Warm welcome in remote places

Kii Nagashima is a region off the beaten track. It’s main source of income has been farming and agriculture. Like most rural areas, the young leave for education and don’t come back because there are no jobs. This has not been the case for two young men. They work in IT so once they were established in their industry, they returned and are now trying to revitalise their village with tourism.

People of this region are proud of their area ,culture and traditions. We were invited into the home of one lady. Her walls are paper , doors are moveable screens, and ventilation between rooms is through decorative vents made in wood just under the ceiling.
She explained that the hat brides wear on their wedding day is called a horn hat….to hide the horns the bride may show later if her husband is disagreeable. She had a Shinto and a Buddhist shrine. This she said was to cover all bases because Buddhist believe in an afterlife.Most houses have a narrow ,almost hidden ,steep staircase that would have been for servants in past times.

Now if you not too exhausted, there is a shadow puppet to experience that is special to this region. Paper screens are perfect for this. Once evil turtles came and invaded the water near the village. They took children and fishermen.A samurai came on a horse and was attacked by the evil turtle. It’s arm was cut off by the samurai  who put it on display. One night the evil turtle came and begged for his arm and in return he would ensure that the Samurai, his family and descendants would never drown or be short of fish. A descendant of the samurai is still in the town and was a fisherman.

Its lunch time. If you want to eat, you must make Soba noodles from buckwheat and flour. It takes time but you can do it!

Did you leave room for dessert, you are going strawberry picking and then tonight a barbecue of fish and oysters. The local people have invited you…..then you can roll into bed. Enjoy this wonderful hospitality!