Japan
›
Hiroshima
›
Tours
›
Car Tour (driving guide)
›
Authentic Rural Japan:Discover Rice Culture with a Local Rice Farmer in Hiroshima

Summer: Rice fields

tea ceremony gathering

Tea time

Spring: Cherry blossoms

Autumn: Rice harvesting

Witnter: Snow white

Tatami room

Village walk

The car for your tour

Authentic Rural Japan:Discover Rice Culture with a Local Rice Farmer in Hiroshima

Car Tour (driving guide)

Joined 2025

Naomi K.

5.00 / 5

(2 reviews)

Identity Verified

Interview-Based Quality Checks

Hiroshima

English

7 hrs 30 mins

Private tour (only you and Naomi K.)

Up to 5 people

Unforgettable experience! Worth the trip!- Guests from the U.S.

I welcome you into my family's 200-year-old farmhouse.

As a rice farmer, I share what rice truly means- not just as food, but as history, identity, and livelihood. Together, we'll cook the rice we cultivate in our own fields and shape onigiri by hand.

We'll finish with matcha tea in a quiet traditional setting. Limited to one group per day, this is a genuine invitation into authentic rulal Japan.

Itinerary

This itinerary can be customized to meet your needs and preferences. Send me a message with your requests!

09:00 AM

Meeting Point

Your hotel or Hiroshima station

- I'll wait you in the lobby of your hotel, so please let me know your hotel name in advance. If you are coming to Hiroshima by Shinkansen or cruise ferry, I can meet you at the Shinkansen ticket gate of JR Hiroshima Station or at Ujina port. Please also let me know your arrival time. I'm a licensed guide and I can drive you to my place in about one hour. On the way, there'S a beautiful secret spot with a great view, so let's stop by and take a break there.

10:00 AM

Warm Welcome at a 200-Year-Old Farmhouse

When you arrive at our family’s 200-year-old farmhouse, you’ll step into a space shaped by generations of rural life. I will welcome you personally and introduce the history of our home, how it was built, and how it has supported our family and farming for centuries.

This is not a museum — it is a living home where tradition continues today.

You’ll have time to look around, settle in, and begin to feel the quiet rhythm of the countryside.

12:00 AM

Discover Rice: Tradition and Reality

We begin with a relaxed conversation about the meaning of rice in Japan — not only as food, but as identity, history, and daily life.

As a working rice farmer, I share the annual rhythm of cultivation — planting, growing, harvesting, and preparing for the next season — along with the physical and economic realities behind it. You’ll learn why many farms remain family-run, the challenges we face today, and what continues to motivate us to carry this work forward.

This is an open and honest dialogue where tradition meets modern life. I encourage questions and cultural exchange, and many guests say this conversation becomes the most memorable part of their visit.

12:30 AM

Hands-On Onigiri Experience

Next, we move into the kitchen for a hands-on cooking experience.

Using the rice we cultivate in our own fields, we will:

Prepare freshly cooked rice

Learn how to season and handle it properly

Shape traditional onigiri by hand

This is more than cooking — it is connecting to the land and understanding how food carries culture.

We will enjoy the onigiri and athor foods for lunch together in a relaxed setting.

03:00 PM

Quiet Matcha Moment

To conclude, I will prepare matcha tea for you inside the farmhouse.

This quiet moment allows us to slow down and reflect. Surrounded by wooden beams and natural light, we share tea not as a performance, but as a gesture of hospitality and respect.

It is often in this final moment that guests say they feel most connected — not just to Japan, but to the people who live here.

04:00 AM

Sake brewery - Kyokuhou Shuzo

If you wish, we may stop by the historic local sake brewery Kyokuhou Shuzo near the IR station.

Sake is another expression of rice culture — transforming the same grain into something shared in celebration and ritual. While the brewing spaces themselves are traditionally private and not always open for detailed viewing, visiting the brewery allows you to experience its atmosphere and long-standing heritage.

You will have the opportunity to purchase sake directly from the brewery as a meaningful souvenir — a bottle that carries forward the story of rice in a new form.

Ending Point

At JR. Kabe Station (The nearest JR station). It takes 35 minute by train from Kabe Station to Hirosima Station. The line goes directly to the final station at Hiroshima Station.

Want to personalize this tour?

This tour can be customized to meet your needs and preferences. Click below to send me a message with your requests.

Inclusions & Exclusions

What‘s included

・Guide fee

・Private transportation (Voxy from Toyota, a family minivan)

・Gasoline, toll, and parking fees

・Cost of ingredients for lunch and tea

What‘s not included

・Cost of eating out

Tour Important Information

Please let me know in adbance if you have any food allergies or other dietarry restrictons.

Please understand that as I have small children, unexpected situations may occur. In rare cases, I may need to cancel or reschedule the tour.

Even if the calendar shows as unavailable, please feel free to send me a message to check. I may be able to adjust my schedule.

Important message from the supplier

I may not be able to reply immediately, but I will respond within 24 hours.

Cancellation Policy

Free cancellation - 8 days prior to meeting time
50% Refund - 3 to 7 days prior to meeting time
No Refund - Within 2 day(s) prior to meeting time

Joined 2025

Naomi K.

5.00 / 5

(2 reviews)

Identity Verified

Interview-Based Quality Checks

About Tour Guide Naomi K.

Hello, I’m Naomi, a certified guide.

I live in the peaceful countryside of Hiroshima, where I am a rice farmer, writer, and mother of three. Our family resides in a 200-year-old traditional farmhouse, surrounded by nature and history.

I began learning English again at the age of 40, and although I don’t have much overseas experience, guiding visitors has become one of my greatest joys. Sharing Japan through my own eyes makes every encounter exciting and meaningful.

I love welcoming people and building connections across cultures. If my hospitality can add a special touch to your journey in Japan, it would bring me great happiness.

I look forward to meeting you—thank you!

Reviews

Julie W.

5 / 5

Mar 24, 2026

A Canny Day in Hiroshima

Mar 24, 2026

Hiroshima

8 hours

“A Fabulous Day in Miyajima and Hiroshima ”

Naomi was a wonderful guide. Her warmth and personality made it feel like you were spending a day with a friend . We took the ferry across to Miyajima which was wonderful ! Everywhere you turn the scenery is amazing and we were blessed to witness a wedding ceremony which made the day even more special. I did not know that deer roamed freely across the island and they are very friendly . We then caught another ferry to Hiroshima Peace Park where Naomi recounted the history of what had happened. The Park itself is a beautiful tribute to those who died . Naomi also took us to a very small restaurant that specialises in okonomiyaki and it was the best meal I have experienced so far in Japan, I could it it every week ! Naomi is kind, courteous, patient and explains everything in such a way that you come away having learned a lot, without having felt that you’d sat through a history lesson- which has happened many times with other guides. There were four of us - all in our mid sixties- and the pace of the tour was perfect .

Naomi K.

Even now, when I think back, the time I spent with the four of you was truly wonderful. Both Miyajima and the Peace Memorial Park are very familiar places to me, but thanks to your friendly and thoughtful company, I was able to enjoy them as if I were traveling myself. We were also blessed with beautiful weather, and seeing a wedding on Miyajima was such a special and lucky moment! From Hiroshima, I truly hope that you will continue to stay close and enjoy life in your own wonderful way. Thank you so much for coming to Hiroshima and for choosing me as your guide.

Elizabeth C.

5 / 5

Mar 10, 2026

Authentic Rural Japan:Discover Rice Culture with a Local Rice Farmer in Hiroshima

Mar 10, 2026

Hiroshima

7 hours

“Unforgettable experience! Worth the trip!”

My family only spent a week in Japan so we had to be very picky about how we spent our time. My parents are originally from a small village in Mexico, so a bucket list item for them was to visit a rice paddy and a Japanese village. I was initially nervous about dedicating a whole day of our trip to visiting a village but now I wouldn’t trade it for the world. Naomi is an incredible, warm and welcoming guide. Her English is also quite good. She welcomed me and my family to spend a day with her and her family. Her community was about an hour drive away from our hotel in Hiroshima. We had a fantastic time seeing the sights in her mountainside community and visiting the Ini Tanada rice terrace. It was February and we knew the paddies wouldn’t be full of greenery but seeing the cool terraces was still worth it. I especially recommend the terraces if you are coming in late spring/summer when the rice has been planted. Even in February, we got to see beautiful plum blossoms and other natural wonders. We also can’t stop talking about the incredible food that we got to make alongside Naomi and the 80 year old matriarch of her family. It was some of the best food we has in Japan - there is nothing like a home cooked meal. We got to try onigiri made with rice from the farm, fresh baked bread made with rice flour and other incredible local items. At the end of the end of the tour, Naomi also took us to a local sake shop where we bought some very tasty local sake to take home. I can’t recommend this tour enough for anyone looking for an authentic taste of culture. I only hope future visitors treat this family with the warmth and humility they shared with us.

Naomi K.

Thank you so much for your incredibly kind and thoughtful review. Reading your words truly moved me and my family. I read it again and again. It was a great honor to welcome you and your parents to our small community. My kids and my mother were also so happy enjoying the food, celebrating your father’s birthday and taking a stroll. Thank you for spending such a precious day of your trip with us and for appreciating our rice culture and rural life. We will always remember your visit. I miss you all. You will always be welcome here, and we hope to see you again someday. Take care. Good luck to you and your family until then.