【Nozawa Onsen Lodge Proposes "Nozawa Onsen Living Experience"】Rice Planting Experience to be Held on May 30th

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## Press Release Information
Title: 【Nozawa Onsen Lodge Proposes "Nozawa Onsen Living Experience"】Rice Planting Experience to be Held on May 30th
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Body (first 8000 characters): Held on May 30th. You can choose between a plan with accommodation or a day trip.

Nozawa Onsen Lodge offers natural experiences that allow you to feel the changing seasons, and special stay plans that let you savor unique moments throughout the year. Of course, day trip participation is also possible.

This "Rice Farmer Experience" is a limited-time plan held to coincide with the milestone periods of rice planting and harvesting. It is a slightly special stay that can only be booked on specific dates.

We particularly want those who have only visited Nozawa Onsen in winter to experience the charm of the snow-free season. By entering the rice paddies, touching the soil, and interacting with people, you can encounter another side of this land.

Nozawa Onsen's rural landscape, spring water filtered over many years from the virgin beech forest.

Furthermore, the lodge where you stay is an "egg-shaped" architectural marvel born from the wisdom unique to heavy snowfall regions. It has a distinctive structure that eliminates the need for snow removal, and due to its design and rarity, it is designated as a nationally registered tangible cultural property.

https://www.bunka.go.jp/kindai/kenzoubutsu/research/nagano/013/index.html

Nozawa Onsen's rice farming begins with the melting snow

Rice farming in Nozawa Onsen begins around late May, at the end of winter when the snow melts.

Nozawa Onsen Village is also known as "Water Valley." Pure spring water, filtered over many years, flows through it. This water is drawn into the rice paddies, and a process called "puddling," where soil is mixed with water, is carried out.

The water surface, prepared like a mirror, is a sign that preparations for the upcoming rice planting are complete.

Take a step into rice farming, participate

Rice farming progresses with the seasons.
This "Rice Farmer Experience," now in its third year, allows you to "really" experience life in Nozawa Onsen Village by participating in both spring rice planting and autumn rice harvesting.

On a morning at the beginning of summer, this is the day for the rice planting experience.
We head to the rice paddies when the air is still soft.

When participants gather, a simple orientation is held.

- About Nozawa Onsen Village
- About the spring water filling the rice paddies
- How to hold and plant seedlings

After receiving explanations, it's finally time to enter the rice paddies.

You can work while wearing rain boots, but we also recommend taking them off and going barefoot.
The cool water and soft soil evoke an involuntary "cold!" and natural smiles spill out.

Rice planting starts with all participants lining up in a single row.

Stepping slowly, one step at a time, while your feet sink into the mud.
At first, it's hard to walk well and you might lose your balance, but that awkwardness gradually becomes fun. It's a time that reminds one of playing in the mud as a child. While slowly moving forward, seedlings are planted one bundle at a time.

It is important to plant seedlings at as even intervals as possible.
If the spacing is uneven, differences in sunlight exposure and ventilation will occur, leading to uneven growth of the rice. We proceed with the work using a "rice planting rope" to maintain even spacing.

"That's good enough," "Give it a little more space."
As we call out to each other like this, our pace naturally aligns.

Before we know it, a sense of camaraderie, like fellow workers, forms even among those who just met.

The rice paddies, filled with water and prepared by everyone for planting, will turn into golden rice in autumn after summer, ready for harvest.

In this harvesting experience, rice is harvested using traditional methods, cutting each stalk by hand and tying them with hemp string.

The seedlings we planted ourselves in spring bear fruit like this, and are harvested again by our own hands.

By touching this process, one feels a little closer to the essence of "eating" and "living."

The harvested rice will be threshed and milled, then shipped to your home a few days later.

Parents and children feel the origin of food and life

The rice farmer experience can also be enjoyed by families with small children.
Families who actually participated visited Nozawa Onsen Village in early summer with the desire to "let their children experience rice planting."

Although initially hesitant for their first experience together, as soon as they entered the rice paddies, smiles naturally appeared from the sensation of the cool water. The children immediately went barefoot and eagerly played in the mud.

It is said that their muddy and joyful appearance, while also involved in tasks like preparing seedlings and building embankments, was impressive.

In tasks like planting seedlings straight and passing seedlings from the embankment, even strangers naturally communicate and proceed together. It's a time where children can experience the importance of cooperation alongside their parents.

Healing tired bodies in the outdoor hot springs after rice planting is another unique charm of Nozawa Onsen.
It also provides an opportunity to discover a new side of this land by experiencing the richness of the green season.

Spending time with parents and children,
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