Wellness Tour AK (Ayabe & Kyotango)

A wellness tour that is so much more than zazen meditation and hot springs

(though those are options too!)

2 nights 3 days

Kyoto by the Sea is a mecca of wellness and longevity. Just ask any one of the hundreds of people thriving over 100-years-old here. During your time here, you will learn some of the secrets to how and why people here are living so well for so long.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Stay in a Japanese farmhouse and participate in farm to table activities.

• Eat the freshest possible meal, with local ingredients that are sourced that day

• Stay in a hot spring hotel that sources ingredients for meals from a local organic farm that also rebuilds soil health

• Light hiking at Niomon Gate & Komyoji Temple (option)

• Ayabe Onsen, hot springs & restaurant (option)

• Kurotani Washi paper making experience (option)

• Zazen meditation in a bamboo grove or fall foliage grove with a temple monk (option)

• Fermentation experience or Pillars of Japanese Cuisine cooking course (option)

• Forest Therapy in a village reclaimed by nature (option)

• Takigyo: waterfall rituals (option)

• Barazushi making experience: make and eat a local delicacy that was first created here. (option)

Day 1 The Forests of Kyoto

From Kyoto City take the 65-minute JR limited express train to Ayabe Station. Downtown Ayabe is a great place to explore. For those interested in martial arts, it is home to the birthplace of Aikido, a practice that unifies the spirit, mind, and body. The practice was designed not for fighting, but for unifying people. And unity and peace is a strong theme in Ayabe. Walking downtown visitors can visit Gunze Square, where buildings tied to the silk industry have been preserved. Centrally in the square is a rose garden with a very special rose, the seeds of which were given to Ayabe by Anne Franks father. You can see Anne’s rose in bloom both in June and October. Shorekiji temple is another location in downtown Ayabe where visitors can take part in an outdoor zazen meditation, or the special practice of “nezen,” which is a sleep-like meditation underneath the temples 600-year-old temple tree.

For those interested in food culture, the town has a host of excellent restuarnts, as well as a sake brewery that also makes a very unique plum wine.

The first night’s accommodation is a traditional Japanese farmstay. Pick-up can be arranged from central Ayabe (Ayabe station being an easy meeting point) with the accommodation. For those who want to attempt the short journey to the farm stay themselves, local buses are another easy option. Google Maps in Japan is a great tool that even accurately shows bus times and routes.

Once at the farm stay for the afternoon, guests can choose from a variety of different rural experiences, including plants and harvesting vegetables, rice planting and harvesting (depending on the season), chopping firewood, cooking with locals, nature walks, and more. For mini excursions, there are options to visit Kurotani washi, a paper making company started 800 years ago by a ronin samurai in the tiny village of Kurotani, where it remains today. Another great option is Ayabe onsen, a remote hot springs overlooking the forests. Ayabe onsen also offers e-bike rentals, and a massive, intricate wooden labrynth that you can attempt to navigate. Fun fact, mazes are actually a great way to maintain good brain function. Ayabe onsen is also the start of some great hiking in the region, including a route that takes visitors to Niomon Gate, one of Japan’s national treasures, as well as an ancient Great Horse Chestnut tree.
Dinner and breakfast are both provided at the farm stay.

There are a variety of farmstays in Kyoto by the Sea. Visit our farmstay accommodation page and choose which one fits you best.

DAY 2 Land of Longevity

The following day, guests will continue on to Kyotango, home to the highest concentration of people over 100-years-old, worldwide. Guests will stay at a hot spring hotel that serves locally sourced organic vegetables from a farm that is working to rebuild healthy soil. Experience options include a fermentation experience or cooking course with a health food expert in her renovated farmhouse kitchen studio, a visit to a local soy sauce brewer, or even forest therapy in a former mountain village that has been reclaimed by nature. For those visiting during the colder months (october to april), you have the unique chance to take part in waterfall rituals. Read more about the different experiences below!

Another great option that highlights the wellness of the area is a specialty dish that was created in the region for special occassions. Barazushi, is an interesting-looking, lasagna-esque sushi dish that you can learn to make and then eat during your stay. To learn more about this iconic dish, click the picture below for our barazushi article.

Check out other inspiration trips as well as a version of this wellness course that spends a night in Amanohashidate, where guests can stroll along the bridge to heaven, or even undertake the pilgrimage route up to Nariaiji Temple. And for guests coming during the warmer months, Amanohashdiate offers sea kayaking, stand-up paddleboarding, e-bikes, and beach yoga.

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