Bessō Takigahara
Foraging, Fermenting and Seasonal Cooking
An edible retreat in the Japanese countryside
| Location | Takigahara / 滝ヶ原 |
|---|---|
| Dates | August 21 – 30, 2026 |
| Cost | $2,950 USD |
This program is an insight into the source of our food and an opportunity to learn from the symbiotic relationship that exists between humans, the land and the sea in Takigahara village.
Description ↯
Spend 10 days living in step with the edible landscape of Takigahara: a rural community in Japan where people coexist with nature, and neither the mountains nor the long culture of food cultivation has moved for centuries.
From chopsticks to ingredients, together we will build a meal from our surroundings — foraging edible plants, fermenting seasoning, making noodles from seaweed, carving bamboo, and embracing the practice of seasonal cooking.
We learn from the people who live here: Ako, artist and chicken farmer; Anna, food educator and fermenter; Miwa-san, ama diver; Nari-san, bamboo artisan; Ariya, Buddhist priestess and language teacher; and many others. What we make across the 10 days becomes the meal we share on our final night — a feast for each other and everyone we've met, served at a concept restaurant we design together.
To root ourselves more deeply in place, we'll take part in Japanese language and culture workshops with Ariya, as well as a writing salon in place-based creative non-fiction with Astray's editor Jam. We'll also hand-cover journals from washi paper we make ourselves — pages to fill with recipes, stories, Japanese phrases, drawings, maps, scraps of conversation.
One morning, we'll ascend the local mountain guided by Lucy, founder of Open Country. Each night, we'll dine on meals prepared from our surroundings by chef Takuto and hunter Maya: a Hokkaido pair whose work traces the full journey from land to plate.
Held in a locally owned and beautifully restored farmhouse at the foot of Kurakake-yama, this program is designed in deep collaboration with the villagers who welcome us to learn from them — and invite us to share our knowledge too.
Guests sleep in shared accommodation furnished by some of the greats of contemporary design: Zaha Hadid, Achille Castiglioni, Eero Saarinen, Jasper Morrison. Japanese breakfasts are served each morning, fresh eggs courtesy of Ako's flock.
Takigahara Farm also has an on-site café, a natural wine bar, a sauna and bath overlooking the forest, and plenty of pockets of wilderness to wander and swim.
16 places only.
Satoumi + Satoyama ↯
In the Japanese language, sato (里) means village, umi (海) means ocean and yama (山) means mountain.
Over thousands of years, the harmonious coexistence of people and nature in parts of Japan has created irreplaceable ecosystems that are deeply intertwined with human well-being and biological diversity: satoumi (sea villages) and satoyama (mountain villages).
Ishikawa – the scenic and fertile prefecture Takigahara is located in – is home to both, giving way to a mosaic of terrain: mountain, forest, sea and flatland.
In practising and preserving these precious ecosystems, villagers maintain a deep and interdependent connection with the land and the sea: growing rice and vegetables, farming chickens, foraging edible wild plants, hunting boar, harvesting salt, fishing in moderation and tending to seagrass beds.
In 2015, Japanese designer Teruo Kurosaki visited Takigahara to investigate its moss gardens. As well as a charming village with a rich spirit and dwindling population, Kurosaki-san found an abandoned farmhouse – which he then renovated, furnished and transformed into a community space.
"It is my hope," Kurosaki-san explains, "that other cities and people will hear this and come here to learn. Then it becomes a kind of movement, a new type of village for the future."
In contemplating a sustainable tomorrow on a liveable planet, we believe there is so much knowledge to glean from Takigahara village and satoumi-satoyama lifestyle: from the value of seasonal eating to an awareness that mutually-beneficial relationships can, do and must exist between humans and the natural world.
This philosophy is especially true for those of us who live in urban and suburban environments where connections like this have largely been severed.
Inclusions ↯
- Return pickup from local train station
- 9 nights shared accommodation at Takigahara Farm
- 9 breakfasts and 8 dinners
- 3 Japanese language and cultural classes
- Bamboo chopstick-making workshop
- Ama-san (women-diver) field trip
- Tokoroten noodle-making workshop
- Washi paper-making workshop
- Creative non-fiction writing workshop
- Fermenting workshop
- Guided foraging walk
- Guided hike to Mt Kurakake summit
- Summer vegetable cooking workshop
- Note: One dinner and all lunches will be self-catered
Meals ↯
Breakfast will be served each day, eaten together in the communal dining room. It will be Japanese-style (which makes for easier gluten-free catering), and will feature fresh eggs from Ako's flock, who roam the farm throughout the day.
With the exception of our rest day and the final evening when we cook for each other, dinner will be prepared for us each night by Maya and Takuto.
Coming from Hokkaido, the pair spent last autumn in Takigahara hunting and cooking wild meats for the community and fell in love with the place ~ so asked if they could return to cater for this season of Bessō. We were honoured to oblige.
Maya is a hunter who primarily works with Hokkaido sika deer. She enters the mountains, takes life, prepares the meat, and brings it to the table – and throughout that entire process, continues to reflect on the relationship between eating and the Earth.
Drawing on perspectives that emerge from the hunting field, Maya is a writer too, weaving stories of food and locality with the intention of sparking dialogue. At the same time, she works to connect other hunters with the wider world, creating spaces where chefs, artists, researchers, and more can intersect.
Takuto is a chef who, like Maya, has a life rooted in Hokkaido, but he also spends many of his days in Ibaraki: a farming region near Tokyo known for its fermentation culture. By tuning into the countryside, Takuto questions what contemporary cuisine should look like and how the land speaks through what we eat.
Schedule ↯
Day 1: yōkoso | welcome
Day 2: washi to nikki | paper & journal-making
Day 3: yasou to katari | wild plants & storytelling
Day 4: ama san to totoroken | women divers & seaweed noodle
Day 5: yama | mountain
Day 6: kyūsoku | rest
Day 7: haiku to shio koji | poetry & fermentation
Day 8: ohashi | chopsticks
Day 9: natsu no aji | taste of spring
Day 10: ja ne | goodbye
Accommodation ↯
For the duration of our time in the village, we will be housed in Takigahara's Craft & Stay facilities, which are the central nervous system of the farm. This 130-year-old double-storey house has been renovated for modern comfort and is a space where traditional art informs contemporary design choices.
Roomy, high-ceilinged and made with original farmhouse timbers, the guest bedroom is located on the second floor – housing 16 sleeping nooks in bunk-bed style. Each bed comes with a curtain partition for privacy. There are three toilets and two showers.
We get that as adults you may not have shared a room for a long time, if ever, but this communal living is part of the project. There's something about brushing your teeth alongside your neighbour that encourages communication, compromise and mutual understanding.
Guests are welcome to roam the open land, hike the mountains and swim in the nearby streams, which are all shared with the people of Takigahara Village. Within the farm grounds also sits a natural wine bar, open to all. Then there's Takigahara Cafe: a local eatery selling lunch, light meals, coffee and drinks throughout the day; it's an unofficial community centre and a great place to meet and chat with locals.
Getting There ↯
Takigahara Craft & Stay is located on Takigahara Farm, at O-66 Takigahara, Komatsu-shi, Ishikawa Prefecture.
Currently, the best way to reach Komatsu is by train or a flight from Tokyo.
Flight: Several airlines operate flights between Tokyo (Haneda Airport or Narita Airport) and Komatsu Airport (KMQ). Flight durations are relatively short – around 1 to 1.5 hours. From there, it's an hour by train and bus to our pickup location.
Train: If coming from Tokyo, take the Hokuriku Shinkansen (bullet train) from Tokyo Station or Ueno Station to Kagaonsen Station. The journey takes approximately 3 hours.
Car: If you decide to drive, parking onsite is available; you can rent a car in Tokyo and take the Hokuriku Expressway to reach Komatsu. The journey by car will take roughly 6 to 8 hours, depending on traffic. Do be aware that road tolls in Japan are expensive.
FAQ ↯
What's Takigahara like this time of year?
Our program takes place during the lush Japanese summer, when the surrounding mountains and rice paddies are at their most vibrant. Days are warm and humid, with temperatures around 28–33 °C, so pack light layers, bathers to swim in the gorgeous creeks, and something waterproof for the occasional afternoon shower.
How do I apply?
Fill in a contact form at the bottom of this page telling us a little about who you are and why you're keen to participate in this program. We will strive to get back to you within two working days via email, and one of our organisers will tee up a quick phone call so that we can become human to each other, answer any questions you may have, and make sure we're the right fit for each other.
I have specific access/support needs; how will you accommodate me?
We're always up for a chat about what you need to feel supported, and have welcomed many folks in the past with specific needs: wheelchair users, d/Deaf participants, people with autism and sensory sensitivities, and mums with toddlers in tow. Basically, we just want to make sure your time with us is possible and pleasurable, so just get in touch by filling in a contact form or by emailing besso@astray.com.au, and we can go from there!
Do I need any foraging or cooking experience?
Absolutely not. This program is for anyone curious about food — where it comes from, how it's made, and what it means to eat seasonally and intentionally. Whether you've never cooked a day in your life or you're a seasoned home cook, you'll get something out of it.
How does payment work?
A $750USD non-refundable deposit is needed to secure your place, then the rest is due six weeks before the program starts. We're happy to be flexible with payment plans if you need one. We accept bank transfers to our American bank accounts, and we also have WISE, which in our experience is the cheapest and easiest way to make international transfers (we're a US company). We can also accept credit card payments via Stripe, but you will have to cover the credit-cardfees.
Are scholarships available?
Though all our other programs offer supported places – our feminist forum in Nepal, our zinemaking in Tokyo, and our month-long journalism programs all over the world, this retreat takes paid guests only. This is because there are so many collaborators involved, and the profits from this program go towards supporting making our political education more accessible.
Where can I read reviews?
People document their time with us in all sorts of ways, and we have a collection of testimonials in various forms here.
Apply
We are looking to assemble a diverse group of community-minded folks who wish to gain a deeper understanding of food provenance, re/connect with the natural world and travel in a way that is slow, respectful and sustainable.
At Astray, we are determined to foster a space that is safe and inclusive for all – meaning we do not tolerate any form of bigotry, discrimination, abuse, marginalisation or insulting behaviour on the grounds of gender, ethnicity, religion, background, skin colour, race, religious belief, job, sexuality, gender identity, socioeconomic class, caste, disability or age.
Tell us a little about who you are and why you're keen to participate in this program.