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  • 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