Tautasya Farm, Lodge, and Slow Food Restaurant
Tautasya farm, lodge and slow food restaurant, located a short distance from the traditional Kayabuki (thatched roof) village in the Miyama hills, offers a unique, diverse and authentic experience of rural Japanese life. The site, owned and run by Homaru Fujiwara and his wife Yu, offers visitors the chance to engage in a wide range of agricultural and adventure activities and enjoy farm fresh food in an idyllic rural setting.
Self-Sufficient Farms and Local Food
Having moved to a Japanese city from the Irish countryside in August, my husband and I were thrilled to have the opportunity to exchange the hustle and bustle of urban life for a short spell in the Kyoto hills. Our journey from Sonobe Station to Tautasya was spent in awe at the landscape: spectacular hills, dense with cedar forest and rich with wildlife, flank valleys traversed by crystal-clear streams. Miyama is an area that begs to be explored. We were met at Tautasya by Homaru Fujiwara, a young farmer who began constructing the house, restaurant, lodge and outhouses on the site ten years ago.
Working With the Earth Brings a Sense of Peace
Tour over, we were put to work. Fujiwara-san demonstrated how to dig for kikuimo [Jerusalem artichokes], showing us how to turn the soil and pan the earth with our fingers to locate the tubers. Once we found our rhythm, we were left to our own devices while our host moved off in search of the more elusive nagaimo [mountain yam]. It is difficult to overstate the therapeutic value of spending a morning in the hills, our hands in the earth, breathing in the crisp mountain air and watching eagles soaring overhead. Time passed quickly, and soon our wheelbarrow was half-full and Fujiwara-san had retrieved