The Story of “Irokuma.” A serving of humanity, nature, and daily life in the countryside.

▲Shichirimihama Beach

Falling in Love with Humanity and the Beauty of Everyday Life 

We interviewed Yuko Inoue, the representative of "irokuma" based in Kumano City.

Ms. Inoue launched "irokuma" in November 2019, proposing a comfortable Kumano travel experience where visitors could be themselves. From 2020, she started "irokuma kids," which would provide children with opportunities to play in Kumano's nature, and "Abuden（油傳）," a homestay style guest house that utilizes an old house. 

Ms. Inoue: The rich natural landscape of Kumano is made up of beautiful colors (iro) such as the blue of the sea and the green of the mountains. I love the colors that create Kumano, so I decided to call my business "irokuma”.

Ms. Inoue is from Shizuoka Prefecture and visited Kumano for the first time in the spring of 2017 as a member of a local vitalization group. Even after her term expired, she felt that she wanted to stay here a little longer and decided to settle down.

Ms. Inoue: Kumano's "everyday life" is exceptionally beautiful. The mountains, the rivers, the sea, and the natural environment that is typical of Kumano make for some of the most heart-stirring moments you will encounter in your daily life. Also, the people you meet in Kumano are all relaxed and good-natured. Even though it is not my hometown, somehow I feel very at ease here.

▲Children in the irokuma program play on their self-built secret base 

Ms. Inoue says that she tried out various possibilities when she started her business in Kumano, focusing on the tourism industry. Making use of her language skills, she devised an English camp product for Kumano and went on a sales tour to English cram schools in Mie prefecture. Due to the prolonged Corona virus epidemic, the children were unable to visit Kumano- but it was still fun and promising to come up with products for children. Bringing smiles to children’s faces was the most rewarding experience she ever had.

It was through this experience that irokuma kids was born. Ms. Inoue`s work continues to create opportunities for children to play to their heart's content in the rich nature of Kumano and grow to love people and nature. Ms. Inoue feels that this will create a future where the people and nature of this region can coexist in harmony.
The "irokuma kids" program takes place in the great outdoors- in mountains, rivers, and seaside villages where fireflies and other living creatures can be seen. They offer a wide range of experiences such as hunting, fishing, and smoking, all guided and instructed by local people.

Ms. Inoue: I would like to use "irokuma kids" as an opportunity to connect local people with visitors. Once the Corona situation improves, I hope that children, both local and visiting, will be able to come together and enjoy themselves.

Relaying daily life in Kumano. 

▲From left to right: The Jaron family (mother and daughter), Mr. and Ms. Ogura with their son Gakkun, and Ms. Inoue.

We also talked about Abuden, a homestay style guest house.

Thanks to an introduction from someone who’s care she had been in, Ms. Inoue, who was attracted by Kumano's simple daily life and good natured locals, was able to rent a 90-year-old traditional house at the end of her original assignment to Kumano.

▲A view from the ground floor of an old house

Ms. Inoue: This place is on the road to Matsumoto-toge Pass on the Kumano Kodo (ancient road to Kumano). Ever since I first arrived in Kumano, I thought, "I like this pink, westery style mysterious house!” I thought, "If I could rent a big and nice house, I’d love to create a space where people can gather together.

Initially, Ms. Inoue was planning to use her language skills to accommodate foreign visitors to Japan at Abuden, but due to the Corona disaster, she has not yet been able to proceed as planned.

▲ Abuden’s name plate

Ms. Inoue: "Abuden" is the trade name. It seems that originally this place was home to an oil related business, and the locals called this house Abuden. I kept so that if a visitor ever needed directions, the local grandmothers and grandfathers would know where to direct them as soon as they heard the name.

The old house had been vacant for about 10 years. Little by little, it was repaired through the efforts of Ms. Inoue and a carpenter friend. Ms. Inoue's intention was to "preserve every good part of the house- not to renovate it, but to repair it," which is why there are so many traditional features in the inn.

▲A  nostalgic summer scene, a lodging room covered in mosquito netting

Ms. Inoue: Rather than doing anything specific at the inn, my goal is to be a kind of "hub" that connects people who visit here to the next place, where visitors can learn "There's this person who would be interesting to meet," or "this place is really fun, you should definitely go here”.  I would like locals to feel free to drop by and share some of the charm I feel here on a daily basis, as if it were a homestay. I would love for travelers could get a taste of the real Kumano life.

There are also plans to turn the pink, Western-style area of the building in into a library.

Inoue: Ideally, I would like to create a place where interesting things are born through books. The library will have books of all genres, such as travel know-how books, novels, comics, maps of the world, etc. I think it would be interesting if the library could become a place where travelers staying at the inn could read books, leave any books they have finished reading behind, and slowly a collection of books in various languages and genres could grow and be read by the local people. Abuden is located on the path to the local high school, so I hope it can become a place where high school students can stop by and interact with various people and cultures.

The day of these photos, we held a pizza making event at "Abuden". The pizza-making experience is a popular program with "irokuma kids," where Ms. Inoue carefully teaches the children not only how to make pizzas using local produce, but also the technical aspects of why dough rises and why things catch fire. This time the participants were members of the Ogura family and Jaron, Saya and their child. They kneaded and stretched the dough, spread the sauce on it, arranged their favorite vegetables, then baked it in the oven.

▲It was refreshing to experience making and eating our own food.

Jaron: I met Ms. Inoue through my work as an interpreter and learned about this place and its activities. I didn’t know what there was to do in my hometown for play, even though I live here, and I hope my daughter can learn more. I'm also glad that Ms. Inoue supports my daughter's play activities according to her interests.

Expanding Appeal Both Ways

Mr. Ogura, who participated in the pizza-making experience, is also a staff member of the Kinan Tour Design Center. It’s a tourist information center run by the city of Kumano, about a three-minute walk from Abuden. The center is responsible for planning Kumano tours, tourist information, exhibitions, and much more. It also serves as a base for town development.

Ms. Inoue used to be a staff member at the Kinan Tour Design Center, and she and Mr. Ogura’s close work together allows them to bring out the best in each other's projects.

Mr. Ogura：With the establishment of Abuden, we are now able to introduce each other's activities to visitors to Kumano. We’re hoping to use this facilities Kamado (hearth) in future "irokuma kids" events, and cooperate to further expand opportunities for interactive activities.

Ms. Inoue: I think that if visitors, locals, and young people all do interesting activities and connect with each other from time to time, the area as a whole will become more interesting. It would be great if we could learn to comfortably connect these dots and relationships to amplify the excitement that is Kumano. I would like "irokuma kids," "Abuden," and even myself to become a hub that allows visitors a chance to experience the people and colors of nature made me love Kumano, and to create new connections.

If you meet someone like Ms. Inoue on your first trip to a countryside town, I'm sure your trip will be a pleasant and exciting one. This is because Ms. Inoue herself is moved by the daily life here, and continues to foster human connections as she enjoys her life here. People who enjoy themselves attract others who enjoy themselves, and this chain of happy human connection will surely color and comfort the hearts of any countryside traveler.

 irokuma

　Address: 519-4323
　Phone: 090-9267-5710

irokuma: 
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/irokuma.travel.kumano

irokuma kids
　HP https://irokumakids.com/
　Facebook https://www.facebook.com/irokuma.kids/
　Instagram https://www.instagram.com/irokuma_kumanotravel/
　Twitter https://twitter.com/IrokumaK
　YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/

Abuden
　HP https://abuden.jimdosite.com

Kinan Tour Design Center
　HP https://www.kinan-tdc.com

Covering day: October 10, 2021
Written: canny (WEB Magazine OTONAMIE)
Photo: Fugamaru-chan (Mie Photo Gallery)


This article is a translation and reprint of the content created by the project of Departmentof Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Mie Prefectural Government.

Original article: https://www.sato.pref.mie.lg.jp/feature_news/