As part of my plan to find land and become a farmer in Nagano, I became a farming intern on a small farm 1000m up in the mountains. About half an hour from Saku City and an hour south of Karuizawa, the area is full of young organic farmers as well as being cool enough to grow European vegetable varieties (and for me to not melt in summer!). The prefecture is also the only one in Japan to not have any nuclear power stations, is number one in terms of average life expectancy, the last in terms of meat consumption and is one of the safest with regards to tsunami (this area is the the farthest point in Japan - roughly 120km - from both the Japan Sea and the Pacific Ocean) and earthquakes.

Starting in the spring of 2017, I worked until the end of the year when I found some land to call my own and start working on for the following year. As well as learning how the Japanese farm, I got introduced to the land, to the people living there, and to the distribution networks as well as getting a good feel for the climate and what does (and doesn't) grow here.