「糸島シェアハウス」は、糸島二上山の麓に位置し、自給自足の生活を提案するコンセプトで2013年にオープンした。移住した夫婦は田舎暮らしを楽しんでおり、里山文化を未来に残す取り組みを行っている。住民たちとの交流や棚田の管理も行い、地域を活性化する取り組みを続けている。シェアハウスでは畑仕事や日本酒作りの体験も提供し、動画視聴プログラムを通じて里山の生活を紹介している。都会から田舎への移住を考える人に向けた体験プログラムも展開している。
“Itoshima Share House” is located in a small village at the foot of Itoshima Futagoyama, with an elevation of 711 meters overlooking the Genkai Sea, where beautiful terraced fields spread. Shida Koichi and his wife, Chiharu Hatakeyama, who operate the “Storytellers,” opened the share house in 2013 with the concept of “creating food, money, and energy on their own.” We talked to the couple, who have deep ties with the mountains, rivers, seas, and local people in rural living, about their efforts to pass on the real rural life and the traditional mountain village culture rooted in Japan to the future.”
Ideal living in a mountain village, connecting with the community for a rustic life
Koichi and Chiharu moved to Itoshima from Tokyo and Yokohama respectively after the social anxiety caused by the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake. Chiharu recalls that time, saying
“When a major disaster occurs, even if you have money, you can’t buy anything. I saw this happening in reality. With planned power outages, the refrigerator stops, all the food goes to waste, and if the energy supply system stops, our food goes to waste.”
To decide on a place to live, they temporarily moved to Fukuoka City from Kanto and searched for their ideal home while driving around the island. Shida Koichi laughs, saying he thought they would find a property right away, but it took about a year to find the right one.
“If we were going to live here anyway, we decided to live by the sea. My wife said she wanted a place with terraced fields and beautiful stars, but we didn’t find the perfect place that day.” Driving along the coast, they came across a small road cut into the mountain, so they somehow decided to explore that narrow road, and in front of them, they saw terraced fields. Moving forward, they found themselves surrounded by buildings. In an old house, they found a sign that read “vacant.” “Excited, I immediately called the management company” (Koichi)
Located near the beach, with a terrace and a clear blue sky and countless stars shining at night, it is a perfect place. The site area, including parking lots, cow sheds, and workshops, is approximately 275 square meters. The old house is 85 square meters, making it very spacious. They decided to renovate this old house and open a share house.
Renovating an old house into a share house is inevitable because they pursue a self-sufficient life.
“Both of us have experience in agriculture, and we thought it would be difficult to do agriculture alone if we wanted to live a self-sufficient life. There is hope for those who want to create their own lives with their own hands. Let’s work together” Let’s enjoy rural life while working in the fields together. The number of residents changes rapidly in a short period of time.
The members are diverse, including programmers, creators, and students. Some pursue a more pastoral life, while others enjoy nature more casually. Koichi and Chiharu also thought, “If roommates can live comfortably,” but they stressed the importance of understanding the process of self-reliance and the need to try it out at least once.
“Within a 5-minute walk, there are terraced fields where we cultivate 100% homegrown rice. We challenge new crops at least once a year—tomatoes, leeks, lettuce, cabbage, etc., and soy sauce, to learn how the meat we normally eat is made and to go to a sake brewery to see how it is made. We engage in ‘future learning.’
As much as possible, we produce and consume energy on our own. Wood is used for cooking and heating, and on sunny days, electricity is supplied from 18 solar panels installed in the parking lot.
The beautiful terraced field landscape is a gift from the local people and ancestors.
Living there for a while, the trust between the two and the villagers who were once strangers deepens rapidly.
“Until you live there, you don’t know what the locals are like, but we were fortunate to meet good people. We wanted to get used to this place quickly, so we made an effort to participate in local events. There were many people from the share house, so it was nice to be able to participate alone, and it felt like we had more time to build trust than going with two people.
During the time I lived in the countryside, I learned new things that I didn’t expect when I moved here.
“When I first moved here, I thought how beautiful the untouched nature was, but when I started working on the terrace myself, I realized that there was no untouched nature, no terrace landscape here. Dear, always help me” I realized that this landscape is maintained by the efforts of the ancestors of the local people, such as clearing vegetation for rockfall prevention or cleaning the river” (Chiharu)
Shao Yi, who grows crops, raises bees, and sometimes goes hunting in the mountains, looks back on his journey and says that every day is like making a hobby out of life.
“I have experience in brewing at a sake brewery, and my dream is to brew sake with rice grown in the terraced fields. I started brewing sake in collaboration with a sake maker, and we just completed our first sake. I felt the joy of living in a place I consider beautiful by getting away from the crowded city life that doesn’t require new activities. Then I work on the computer in the valley surrounded by trees, listening to the sound of the stream. And nature has a front-row seat” (Koichi)
Connecting townspeople with the mountains through the “Terraced Field Owners System”
The residents of the village harvest rice for their own consumption by dividing the terraced fields near the share house into several plots. Initially, when they moved, they rented a small rice field (3 plots), but they are now entrusted with managing the 8 plots that have become difficult for the residents to manage due to aging and lack of successors.
Utilizing these terraced fields, the “Terraced Field Owners System” started in 2018. The system invites urban residents to become co-owners of terraced fields and aims to preserve the culture and beautiful landscape of the mountain village for future generations through rice cultivation and harvesting experiences.
“The merit of the terraced field system is that even if you continue to live in the city or town, you can own your own rice field in the countryside. Even though the hurdle for moving to the countryside is high, some people desire it.” We want to make it an open place where people can come. It is our mission to connect the city and the countryside, and some people who actually visited have decided to move.
At the same time, we would be happy if these measures and community revitalization activities could be a source of encouragement for the people in the community.
“When the young people in the town tell the local people, ‘This is really a nice place,’ we, as migrants, would like to tell the local people, ‘This is really a wonderful place.’ It would be great if this feeling could come across.”
Experience rural life through a video viewing app
“Aozora Yamanoyoru” is a video viewing program that allows you to experience the self-sufficient life of the “Itoshima Share House” where Koichi Shida and Chiharu Hatakeyama can be experienced at any time. Through the couple’s story and visuals, you can learn about the self-sufficient life of the “Itoshima Share House” that connects with the community while gazing at the beautiful terraced field scenery.
By choosing the kit option, you will also receive a cleaning experience kit containing a wood ash cleaner, allowing you to experience a part of the share house life at home.
“Since we don’t have running water and our domestic wastewater flows directly into the fields, I thought it would be nice to have natural detergents, and since we use wood for heating, we made an ash cleaner from wood ash. Ash is also a by-product of our daily life.”
For those who find it challenging to move from the city to the countryside, how about taking a trip to the countryside with terraced fields while enjoying this video?
Video Viewing Experience
“Living and sharing life by creating it yourself at Itoshima Share House”
Video viewing only: 1,000 yen, with trial kit: 3,000 yen + delivery time: 1 hour
The contents of the trial kit delivered to your home include wood ash (50g), loofah (1 piece), detergent bottle (1 piece), polishing agent bottle (1 piece), vinyl gloves (1 set), rote (1 sheet), and instructions on how to make it (1 sheet)