We posed a question to Aya Chan, one of the organisers: What is Jikatabi?  She replied ‘It’s for people who are interested in Kamiyama but don’t know where to begin.  It’s an immersive taster session.‘

So what’s the name all about? Jikatabi.  Simply, jika is to touch the earth and tabi are a type of Japanese split-toed working shoe and it can also mean trip, travel, journey.  Jikatabi then, is all about feeling the Kamiyama locals directly.

This is actually the second jikatabi, the first one happened in Summer 2010 and twelve people took part. They all stayed in one large house for one night, cooking meals for themselves and returning to sleep. This time it was more like a homestay. Each person stayed with a different family, eating meals with them, living with them for two nights and three days. This helps them to experience the local way of life better.

This year, jikatabi happened in and around mainly the Eta district of Kamibun.  The Eta locals were busy preparing for the nanohana festival and having a private army of enthusiastic helpers on hand was just perfect…

Nanohana or Rapeseed.  It’s grown on rice paddies between harvesting and planting.  In Eta, the terraced paddies and the scope and lay of the land provide a marvelous canvas for the blooming nanohana.  It attracts a lot of visitors and a lot of cars so the roads have to be clean and tidy.  So we did just that…

We started by raking a forest road.

As well as the brooms there were a couple of shoulder mounted reversed hoovers floating around.

*caption competition*

Iba san demonstrated how to cut and sculpt bamboo.  He admitted he was a little tipsy, but no-one noticed.
Later, we made chopsticks and other things from bamboo together.

As the clouds rolled in and it began to get dark Nishimori san offered some inoshishi kebabs.

I only had one but it was still alive.  I had to burn it a little longer.  Delicious though!

It was a very pleasant day.  I realised how much young people enjoy visiting Kamiyama.  It’s as if they are reliving their childhood. They seem to revert back into children and they are running around and trying to climb trees and it’s really good to watch.  Of course, it’s important to remember that life goes on for the local families once jikatabi is over; after all, Kamiyama is for life, not just for Christmas right?