Matt Marsan

Hello Fellow Permies,

First time poster here.

My name is Matt, and I am from the United States. I will be traveling to Japan this winter, from December 6th to March 5th, and am interested in finding winter work that would involve carpentry, building and construction, animal husbandry, forestry, or any other kinds of projects that may be active on places like farms, permaculture sites, and urban gardens, during the winter months.

I am using a networking site named Workaway to contact farms, hostels, guesthouses, as well as places that offer opportunities to teach english, babysit, or provide general help around the house. I have also used a website called NuMundo, where I have been able to find eco-villages and permaculture demonstration sites offering work exchanges for living accommodations.

I thought I would make a post here to:

1. Ask if any of you have experience traveling to Japan, and if so, if you would recommend any places to contact for work-trading opportunities involving the activities listed above.

2. Ask if any of you have suggestions of websites that would aid in traveling/working in a foreign country in the way that I have described above.

3. Ask if any of you are perhaps living in Japan, and if so, wether you would be willing to talk about the possibility of taking on a helper this winter tehee...

4. Receive any travel tips, recommendations of places to visit, or any suggestions or words of wisdom that would apply to the experience I am about to take on.

I would also be interested to know if any of you have experience with the WWOOF-Japan website, and if you would recommend subscribing to it?

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. Your help would be tremendously appreciated.

In Gratitude,

Matt

Hello Brendan,

I recognize that your message was posted one year ago, but I am interested to know if you are still needing help with your Cafe and Organic Farm? I am making plans to go to Japan this winter, have just finished a PDC where I am currently living in Oregon, and am eager to find a way to travel through Japan while applying my interests in gardening, permaculture, and natural building. My experiences with building stem from time spent in Taos, NM, building earth-ships, and through various wwoofing and farming internships. To be honest, I still consider myself inexperienced with many basic building techniques, but I want to learn, and am not afraid to get dirty, haha. I would be excited about helping with many of the projects you have listed, provided they are still in the works.

I also have an interest to improve my Japanese language skills, which I suppose may be obvious from my contacting you. I would like to visit a friend in Nagasaki, and possibly visit some friends in Osaka, this December, whilst farming, learning, and traveling on a low budget. I hope to acquire a better grasp of the language before seeing them.

Please let me know if there is a way of sharing more of my work experience, and contacting you further about the possibility of helping on your farm.

頑張って、

Matt