{"id":2442,"date":"2026-02-01T04:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-02-01T03:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/userblogs.fu-berlin.de\/urban-rural-migration-japan\/?p=2442"},"modified":"2025-11-26T09:40:28","modified_gmt":"2025-11-26T08:40:28","slug":"a-fieldtrip-to-hokuto-country-lodges-wine-and-sake","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/userblogs.fu-berlin.de\/urban-rural-migration-japan\/2026\/02\/01\/a-fieldtrip-to-hokuto-country-lodges-wine-and-sake\/","title":{"rendered":"A fieldtrip to Hokuto: Country lodges, wine and sake"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

by Cornelia Reiher<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In October, my dear friend and geographer Yoko Iijima invited me on a trip to Hokuto in Yamanashi Prefecture. She often takes her students there on geography field trips (junken<\/em>). We met in the morning at Shinjuku Bus Terminal and then took the bus to K\u014dfu, the capital of Yamanashi Prefecture. In K\u014dfu, we rented a car to get to Hokuto. Hokuto is a place that is very popular with city dwellers looking to escape the urban environment. I was excited about this trip because I had previously read an article about urban-rural migration to Hokuto (Takahashi et al. 2021). After lunch featuring the local specialty h\u014dt\u014d<\/em>, a noodle soup and popular regional dish from Yamanashi, we drove on to discover what makes Hokuto so appealing for city dwellers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Yamanashi Prefecture is collaborating with the anime series \u201cmono\u201d to promote tourism.<\/em>
Copyright \u00a9 Cornelia Reiher 2025<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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On our way to Hokuto, we first stopped in Kiyosato, a formerly popular resort town with many fairytale-like buildings, many of which now stand empty. If the weather had been better, we might have been able to see Mount Fuji from Kiyosato, but unfortunately it was cloudy that day. At the station, we discovered displays of characters from the manga and anime \u201cmono,\u201d which is set in various locations in Yamanashi Prefecture. Therefore, the Yamanashi Prefecture Tourism Association has incorporated the anime into its tourism promotion campaign and organized tourism events centered around the characters, such as hikes, stamp rallies, and merchandising items in collaboration with the anime series.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The supposedly best lettuce in Japan grows on the Nobeyama Plateau.<\/em>
Copyright \u00a9 Cornelia Reiher 2025<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hokuto is located on the border with Nagano Prefecture, and as the weather cleared up, we crossed the prefectural border to visit the famous lettuce fields on the Nobeyama Plateau. The average altitude of 1,000 m on the Nobeyama Plateau allows for favorable conditions to grow vegetables. It increases the temperature difference between day and night, and plenty of sunlight falls on the open ground. The lettuce and celery grown in this environment have the highest market share in Japan and are also highly praised for their quality. Local farmers maintain traditional farming methods on the plateau, growing vegetables and maintaining pastures in this high-altitude environment. In addition to vegetables, sheep are also raised on the Nobeyama Plateau.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A sheep farm on the Nobeyama Plateau<\/em>
Copyright \u00a9 Cornelia Reiher 2025<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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After visiting Nobeyama Plateau, we headed to our accommodation for the night in Hokuto. Passing second homes where city dwellers had arrived to spend their weekend outside the city and had already lit their campfires and barbecues, we drove through Hokuto. The accommodation we stayed in was a lodge for residents of Tokyo’s Shinjuku ward. Many of Tokyo’s 23 wards own hotels, lodges, or cabins in the countryside, often referred to as \u201cresidents\u2019 health villages,\u201d which can be rented at low cost by residents of the ward or city (Hoy 2018). We stayed in a large 1980s hotel with a swimming pool, onsen<\/em>, and other amenities on a spacious site in the mountains. Together with the predominantly elderly guests, we enjoyed the delicious yet inexpensive meals, the peace and quiet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Grapes in Yamanashi<\/em>
Copyright \u00a9 Cornelia Reiher 202<\/em>5<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

On the second day of our excursion, we visited a sake<\/em> brewery and a winery in Hokuto. The sake<\/em> brewery is located on the Koshu Kaido, one of the famous five routes connecting Edo with the outer provinces. The brewery has been producing one of Japan’s finest sakes for 300 years. The high quality of the sake<\/em> is due in particular to the clear water of Mount Kaikoma, one of the highest mountains in the Southern Japanese Alps. As Yamanashi is Japan’s most traditional and well-known wine region, we also visited a winemaker, where we were able to tour the winery and taste the wine. Before returning to K\u014dfu Station to catch our bus back to Tokyo, we visited Senga-taki, a waterfall in the north of K\u014dfu. This impressive waterfall surrounded by high mountains was a fitting end to our trip.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Senga-taki, an impressive waterfall in northern K\u014dfu<\/em>
Copyright \u00a9 Cornelia Reiher 2025<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In summary, Yamanashi Prefecture, and Hokuto-shi in particular, are interesting places with countless points of reference for comparative studies on urban-rural migration and rural revitalization initiatives in the areas of tourism and agriculture. The scenic beauty and proximity to Tokyo are just two of many reasons why Hokuto in particular is popular with urban-rural migrants and second home owners. The good water quality and favorable weather also play an important role. The above makes Hokuto especially attractive for urban migrants in their 30s and 40s who value the city as a favorable child-rearing environment. (Takahashi et al. 2021). Thank you, Yoko Iijima, for taking me there!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

References<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Selena Hoy (2018),\u201cCountryside Lodges in Japan: Holidays Subsidized by Your Ward Office,\u201d November 15th, 2018 | in Tokyo Cheapo<\/em>,\u00a0 https:\/\/tokyocheapo.com\/travel\/holidays\/cheap-country-getaways-tokyo\/<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Takahashi, Yasuo, et al. (2021), “Diverse values of urban-to-rural migration: A case study of Hokuto City, Japan,” Journal of Rural Studies<\/em> 87, 292-299.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Cornelia Reiher In October, my dear friend and geographer Yoko Iijima invited me on a trip to Hokuto in Yamanashi Prefecture. She often takes her students there on geography field trips (junken). We met in the morning at Shinjuku … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3214,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[91],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2442","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-allgemein"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/userblogs.fu-berlin.de\/urban-rural-migration-japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2442","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/userblogs.fu-berlin.de\/urban-rural-migration-japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/userblogs.fu-berlin.de\/urban-rural-migration-japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/userblogs.fu-berlin.de\/urban-rural-migration-japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3214"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/userblogs.fu-berlin.de\/urban-rural-migration-japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2442"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/userblogs.fu-berlin.de\/urban-rural-migration-japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2442\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2448,"href":"https:\/\/userblogs.fu-berlin.de\/urban-rural-migration-japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2442\/revisions\/2448"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/userblogs.fu-berlin.de\/urban-rural-migration-japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2442"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/userblogs.fu-berlin.de\/urban-rural-migration-japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2442"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/userblogs.fu-berlin.de\/urban-rural-migration-japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2442"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}