This release is a little funny, cause I’m building out a new Substack (well, actually, 2, but I’ll get to the other one later when relevant) for a new akiya project I’ve got going, akiyaz.io. That substack itself will do a few things, including list properties and itineraries to view them responsibly and without shooting yourself in the foot (subscribe to find out what that means), and also feature news, opportunities, and events.
And we’ve got an event coming up, out in Uenohara, so I figured I could get a bit more mileage and reach by reformatting the event details to match EXP. Hope you don’t mind.
For those of you who have followed my work with akiya over the years, you may remember a farmstead out in Uenohara, Yamanashi run by a lovely couple, Kaori and Byron. Their farm is called Kasamatsu Farms, and then their renovated kominka bed and breakfast is the Yokomura Ecolodge.
Honestly, I think their project was one of the first I ever visited, with Jessop Petroski making an introduction, and is still almost certainly my favorite. Sure, there's the now-seemingly-established evergreen appeal of renovating Japanese farmhouses in rural locations with sustainable farming which their operation has in spades, but then there's the sheer physical scale of what they’ve accomplished and what I think is reasonably called audacity that comes with it.
You see, Kaori & Byron’s work hasn’t just been renovating one or two reclaimed houses. Not even close. There’s the kominka itself, the farm, the camp ground, the village (!), and, last but not least, the gargantuan 3 story cob house they constructed, by hand, over the course of 8 years.
Theirs is, in no exaggerated sense, an awe-inspiring monolithic effort, the type that makes you believe in magic and leprechauns and whatnot. And so, naturally, I've always been interested in bringing folx in to experience it for themselves, and that's kinda what we got here, plus some other folx real interested in digital infrastructure and how to best bring rural communities into the fold of modernity.
The Accommodation: Yokomura Ecolodge
Such a cool place. If I remember correctly, this particular building used to be a silkworm farm, where they’d place the producer worms in the attic and live down below, harvesting when able. I can’t say exactly when that business stopped, but some time ago, and then about 10 years ago I believe the Nagy’s grabbed the property and started their masterful conversion of it into the comfortable - and spacious rental unit it is today.
The Experience: Iitsuna Shrine
All I know about this place is that it exists and when I asked Byron about hiking, he was all, “there’s a shrine behind the farm.” So let’s go check it out!
The Restaurant: Barbecue
There’s a lot to be charmed by at the Nagy’s 1-2 punch of Yokomura Ecolodge and Kasamatsu Farms, part of which is located in the grilling patio they’ve set up outside of the Ecolodge. I don’t think it really needs much explaining, but just in case some of you don’t understand: it’s an outdoor space with a firepit and chairs where you can grill whatever you like for dinner and chat with friends.
That’s It For Now
So there you have it: the first ever issue of EXP that not only offers historic anecdotes on great things to do, eat, and stay at, but also gives you the opportunity to sign up for the very experience I’m recommending!
If you’ve got questions about it, feel free to shoot me a message.
And, as ever, sharing these posts around is always appreciated, so if you’ve got a spare moment and a charitable bent, feel free to send this around.