Japan Study Abroad Program | Day 10 | May 19

Today has been full of natural beauty and lots of tea!

We packed our bags last night in preparation for today, and left the hostel for Nagasaki Prefecture early this morning. On the way, we stopped for a hike to a waterfall. It was beautiful and well worth the hike. About halfway down the mountain, we stopped at a rural restaurant, which had a great view of the river. Homemade Hiru-gohan was very oishii!

After lunch, we stopped at a historic train stop, where we met our guide, Shoji-san from Higashi Sonogi Town in Nagasaki Prefecture. We visited a family-run ichigo farm to enjoy what Higashi Sonogi offers. We stopped by a coffee shop as well which is very unique as they turned a rice warehouse into a modern coffee shop. Both were fun and educational cultural experiences. Shoji-san works for a local office to revitalize a community so that people, including foreign guests, can come visit, stay or live, and enjoy the area.

We continued on in Higashi Sonogi, where we met with our homestay families in the middle of tea country. We strolled along a winding mountain road before arriving at one of the homes while learning about tea and green tea tourism that Higashi Sonogi is trying to promote to let people know the beauty of the area. Our hosts are Ohba Family & Ohyama Family. At Ohyama family's place, there is a tea processing facility and tea salon right next to the house, both of which we were given tours of. We learned a great deal about tea processing and even had a lesson on how to make green tea three different ways!

After dropping off our things, we made our way back down the mountain to a famous onsen. We are about to take a relaxing bath before retreating back up the mountain, having a home-cooked meal, and going to bed.









Vocabulary :
Hiru-gohan - Lunch
Oishii - Delicious
Ichigo - Strawberry

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