This Mountain Village in Japan Should Be Dying. Why Isn't It?

Overview

Chris Broad and Natsuki take a three-day road trip through the remote Akaishi Mountains of Shizuoka, beyond Mount Fuji. Their journey challenges the idea that rural Japan is inevitably abandoned and declining. They encounter well-kept tea farms, welcoming communities, unusual attractions, and people building lives in the countryside—though the region still faces depopulation.

Travel Highlights

• Okuizumi Station: An isolated railway stop on a narrow strip of land over a lake. Chris and Natsuki hike through the forest to reach it, watch a train arrive, and see Natsuki wave to passengers.
• Yume no Tsuribashi (“Dream Bridge”): They cross a narrow, swaying suspension bridge during thunder and lightning. The crossing is memorable but frightening.
• The “Machu Picchu of Shizuoka”: After a long detour along mountain roads, they reach a remote village whose homes and meticulously tended tea fields create a striking view.
• Yamamoto-san’s warehouse: They explore a packed second-hand warehouse filled with Japanese household goods and collectibles, barter for souvenirs, and receive a “power stone.”
• Utogi and Umegashima: The trip ends in Utogi, a secluded settlement associated with the discovery and cultivation of wasabi around 400 years ago. Nearby, in Umegashima, they stay at a traditional inn and enjoy a hot spring.

What Rural Life Is Like

Claire and Shiro, an American-Japanese couple who moved from the greater Tokyo area to Kawanehon, describe both the rewards and demands of country living.

Benefits include a slower pace, beautiful surroundings, close relationships with neighbors, and a strong sense of community. While the couple’s house was being renovated, neighbors brought them meals and offered them use of a shower.

Trade-offs include long drives to essential services, such as a hospital or clinic, and even to the vet. Nightlife is limited, and residents regularly encounter wildlife, including deer, boar, monkeys, snakes, and insects.

Community support also brings reciprocal responsibilities. Rural life is not necessarily solitary or leisurely: residents may be invited to communal activities and are expected to contribute as well as accept help.

Tea, Wasabi, and Food

• The video suggests tea farming can make small mountain plots more economically viable than rice. It cites roughly ¥2 million in gross output per hectare for tea, compared with about ¥1.1 million for rice.
• A well-kept landscape does not necessarily indicate a stable population. Because tea is a perennial crop, a small number of aging farmers can maintain fields even as a village empties.
• Wasabi needs cool, steady, mineral-rich water and can take 18 months to three years to grow, making mountain streams and communities well suited to cultivation.
• At their inn, Chris and Natsuki try freshly grated wasabi, which they find genuinely spicy but fresh-tasting. They also eat Shamo chicken, described as firm and flavorful, and sample shochu mixed with wasabi.

Notable Locations, People, and Products

• Locations: Akaishi Mountains (South Japan Alps), Shizuoka, Okuizumi Station, Yume no Tsuribashi, Kawanehon, Utogi, and Umegashima.
• People: Chris Broad, Natsuki, Claire and Shiro, and Yamamoto-san.
• Products and food: Shizuoka tea, fresh wasabi, Shamo chicken, wasabi shochu, second-hand goods from Yamamoto-san’s warehouse, and Journey Japan eSIM, which is promoted during the video.