Let’s experience life in Japan’s countryside and taste brand Wagyu beef in the natural and green Taiki Town. How about making it your second hometown?

In the village, which is known as the “Furusato Mura” or “Hometown Village”, visitors can experience harvesting vegetables in the agricultural field, and the hosts are always happy to accommodate what visitors want to do, such as making “Nabemochi”, a local dish, making bread, playing in the river, or even participating in a meditation experience in a local temple.
There are many new things to try and learn in this natural and fresh environment!

The inn has catered for many guests from overseas, and it is famous for showing visitors so many ways to enjoy life in Japan’s countryside.

Arrived at a hometown village near a beautiful river surrounded by mountains. The owners, a lovely couple, greeted us with a smile at the entrance.

Guests who come for the first time will be greeted with “Irasshai” or “Welcome”, and those who have come here several times will be greeted with “Okaerinasai” or “Welcome back”, giving a warm impression of going back to one’s hometown.

We will introduce the experiences that can be done in "Hometown Village".

First, we tried harvesting some vegetables! Seasonal vegetables grown in Taiki Town’s clean air, such as peanut and cucumber, are available.

It was of course fine to harvest with bare hands. This harvesting experience is popular among children and it seems that it can change children who do not like to eat vegetables into vegetable lovers.

After pulling hard, we could harvest so many large-sized peanuts.

Did you know that peanuts are harvested like this? We learned new things about vegetables by harvesting them ourselves.

And, believe it or not, they tasted better!

Of course, you can eat the vegetables that you harvested!

Vegetables other than peanuts can also be cooked and enjoyed for dinner.
It was quite luxurious to enjoy freshly-harvested vegetables on the spot!

Freshly-boiled peanuts with just the right amount of salt! It was fragrant, warm, and tasty. Our hands just could not stop!

We smiled all the way while enjoying fragrant peanuts and being surrounded by the steam.

It can also be enjoyed with sake after dinner!

Next, we tried to make our own meals with the help of our host.

We started by cutting firewood to cook rice using the old-fashioned "kamado" stove!

Our host carefully informed us on how to split the wood. Firewood used for cooking rice is soft and easy to split, so even women can do this easily.

After the fire started, we waited for the rice to cook while blowing air from time to time and adjust the strength of the fire.

After being informed how to blow air properly, we did this while making sure that we did not inhale the hot air.

Cooking rice in such traditional way was so exciting and we could not wait for the rice to be ready!

The Hometown Village is known as the right place to “enjoy Matsusaka beef, the pride of Mie Prefecture, in a rural inn”.

Matsusaka beef is one of the three top Japanese Wagyu beef brands, and is a very popular beef brand for Japanese people, along with Kobe beef. It is famous for being so delicious, some people call it the artwork of meat.
Matsusaka cattle that are fattened in Taiki Town is called "Nanaho cattle", whose meat is known as a high-grade meat even among Matsusaka beef.
Nanaho beef is named as "Matsusaka beef" when it is shipped outside town, so it is only possible to eat beef with this name in Taiki Town.
Visitors can appreciate the luxury of Nanaho beef by enjoying it in a sukiyaki style of cooking, available with the experience plan in this inn!
*Photo is for 2 people

After the iron pot warms up, put a beef tallow into the pot, followed by meat and local vegetables.
The sound of the sizzling meat boosted our appetite!

The rice was ready while we were waiting for Sukiyaki to finish.
Steamed rice that was cooked traditionally in a kamado by using high-quality rice, which the owners are proud of, and Taiki Town’s fresh and clean water was very plump and shiny, and the taste was so much better than the usual rice.
It is excellent to be enjoyed with Matsusaka-beef Sukiyaki.

Sukiyaki was waiting for us and we were so hungry!
The tender meat that melted in our mouth tasted so good coming directly from the pot. The highly marbled Matsusaka beef matched the Sukiyaki taste so well, we could not stop our chopsticks!
This meal experience is extremely reasonable, starting from 3,980 yen per adult. There is also a plan of Matsusaka beef that is not Nanaho beef. You can also bring other ingredients for free to enjoy with the inn’s wonderful Sukiyaki meal.

Eating the luxurious Matsusaka beef in an inn was different from eating it at a fine restaurant.
There is also Matsusaka beef offal (horumon) sukiyaki, which is a popular dish among women because it becomes soft and easy to eat after simmering. Some people may think that offal is hard to chew, but Matsusaka beef offal was soft and melted in the mouth!

After meal, it’s time to make dessert! So, we tried making nabemochi!
Nabemochi preparation started by putting in soybeans into a stone grinder to make soybean flour.
Although the grinder was very heavy, we rotated it while having fun with friends and made a lot of flour!

Nabemochi, which is also known as regional sweets from Mie Prefecture, is said to get its name from the old way of making it inside a pot.
By mixing it with mugwort, the dough smelled so nice and fresh.

After putting in bean paste and making dough balls, we finished the process by mixing the balls with soybean flour that we made earlier!
It was quite hard to make fresh mochi by using fragrant and high-quality flour that we made ourselves!
Each nabemochi that we made was very large and tasted gentle like wormwood. It is delicious local sweets that can be even be enjoyed by children and the elderly to feel the atmosphere of a natural village.
Please try and enjoy making it!

After so many activities, it was good to spend time relaxing in a spacious room! We recovered from our daily stress fatigue in a relaxing space.
A brazier and a shoji paper, a sliding door, cushions, etc... Many people may feel a nostalgic smell as if they went back to their grandmother's house in a countryside. The inn can accommodate many people, so it is popular for group travels.
Guest can choose whether to stay in a room with beds or futon mattresses. The place was fun to explore because it has so many different rooms.

Before going to bed, visitors can also go to the town's hot spring to enjoy its large public bath!
It is a nostalgic hot spring, located inside the building of a closed elementary school.
Also, inside the classrooms of hot springs that are located closed elementary school building, such as Aso Onsen, visitors can wear Japanese student uniform or enjoy Japanese school lunch.
Let’s make some unique memories for your trip! For details, please contact the Taiki Town Regional Activation Council.

In the following morning, we said our farewell to our hosts with a slightly sad feeling.
When they waved at us with a gentle smile while saying, "Please come again!", We felt that we have made our second hometown in Japan, and I could not wait to come back. Many of their guests are repeaters.
Why do not you visit Hometown Village and its warm owners to enjoy nature, learn new experiences, play and have a good time?

Taiki Town, Japan's best Hometown Village
Address: 974-2 Kanawa, Taiki Town, Watarai-gun, Mie Prefecture

How to get there
By public transport: Your host will pick you by car up from JR Taki station or JR Kawazoe station
By car: Approximately 15 minutes from “Seiwataki” exit on Ise Expressway

Accommodation Fee
Adult: 5,000 yen per person (excluding tax)
Elementary school student: 3,000 yen per person (excluding tax)
Infant (3 years old or older) 2,000 yen per person (excluding tax)
*Experience activities require additional fees