CURRENT MISSION

Globalization of rural Japan

ABOUT ME

About myself
Having spent 10 years in the French Alps, I am a strong believer of vitalizing Japanese rural area through international exchange and tourism. I am located in a small village of a mountainous Hida region of central Japan and currently I am a manager of a BBQ house/fishing and water activity base (the facility itself belongs to the city government) facing Maze river known for pristine water. My mission is to promote international/domestic tourism and exchange through authentic nature experiences in the countryside. During winter I move to Niseko Hokkaido as a ski instructor to be involved in international growth of the resort.
Ikumi, my wife
After having worked in a resort restaurant responsible for French cooking, Ikumi left for France for some time to do training to become a baker. Now she helps me for running the Fishing Center as well as bakes campagne bread and opens a small shop in Hidahagiwara once a week, where shops have been closing down in town center due to supermarkets built along the main routes. She is happy also to encounter people from different corners of the world. Ikumi is not baking this year 2012. She may resume next year.

PHILOSOPHY

Life is short and there is little time to waste.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

During winter, I move to Niseko in Hokkaido to work as a ski instructor so I cannot host. I am back in Gero middle April - middle November

From May till November, I am available to meet surfers from different areas to give suggestions for where to look for authentic country experiences and for further assistance. Especially from June till the end of August we propose activities to tourists, like fishing/gorge walking/bread making/outdoor survival/forest adventure/local cuisine making. If couchsurfers stay with us during this period, they are likely to be my test cases to international clients. Because of lack of human power it is highly possible that I ask for helping hand, including manual labor. Also I try my best to create opportunities for couchsurfers to meet other Japanese, which means tourists as well as local residents. The following is the event/activity calendar in my workplace "Fishing Center":

2012 Event Calendar
Apr to Nov - BBQ in front of the river
May to Sept - "Fishing by hand" pond
June to Sept - Gorge walking & Canyoning
May to November - Forest adventure park & tree climbing
Our place is busiest between 20 July and 20 Aug, when tourists come to our region to escape from heat of the city.
July to August - Ayu fishing first timer tuition
some videos on Youtube
http://www.youtube.com/user/rockyatmaze
some web albums on Picasa
http://picasaweb.google.com/rockyatmaze

COUCHSURFERS HELPING ENGLISH CLASSES
Thanks to presence of couchsurfers and WWoofers staying in the village, I could organize language lessons for locals. Even though Japanese study English at school for many years, not many of them speak proper English (there is something wrong in the education system). I would like to ask visitors to help locals start building up confidence by giving as many opportunities as possible for communication / exchange.

Self-built Forest adventure park in progress
Besides fishing and gorge walking, we are trying to expand our programs to include more active experiences - canyoning, tree climbing, zip line, and forest adventure park. Those with experience in this field are welcome to explore together our unlimited natural resources.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I started hosting couchsurfers in 2009.
Here is the latest report on Picasa web album.
Nov 2011 - 2 from Spain
May/June 2011 - 4 from USA
Sept 2010 - 5 from France
Aug 2010 - 1 from France, 1 from Korea, 1 from USA
July 2010 - 4 from Canada, 1 from UK, 2 from France, 2 from Holland
June 2010 - 2 from France
May 2010 - 1 from Singapore
Oct 2009 - 1 from Finland, 1 from Hongkong
Sept 2009 - 2 from Spain (they were on honeymoon!), 1 from France
Aug 2009 - 2 from France, 4 from USA,
July 2009 - 2 from France, 1 from Hungary
June 2009 - 1 from Netherlands
April 2009 - 1 from Canada, 1 from UK

I also work in cooperation with a WWOOF organic farmer in the same village, for a farming experience I suggest that you contact this person (Membership Code: 5792)

Interests

Skiing, fishing, mountaineering, gorge walking, canyoning, forest adventure (rope course and zip line), camping, survival in general, art of living in the countryside

• arts
• education
• cooking
• bbq
• baking
• running
• instructor
• walking
• shopping
• coding
• survival
• outdoor activities
• fishing
• camping
• mountaineering
• skiing
• rock climbing
• teaching
• languages
• tourism
• wwoof

Music, Movies, and Books

Old French chansons

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

It is still on the way, but 3 locals including myself are building a rope course in the forest, completely handmade. When it is done and I succeed in bringing more visitors to my village I would call it amazing.

Teach, Learn, Share

I would like to share knowledge about countryside, which is nature itself and art of living. I would like to know how non-Japanese people live in rural areas, make comparision, and prepare documentation in several languages presenting Japan's country living.

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Bulgaria, Germany, Israel, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Philippines, Romania, Russian Federation, Serbia, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

France, Japan

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