality]Local events remain the best in the city, and include traditional events such as “Chokaiyama Hitachi Dance” and “Sae no Kami Event,” “Yokooka Shinmyosha Festival,” a portable shrine event, “Yokooka Community Sports Day,” a community event, and other smaller events such as a grand golf tournament and community BBQ. Main agricultural products are rice and buckwheat noodles.

Concept

We are building a base where people will want to come back to Yokooka village. To this end, we are conscious of the fact that guests staying at our guesthouse can experience the lifestyle of the Yokooka community. We hope that our guests will experience the charm of Yokooka and experience the richness of life in Yokooka through the interaction within and outside the community that is created when local residents visit the guesthouse, help the producers with their work, enjoy the food produced in the community, and participate in local events and activities.

3 Key Points

1Host’s introduction

[Koudai Nakayama] born in 1996. Born and raised in Tokyo, majored in business administration at university. In April 2021, he moved to Akita Prefecture. He went on a working holiday and studied abroad for 1 and a half years, he managed the guesthouse.
Hobbies: Playing soccer, listening to music, sauna, watching movies.
[Ren Kasama] was born in 1996. Born and raised in Tokyo, fell in love with travel after hitchhiking while in college. In April 2021, he moved to Akita Prefecture as a member of the Regional Development Cooperation Team of the city of Nakaho with Nakayama, where he currently manages the guesthouse.
Hobbies: Soccer, snowboarding, nature activities

2You can interact with people like this!

Since it is a guesthouse, it is possible to interact not only with guests, but also with local elementary school students (who often come after school), farmers in the community (rice, buckwheat, and vegetable gardens), and a wide range of people from residents of Yokooka to citizens of Nikaho. You can also have very congenial interactions with local residents who come to have drinks with you at dinner. Local residents sometimes give tours of the area by car, making this guesthouse a place where you can experience the good nature of the local people.

3You can experience like this!

You can experience a wide range of activities from community exchange to nature experiences, such as helping farmers, fishing, nature activities (mountain climbing, surfing, SUP, snowboarding, swimming, etc.), gathering wild vegetables, visiting pastureland, star gazing, tent saunas, and participating in community events and activities. We have connections with various people in Nikaho and can introduce you to them, so please feel free to contact us for more information.

Typical One-Week Stay

You will live flexibly.
If the timing is right, you can also participate in local events. It’s a region rich in nature, so you can freely explore the mountains and the sea.

Typical Daily Schedule of a Host

9:00〜18:00 Work (including guest house duties and other tasks). You may be at the guest house or away from it.

Time Spent with the Host

	Morning	Breakfast	Late Morning	Lunch	Afternoon	Evening	Dinner	Free Time
Weekdays	×	×	×	×	×	×	×
Weekends	×	×	×	×	×	×	×

Morning: 6:00-8:00 Late Morning: 10:00-12:00 Afternoon: 13:00-17:00 Evening: 17:00-19:00

Recommendations

Those who have a yearning for the countryside and those who love the countryside will enjoy this environment very much. The community is very friendly, and people from children to the elderly come to visit and interact with people outside the community, so people who like to interact can also enjoy themselves. Some of them will give you a guided tour of the community, and some will even bring you vegetables, so you will be able to actually experience life in genuine Yokooka village. The guesthouse has a very relaxing environment because of the abundant natural resources in the surrounding area. The guesthouse also has a Wi-Fi environment, and there are also co-working spaces and facilities for remote work in Nikaho City, making it the perfect place for a work vacation. Why don't you spend your weekdays working and your holidays doing nature activities and experiencing the countryside?

Annual Schedule

April:

Seedling planting → laying out rice seedlings in plastic greenhouses

May:

Rice planting around the beginning of the GW season Mid-May Cattle move from barn to pasture Last Sunday "Yokooka Sports Day" (local event)

June:

"Yokooka Shinmyosha festival" (local event)

July:

1st Sunday Shrine picnic "Mowing event" (local event) mid-July Firefly viewing

August:

Aug. 13th & 15th Chokaizan Hitachi Dance (local event)

September:

Sept. 1 Chokaizan Hitachi Dance (local event)

October:

Shinmeisha Omamesai Festival (local event)

November:

Shinmeisha Omamesai Festival (local event)

December:

Year-end period Yokooka New Year's Eve soba noodle making experience (local event)

January:

"Saenokami event" (local event)

February:

"Ishimochi fortune-telling" (local event)

March:

Rice farmers start growing rice seedlings around the end of the month

Detailed Information

Location

Kisakatamachi Yokoka, Nikaho-shi, Akita-ken

Features of the Area

In the mountains, village, farming village, fishing village, terraced fields, river, buckwheat field, waterfall, pasture, Tohoku region, male owner, young people present, suitable for men, suitable for women, suitable for students, suitable for working adults, suitable for summer vacation, festival/event, near mountains, near sea, near hot springs, near river, lively, agriculture, fishing, rice paddies, satoyama, local cuisine, livestock (cattle), Mount Chokai, backcountry, ski slopes, winter sports, shrine, traditional performing arts

Accessibility

15 minutes by car from Kisakata Station→Holder with pick-up service on the way to and from the station (please contact us for details during the daytime) 40 minutes by bus from Kisakata Station to Yokooka, the last stop→From the town to the village deep in the mountains, surrounded by countryside scenery, it is the best location
There is a store in the village, Holder 2 minutes. Convenience stores and supermarkets are 15 minutes away by car. Coworking space "WAKUBA NIKAHO" and "SHIMANOMA" are both about 15 minutes by car.　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　

Location

・Caraco (2 min. by car): A hidden gem known only to local residents. You can cross the river by car! Cherry blossoms are in full bloom in spring!
・Naso no Shirataki Waterfall (5 min. by car): A waterfall located next to Kinpu Shrine in the neighboring village.

Shuttle Service

Available

Languages and Proficiency

Nakayama speaks English at a daily conversational level. Kasama is a beginner level English speaker.

Fee (per person)
※One month is 30 days

7,400 yen/day

Possible Admission Time

Anytime

Unacceptable dates

We are generally available.
*However, the host may have urgent matters, so please feel free to request and confirm the dates.

Minimum number of participants

4-5 days~

Food Expenses

Not included

Food Arrangements

Morning	each person
Lunch	each person
Dinner	each person

Available Facilities

kitchen (together)

refrigerator

shower

parking

Wi-Fi

air conditioning in the room

amenities

Suitable Guests

average male

average famale

male student

female student

male highschooler

female highschooler

couple

Recommended Transportations

Please feel free to contact us whenever you want to go shopping, because There are stores nearby, but you will have to drive to the town center where there are supermarkets and convenience stores.

House Rules