Kit!
All right guys, it's moving day.
Let's go.
Today I'm packing up my things
and bringing my pets on a five hour drive south
to the quiet farming town of Aya in Miyazaki prefecture,
where I'll be living for the next month
while working on a project.
All right, time to check out my new home.
I absolutely had to bring my pets with me.
So we found an empty house on some farm land
that I'll be renting during my stay.
With traditional sliding doors and tatami flooring,
this bright, cozy little house
is the perfect size for the three of us.
And although we didn't bring my with us,
the kind people of Aya have us covered,
offering their support from day one.
Aya is also registered as one of the most
beautiful villages in all of Japan.
So lucky for us, we've got an entire month here
to figure out what makes it that way.
I know it seems sudden for a lot of you
but it was actually really sudden for me too.
I didn't know if I was actually moving to Aya-cho or not
until the end of January, early February,
and so once it was decided, everything happened so fast,
it felt like I pretty much moved to Aya-cho overnight.
And so my goal while I'm here
is to explore a part of Japan that I haven't had
the chance to really get into deep, up until now.
I've usually stayed in the city
and I stick to what I know.
I stay in the same general area,
even if I move outside of Fukuoka city,
I'm always vlogging in the city.
So this is the first time that I've really been removed
from my comfort zone and gone to a place
that I knew absolutely nothing about, with no safety nets.
What an honor it is for me to be here
and to experience all of this and show you
this side of Japan beyond anime, geisha, samurai,
and flashy signs and Akihabara.
This is a part of Japan that even I think
a lot of people in the cities do not know about
and have never experienced for themselves.
So I'm so lucky to be here.
It reminds me a lot of Canada, to be honest.
So today is the very first day
and I'm not really sure what goes on around here yet,
so I'm just gonna head downtown
and take a walk around and see what I can find.
Come with me.
Guys, I low key love the fact that my neighbors
are just piles of dirt and grass.
They're never gonna complain about noise.
They're never gonna complain about my dog barking.
These are the best neighbors
you could possibly ever ask for.
Hi guys, hi guys.
(ukulele music)
All right guys so this is it.
This is downtown Aya.
This is the most happening spot
in all of Aya village.
There's a restaurant.
There's a small little super market, a co-op.
There's a snack, which is like a bar.
And then we have this beautiful little farmer's market
where people come to sell all of their goods.
There are two things that Aya is generally well-known for.
One is its high-quality handmade arts and crafts.
And the other is its commitment
to producing organic fruits and vegetables,
all of which can be purchased here at Honmono Market.
Whoa, these daikon radishes are bright red.
I've never seen this before.
So this might sound weird
but I actually love the taste of dirty carrots.
When I lived in Canada my grandmother used to grow carrots
in her garden, and we'd pull them out of the dirt
and run them under water and then eat them right there,
and they would always taste a little bit gritty,
and that's what these remind me of is my grandma's carrots.
They have kale here.
It's so hard to find kale in Japan
but they grow it here in Aya.
The secret to Aya's delicious produce
is its access to plenty of fresh, clean water,
which anyone is welcome to fill up on at the local fountain.
There's also an ice cream stand right over there
and I really wanna go because I'm an adult
and I can eat ice cream whenever I want.
So, let's go check out the menu.
Oh my God.
It is so good.
It tastes like a creamsicle.
It tastes like an orange creamsicle.
It is so good.
So I just noticed these bicycles have numbers on them.
And that is because here at the Fureai Center
they rent bicycles, which is great.
I borrowed mine from my neighbor
but it's good to know that I could rent one if I needed it.
So a lot of the goods sold in Aya are hand-made, home-grown.
Whether that means fresh vegetables
or hand-made pottery or gadgets or foods or desserts,
everything here is made by the people.
It's cool, it's awesome.
This is actually perfect.
It works out well for me because I drink a lot of tea lately
and I could use a new tea cup.
Let's see if we can find something good here.
I really like this one.
We're just heading into spring
and this is ume blossoms so I think I'm gonna get this.
It seems really sturdy like it'll keep my tea warm.
At the end of every day,
loud speakers across the town play this melody
to let everyone know that the day is over
and it's time to head home.
(peaceful chime music)
all right guys, I'm actually on the street,
walking home, and it's pitch black.
There's one street light all the way down the road.
And aside from that there is just nothing going on.
It's crazy.
I'm all alone.
And now it is night time.
It is completely black outside.
There's no street lights or anything.
And you can see the stars and it's really, really pretty.
I'm a little bit hungry so I'm gonna start cooking dinner
and I wanted to show you what I got.
So I picked up some Aya-cho locally grown kale,
some Aya-cho locally grown green peppers,
some carrots, also from Aya-cho,
some turnips from Aya-cho, a little bag
of locally grown potatoes from Aya-cho,
some seedless hyuganatsu citrus,
which are also from Aya-cho.
And finally I picked up some chicken.
And while it doesn't specifically say it's from Aya-cho,
it does say it's from Miyazaki,
so we're cooking pretty locally tonight.
Using my extremely limited appliances and seasonings,
I decided to oven bake my potatoes, turnips, and carrots.
Using the tiniest pot ever
I picked up from the dollar store,
I fried my chicken and green peppers
and then simmered them in tomato sauce.
All right, so the internet says if you massage the kale
it gets softer, so I'm just gonna do that.
Yeah, you like that, how's that.
Ooh, I feel that crunch.
Can you hear that?
Yeah.
For my first ever homemade kale salad
I use some fresh strawberries, almonds,
and made a citrus dressing with the hyuganotsu
I bought at the market.
I was afraid my kale salad and tomato sauce
wouldn't mix very well, so I used the baked vegetables
as a neutral barrier between the two.
The vegetables were in the oven toaster
for about 30 minutes, but they came out
fluffy, soft and moist.
The salad is like a dessert.
It's so good.
I wish you guys could try this.
Excuse me.
I'm not done eating.
Now that I've eaten I actually feel so much better
about everything, about life in general.
To be honest, when I was approached with the offer
to live in Aya-cho, I was really nervous.
Obviously I had lots of anxiety.
I didn't know what was here.
And I didn't know how we were gonna live.
How we were gonna survive here.
But you know what, I think we're gonna be just fine buddy.
I think we're gonna be just fine.
I'm looking forward to this.
Hey guys, thanks for watching.
I'll have another video out the same time next week
so if you wanna keep following this story,
make sure you hit subscribe and turn notifications on.
Also, don't forget to check out my second channel
for more heart to heart and talky type vlogs,
if that's what you're into.
I'm also updating daily on Instagram so follow me there.
Thanks again guys, see you soon.