Expectations vs. Reality

I’d always thought that I had a good understanding about Japan. I had taken various classes in high school, and many of my relatives are either from Japan, speak Japanese, or continue practicing various traditions. Coming on this trip, I expected to be experiencing the high tech life often shown in movies. I thought dining would be facilitated by robots, almost everything being automated, with technology and anime themes everywhere. I didn’t expect to experience the countryside, much less fall in love with the villages in Nagano, where there was no Wi-Fi, freezing temperatures, and slippery roads.

I expected country life to be slow, especially compared to busy Tokyo life. Farming had never peaked my interest, as I had always pictured it as hard, dirty work with large machines, but I didn’t expect it to be fun, or such a large part of the country’s economy. While staying with the Miyazaki family for our homestay, we had the opportunity to go to an apple orchard and pick fruit from the Miyazaki family apple tree. There was nothing like eating apples fresh off the tree, surrounded by the snowcapped Japanese Alps. The apples were the largest, sweetest apples I have ever tasted; you could practically taste the love that went into growing them. We also had the opportunity to see the many farms and produce along the way. It seemed that every house had a garden in their yard for fruits and vegetables or water patties in the back for rice. Entire farms were managed by small families, so there was little use of heavy equipment and much attention to detail. The village of Hakuba, where students experienced their homestay, along with many other villages throughout Nagano, are large contributors to Japan’s overall agriculture, and are considered top contributors in many different vegetables, wasabi, apples, and blueberries. For areas that seem so small and homey, I was amazed to find out that so much production was being done.

Although we were only in Nagano for a couple days, we felt welcomed like family, but it made leaving Nagano bittersweet. I feel so blessed to have had this experience with everyone. From this experience I have come to love Japan’s natural beauty and the hospitality of the Japanese people, and can’t wait to visit our homestay families again soon. Anyone else ready to make the trip back?