Mariko's Travelogue #2 (Oyama Story)
Community Travel’s Japan tours explore places little known to tourists. For example, we visit venues such as an historic Buddhist community, a serene fishing village on a remote island, or a pottery hamlet in the mountains. We visit these non-touristy places because we love meeting people. We enjoy learning from them their traditions, history, and local arts and crafts. Sometimes while talking with our hosts, we discover amazing human dramas. I’d like to share one such story with you.
Oyama is a small town in Oita prefecture in Kyushu. About 90% of the town’s area is covered by forest. Small arable patches of land are found in the valley and on hillsides. The residents occupy 1100 households, of which 70 percent are engaged in agriculture. Today, Oyama is known as one of the most successful farming communities in Kyushu. The Oyama farmers earn about twice as much as the average farmer.
However, Oyama used to be one of the poorest villages in Kyushu up until about 50 years ago. With small plots of land, farmers could hardly make a living by agriculture. They had to supplement their meager income by logging. The development of mechanized corporate logging in the 1960’s, however, eliminated most villagers' jobs in the industry and the community’s economic distress deepened.
When Mr. Harumi Yahata took office as mayor of Oyama in 1961, the situation seemed hopeless. Yahata’s response to the villagers’ despair was to propose drastic economic reforms. He urged the farmers to abandon rice cultivation and instead plant plum and chestnut, which could thrive in Oyama’s marginal lands. The villagers listened in disbelief as he told them, “If Oyama farmers plant plum and chestnut, they can get rich and take vacations in Hawaii!” In the 1960’s, few Japanese could travel abroad, much less impoverished farmers. The audacious idea caught their fancy, though, and they took up the proposal with enthusiasm. To everyone’s astonishment, within 5 years they were able to send the first of many groups of vacationers to Hawaii.
One Oyama farmer talked about those days with great excitement. “Mayor Yahata believed in reforms from the bottom-up. He shared his philosophy, wisdom and plans with us and gave us lessons in modern agribusiness. The whole village would gather in the community hall nightly to discuss the future of Oyama with the mayor. We felt as if we were all taking part in an ‘Oyama Revolution’. It was so exciting. “
Under Yahata’s strong leadership, farming changed steadily in Oyama. They started produce farming, selling fruit and vegetables directly to consumers in farmer-owned markets. They also started food processing, making pickles, jam, dry fruit, and spices. Oyama’s products soon became so popular that they were featured in the mass media, and supermarkets in Fukuoka City (Kyushu’s largest city) set up special corners for Oyama products. Also successful was a restaurant, Konohana Garten, which offers Oyama home cooking; that operation would blossom into a chain with more than a dozen locations in nearby towns.
Oyama also takes pride in its well-developed public services and social security system. . Oyama residents enjoy excellent health care and recreation facilities, libraries, child care, senior centers, and culture centers.
Mayor Yahata, a world traveler himself, has encouraged many to travel overseas to broaden their vision. A generous scholarship fund was established to enable students to advance their education. The town has sponsored international exchange programs with communities throughout the world. Most notably, they recently celebrated the 40th anniversary of exchange with an Israeli kibbutz. Seventy percent of Oyama residents have passports. Every year, more than 500 people from abroad and elsewhere in Japan come to the village for green tourism to enjoy farm visits and homestays.
Revered by the villagers, Mr. Yahata passed away in 1990. His legacy is still vibrantly alive among the villagers.
For the past five years, CTS Kyushu tour members have visited Oyama. We divide ourselves into groups of two or three people to visit farmers’ houses and have lunch with the families. The farmers speak little English and most of our tour members speak no Japanese. Even so, everyone enjoys meaningful heart-to-heart communication. Many of our past participants have cited Oyama as providing their most memorable experience in Japan.
Mariko
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Mariko's Travelogue #1 (Tohoku Scouting Trip, May 31 - June 7, 2008)
In April and May, I conducted three Japan tours: two Kyushu tours and one Shikoku tour, with a short rest stateside in between. The tours were very successful; the participants enjoyed their travels thoroughly.
After the tours, I made a scouting trip in the Tohoku (northeast) region of Japan. I traveled with a 7 Day Japan Rail Pass, which allows unlimited rides of Japan Railways for 7 consecutive days. I visited Hanamaki, Morioka, Ichinohe, Hachinoe, Aomori, Hirosaki, Lake Towada, Oirase River, and Mt. Hakkota. When I grew tired of walking, I just hopped on a train to enjoy the passing scenery: lovely coastlines, sprawling rice fields, and lush mountains covered with maple, bamboo or beech.
The natural beauty of Tohoku was enchanting, but the towns and villages proved a little disappointing. I could not help recognizing that the old Japan I have long sought has been rapidly disappearing. Westernization and urbanization are taking its toll on the lifestyles of even the most remote locations in Japan. Small neighborhood stores that once gave towns such warmth and character are steadily shutting down as people flock to suburban shopping malls and large discount outlets. Tohoku used to be known for its excellent traditional handcrafts such as basketry, lacquer, woodwork, and weaving. These fine works have been largely been replaced by mass-produced goods.
However, as I research the region, I was to discover that there are still local people dedicated to preserving folkcrafts and Tohoku’s way of life. One such individual is Ms. Yoko Tanaka, who opened a craft shop specializing in Tohoku handcrafts twenty years ago by Lake Towada. She encourages local craft artisans to produce crafts that will be useful in modern life. She says that Tohoku’s crafts are much more than simple utility wares; they embody a vital message from the people of the past, who lived in harmony with the natural environment.
While many young people leave Tohoku to live and work in large cities, their counterparts in the town of Oga have bonded together in locally based activism as the Oga Taiko Drum Ensemble. Oga is famed for its Namahage festival, in which persons in the guise of demons (namahage) make the rounds of households to dispel evil spirits. In recent years, however, declining population of the region has left the future of this festival in doubt. In order to revitalize the tradition, the ensemble members don Namahage masks to perform Taiko. Their performance on the beach at twilight is a powerful expression of the soul of Tohoku. No traveler in Tohoku should miss it.
It is always the ‘people’ of Japan, their energy and positive outlook that I am interested in introducing to visitors from abroad. It may take a few more scouting trips before our Tohoku tour is ready. I am very inspired to craft a unique Tohoku tour. I will keep you posted.
