Narai-juku is a quaint post town that is located in present-day Shiojiri City, a mountainous region in southern Nagano. This nationally designated architectural preservation site is part of the Nakasendo Trail which used to be a 534-kilometer-long route connecting Kyoto and Tokyo in Edo Period.

So you landed in Japan on an ESL grant or some other job, hoping that you might be able to live in Tokyo or Yokohama, but instead you were posted in some one-horse town in the boonies. How can you make your days in the countryside a worthwhile experience?

It is amazingly wonderful to wander down country lanes and drink in the absolutely beautiful, peaceful, rural scenery.

People might wonder–why take the trouble to forage when vegetables can be easily purchased? The answer lies in a deep rooted part of the rural life-style and traditional Japanese cuisine which involves eating seasonal foods.

Welcome to the rural Japanese kitchen, which is the essence and heart of the home in rural Japan. It is far more than just a place to prepare the family meals.

It is important that you think very carefully, if you are coming to live and work in Japan for the first time, about where you would like to live. Are you a city dweller or a countryside rambler?

Taking slower trains allows you not only the time to relax and unwind...but it also allows you to reconnect with nature and remind yourself of just how beautiful a country Japan really is.

If you are seeking to experience the older side of Japan away from the cities, here are my top 15 recommendations of what Gifu has to offer for your next visit!

About 2.5 hours from Hiroshima, there is a little village named Jinsekikogen, which is surround by mountains Mt. Hoshinoko and Mt. Ryuo, that makes the view from this village really stunning! One of the villagers Sanae, wanted to make the village come alive again, so then she established a little—actually big—bread shop and called it Roti Harapan.

When you’re ready for a change of pace from the congestion of Tokyo, nothing beats the beautiful countryside around Tateyama on the Bōsō Peninsula in Chiba prefecture.

If you are in the Fukuoka City area during early to mid June and want to have a genuinely magical firefly viewing experience- an overnight stay in the countryside town of Nogatashi is an awesome experience!

One of my first experiences of rural Japanese life, and both the attributes and limitations thereof, came in 2008 when I made the move from the bright lights, glitz and glamour of Tokyo, to the gentle farmlands of rural Okayama.