Jike Hometown Village 寺家ふるさと村 [Jike furusato mura] -- Part 1

On October 25th, I participated in a lecture offered by an international women's group based in Tokyo. The group met in the countryside of Kanagawa to enjoy learning about 炭 [su mi], or charcoal. 

In Japan, charcoal has many uses, far beyond our usual image (barbecuing/ campfires). Let's look around the Hometown Village and learn more about sumi.

The village is located about a 15 minute bus ride from Aoba-Dai Station on the Den-en-Toshi train line. From the final stop, you can walk, following this sign:

The village is used as a "learning farm". Children from various elementary schools in surrounding areas visit the farm to plant and harvest their own rice. Students learn about and use traditional tools too -- not the automatic machines we see today -- to harvest the rice. (An example of the knife, called 竃 [kama] used to cut the rice is HERE.)

Our group walked past many of these harvested rice fields...

Harvested rice, drying:

At the main information center, an outdoor bulletin board contained all the birds and bugs one could find in the village:

View of the information center's wood window panels: 

Inside, were displays of woven baskets...

 ....and cages for catching bugs:

On display was something very shocking: preserved snakes!!

A close up... just in time for Halloween. Ew.

The tag reads: Shi-ma hebi = Japanese Striped Snake (wiki page is HERE)

There is still much to share ...and we'll focus on learning about sumi in the next post. See you soon! ^_^

~Information~

Jike Furusato Mura (=Jike Hometown Village) is located near Aoba-Dai Station on the Den-en-Toshi line. Map & info is HERE. (Via Yokohama City -- Japanese only). 

Access: 
1. Den-en-Toshi line from Shibuya to Aoba-Dai Station. Change to bus #30 or 31 (at bus stop #1). 
2. Odakyu Line from Shinjuku to Kakio Station. Change to Odakyu Bus #25. 
For both buses, get off at "Shiki no ie" 四季の家. 
Travel time: about 15 minutes. Buses accept Pasmo & Suica cards. 


United Nations University graduate students also visited this village. Click HERE to read more in English.

~~ Special Bonus! ~~
I met one lady in the group from Norway. As she whipped out her phone to take photos, I just had to share her phone cover. This style (rhinestones) is very popular among teens and young adults in Japan. Some ambitious girls will glue the rhinestones themselves, one-by-one, while others (like V from Norway), buy the completed cover at a shop. The cost? ¥300. ($3) 

Ms. V's sparkling iphone cover: