We are Shimotsukata Furusato Ōentai — about 70 households in the hills of southern Miyazaki, growing citrus, gathering around fire, and looking after the place we call home.
Far from the city, on terraced rice fields ringed by mountains, a community is quietly writing its own future — and you are welcome to come and see it.
Here is a little of what happens here.
Mini-trucks park along the narrow farm roads and open their beds into tiny shops — vegetables, fruit, tea, and conversation, with the mountains looking on. A whole village turned into a market for a day.
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Our warm southern climate ripens a fragrant Meyer-type lemon we call the Nichinan lemon. We grow it, pick it, and have begun bringing it all the way to Tokyo — a small fruit carrying a whole region's name.
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This summer we begin something simple: every Saturday evening, a small campfire beneath the carp-streamer pole on the hilltop. Rain or wind, the light will be there — so anyone can say, "on Saturday nights, there's a fire up there."
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A 400-year-old cedar, struck by lightning in 2024, still stands alive beside our local shrine. Before it falls, we take its life — and distill it into gin, alongside this year's Meyer lemon harvest. This is not logging. This is the inheritance of time.
Read more →Like many rural communities in Japan, ours faces a shrinking, ageing population. Rather than wait, our residents chose to act — caring for farmland, making the most of local resources, and supporting daily life — so this place can be passed on, full of smiles, to the next generation.
Whether you're a traveller, a journalist, a fellow farmer, or simply someone who'd like to visit — reach out. We welcome questions, visits, and stories.