(Part 1)
In spring, nature comes back to life, but it is too soon for farming, so the locals look for food in the woods. Go foraging with your host family and pick some wild vegetables to make delicious tempura. Later, experience grinding some fragrant perilla grains to coat your rustic mochi and maybe prepare a few more dishes. Enjoy dinner while you drink and chat with your hosts.

(Part 2)
Go to the backyard and grab a few shiitake mushrooms to put in your miso soup - many farmers grow mushrooms at home on logs-. After breakfast, you can help your hosts prepare some more shiitake for next year by opening a few holes in the logs and hammering the mushroom spores in. Other activities you might experience are planting seeds or making preserves with wild vegetables.

Hop on a bike and, together with our guide, pedal to one of Japan’s oldest shrines. Visit the two upper shrines of Maemiya and Honmiya, where the Nature worship of ancient Japan is still strong, and pay a visit to Jinchokan Moriya Museum and the nearby teahouses, where you will encounter the imaginative and quirky architecture of Fujimori Terunobu. On the way, ride along the Miyagawa River and pass under a row of blossoming sakura.