Ask yourself where you would like to spend your time.

-First of all, how did you come to move to Nachikatsuura Town?

There is a program called “Musha Shugyo” for university students to think about business in two weeks. I participated in the program and came to Nachikatsuura Town for the first time during the year-end and New Year holidays of my senior year of college. At that time, one of the facilitators of the Musha Shugyo program was a person who came from Tokyo once a month to visit Nachi-Katsuura Town, especially the Irokawa area. He was running a project for students in Katsuura to experience farming with the locals, rural life, and the flow of time. he asked me, “The next one is in March, why don’t you come? I said, “I’ll go!“ and I ended up going to Nachikatsuura again.

At that time, I had already found a job at a venture company in Tokyo. When I came back in March, I began to think that I would rather live and spend time in a countryside full of nature than in a city. However, I thought it was wrong to say that I didn’t like working in the city when I hadn’t even worked there, so I went on to find a job.

However, since it was a venture business, I didn’t have much time for myself, and since I had started photography activities in addition to my work, I gradually began to feel that I wasn’t living only for work. …… I think my values and way of thinking were not venture minded. On the other hand, even after I started working, I came to Katsuura every consecutive holiday. After six months of spending contrasting time in the city and the joy of visiting the countryside, I asked myself, “Which do I want to be in? If I were to die tomorrow, which place would I rather spend my time now?“ I thought to myself, To be honest, when I started working in Tokyo, I thought I would quit the company after a year, save up money, and ride my motorcycle around Japan. So, when I asked myself where I wanted to spend my time before I traveled around Japan, I decided to make Katsuura my home.

-What was the reaction of your family and friends to the fact that you had been living at your parents’ house in Kanagawa all those years?　Were they lonely or opposed?

About a little before I decided to move, I mentioned to my family in a whisper that I wanted to move there. So I don’t remember any surprise or opposition when I actually told them I was going to move. I have two younger sisters, and they missed me. Well, my parents didn’t show it, but I think they were thinking about it because it was the first time they had a child leave home (laughs). My friends were surprised, but they said, “That’s so like Moeka.“

A fulfilling daily life spent in Nachikatsuura-cho, both at work and on holidays.

You are working as a staff member of al stay in kumano, Inc., which is headed by Ms. Toumi Nishiyama, the chief priest of Daitaiji Temple in the Ota district of Nachi-Katsuura Town.

I often come to Daitaiji when I come to visit for holidays. Both Toumi and another staff member named 夏欧(Nao) kept saying that they needed more people. At first I thought it was a joke, but then Nao contacted me in a very serious tone and said, “Will you work with me?” Then I realized that he wasn’t joking, and I started to seriously think about working at Daitaiji.
I think I went in the wrong order, but after I told my former employer that I was quitting, I contacted Toumi and Nao and said, “I quit my job, so please let me work here. Thankfully, they said yes, so I moved here and started working.

-I think working at a temple is quite unusual as an occupational category,
What do you mainly do?

I have two main jobs: working at a temple and running a private accommodation. At the temple, I mainly manage lodging at the shukubo, tent saunas, and camps. Other than that, I clean the temple, prepare and clean up when there are events at the temple, and take pictures. I can’t begin to list all the details, such as chopping firewood, clearing away the trees, mowing and weeding, sweeping, preparing the tent sauna, and so on.

As for overnight stays, I manage several lodging facilities in the Ota area that have been renovated from old private homes. During the peak season of the year-end and New Year holidays and Golden Week, we were almost always fully booked. Before the Corona disaster, it seemed that almost all of the guests were inbound, but now overseas guests really only come once in a while.

-That sounds like a lot of work. It sounds like a lot of work, but do you have time for yourself, which was one of the reasons you decided to change jobs?

I have a lot of time for myself. My days off are basically Tuesdays and Thursdays, but I can change my schedule if I want to, so I’m pretty free. I can go to rice planting in Irokawa, or go to a restaurant recommended by an acquaintance. Or make compost. I live in the countryside, but sometimes I go to the city as well. I’m also a photographer. It’s like that. If I stopped taking pictures, I would feel that I am not in good shape.

I have been thinking about photography for a long time, and it is a bit like philosophy, but I was talking with someone recently and I came to a bit of an understanding. I release the shutter of my camera based on my own senses, but after I take a picture, I ask myself, “Why did I release the shutter at that moment? Why did I want to take that picture?“ or “Why am I taking the picture in the first place?” I feel that photography is a place where my sensuality and rationality intersect. But when people ask me, “Why are you taking pictures?“ I don’t really know why I take pictures. I think it is not necessary to give an answer to that question yet. I take pictures while thinking that as I take pictures sensitively, they will gradually come into view.

People’s lives are not complete on their own, but on the margins.

-I think your life has changed a lot since you moved to Nachikatsuura Town from Kanagawa. Please tell us about the changes you have realized and your impression of the community.

Before I moved here, I had an image that the countryside is not very good at accepting people from outside. However, even before I moved here, everyone really accepted me coming from somewhere else, and many people invited me to dinner or invited me to their homes. I was impressed that my stereotypes were overturned in a good way. I had visited here several times before I moved here, and even though there were people who knew my face, many people talked to me, took care of me, and gave me vegetables, and I spent my time thinking how grateful I am to them.

I work at the temple, but I am involved with many people in the community, both in my work and in my private life, so I have the sense that the temple is not a stand-alone entity, but the town as a whole. That is interesting. This may not be something that someone who has only been here for six months would say, but it is something that I don’t think I would have had if I had worked in Tokyo.

Also, I think there are many people who have a lot of leeway. They have a lot of time and mental space outside of their main job. In that margin, for example, they help other people in their fields, help them move, try farming on their own, take photos, or do nothing. I really thought there was such a margin. That’s what I found attractive. Not only do they complete their own lives, but they also communicate with others in the margins, or with nature. I think that’s the reason why they are able to broaden their horizons and gain depth. I feel this in my own life as well.

I think there are so many good things about living in Tokyo. It makes you want to go out and have fun. New things are always being created, and people are always trying to evolve and change. That’s why it’s a city with interesting events and galleries, and I think it really has that kind of appeal. But I don’t know how to describe it, but I feel that the people in this area are “alive“.

-On the other hand, are there any negative aspects of the area that you feel are inconvenient?

Transportation is expensive and time-consuming no matter where you go. Of course it is expensive to go to Tokyo, but Osaka and Kyoto are also far away. Mie is also far away. Nara is also far away. Even Wakayama City is far away (laughs). It is expensive to take the expressway, gasoline is expensive, and trains are expensive. It is a bit heavy, but I think that is why Nachikatsuura still has a lot of charm. It is not possible for all kinds of people to come here.

-What do you want to do in the future through your work? Also, do you plan to go around Japan in a year?

I don’t know if it will be a round-the-world trip or a round-the-Japan trip, but it is an option. But I don’t think it’s an absolute. There are many people who have traveled in this town. I still like the way of thinking and the atmosphere of such people, so I admire them. But in the end, I think it comes down to flow and timing. If it happens, it happens, and if it doesn’t, it doesn’t. If I am able to make that choice on my own, then I am fine with it.

Since I came all the way here from the Kanto region, I want people from the Kanto region to know about the town. I think there are parts of the town that will be affected by the arrival of people from the city. I think it would be meaningful for me to come here if even one more person from the city could feel that the city is not all there is to life in the city, or if even one more person could get to know the city. However, I still have my hands full with my own life. I want to make the temple better, and I want more people from the community to come. I want people from outside to come, and I want people to move within the town. Now I will work on my photography.

-Thank you very much. We look forward to supporting Ms. Fukuda’s future activities in photography and temple work!