Organic farming and nature life in the beautiful and traditional mountain communities in Japan. No road for cars, the only way to reach there is by walk for 1.5 hours!

Work camp information
Code NICE-23S-1018A
Project name Make&Tateya5
Location Nagano, Japan
Period 2023/10/18～10/22
Type AGRI,MANU,SOCI
Volunteers 8 members
Background This project is actively working for SDG 2 (Zero Hunger) and SDGs 10 (Reduced Inequalities), organized together with Kyodo Gakusha since 2000, a cooperative community where people with various backgrounds such as mentally disadvantaged, people who are tired of city life, who want to learn farming, who want to live in the nature, etc. They have 5 communities in Japan incl. Maki and Tateya and grow animals and vegetables in ecological, organic way. Maki is located in a very isolated area (not accessible for cars and we have to walk 4 km in the mountains!), so it once became an abandon village in 1970s and then, was revived by Kyodo Gakusha. Over 10 people incl. 2 families were living till several years ago, but less and less in these years (almost nobody in the winter), so vols. are needed even more! Tateya is located on the hilly (less than Maki, but still a bit isolated) area where 30-40 members live and mainly do rice farming as well as growing cows and chicken. *Outcome of this workcamp: In 2021, for 3 short term workcamps, 15 vols. from 3 countries greatly contributed to their farming and caring animals that was difficult to finish by the time they needed without volunteers! See the long-term goal of this project as Local SDGs made by the previous project leader at https://www.slideshare.net/nice-workcamp/2019-ep3-188767935 (only in Japanese, sorry, but you can still enjoy the pictures!)
Work Volunteers will stay and work in Maki for some days and Tateya in other days. The work will be mainly helping organic agriculture (cutting thatch, harvesting/ threshing rice, selecting beans, taking care of goats, cows and chicken) and also carrying the things from the town to Maki, renovating the trails on the way, helping the house works especially cooking, etc. Be ready to work for quite a long time (05:30-18:00 with some brakes) and hard!
Study theme Similar type of communities in each country and their networking
Location Both are located in the beautiful places near “Japanese Northern Alps”. Maki is in about 900 meters asl. and there is something remained here that most of Japanese areas have lost in modernization. Tateya is surrounded by the farms and 40 min. walk from the train station.
Accommodation Maki: Volunteers will sleep in a few rooms of the volunteers' house that is a very beautiful cultural heritage and equips the basic facilities such as water, electricity, toilets and a bath room! They will have meals, meetings and social life with Kyodo Gakusha members in the main building (just 30 meters far). Meals will be cooked by together with the members by turns. Sleeping bag is not necessary. Tateya: Building for volunteers and a few members, 5 min. walk from the farm. Meals will be usually cooked by volunteers by turns. Sleeping bag is not necessary.
Terminal The nearest international airport is Tokyo (NRT or HNH). From Tokyo to the meeting point near the project, it takes 5 hours by express bus. Volunteers need to arrive at the airport in Tokyo by the end of Oct. 17 and can leave there from the beginning of Oct. 28.
Other activities Exchange program, Excursion on a free day (possibly to Hakuba, a famous tourism spot), etc.
Requirement Volunteers need to have high motivation and patience to keep the hard, long and important work in the very isolated, natural place and to respect the way of the local host. No special skills nor experiences are needed. Motivation letter is needed!
Language English(Japanese is also welcomed)!
Other The popular documentary film for this place was broadcasted in 2015 at arayashiki-movie.jp/en/. Those who are not fully vaccinated for COVI-19 (booster) will need to have POR test on the arrival with paying the cost (2,500 JPY).
Map
Participation fee
What is included in the participation fee

Participation fee（domestic）（Click to see table for details *Japanese only.）

6,000 JPY (44 USD by the rate on 2023 Feb. 24th) of "NICE Volunteers" fee need to be paid in advance either by Card or PayPal. This is used for the project preparation/ coordination such as the transportation of the camp leaders while the meals and the accommodation are provided by the local host by free.
What is NOT included in the participation fee

Transportation expenses

Due to meeting and breaking up at the venue, you will need to use a train, bus, or plane to reach the meeting place by yourself.
Tickets will be arranged by yourself.

Other personal expenses

○Free travel expenses before ／after participation（Free for transportation, food, accommodation,admission, marenals,etc. There is a big difference depending on the person.）
○Expenses for free time during the participation period（Free for transportation, sweet, alchol drinks, souvenirs, admission,etc. Usually it is about thousand yen.）