Holy cow. It’s already been one year since I started my YouTube channel out here in this corner of the countryside. As I reviewed my footage for my anniversary video, I can see the seasons shift: the two days of snow we had in January, the sound of cicadas buzzing as we barbequed in the summer, Pancake getting progressively spritely as he got older.
A BIG thank you to my supporters
Going through the past year’s footage to make this anniversary video feels like a wonderful accomplishment. I started making YouTube videos I would have wanted to watch before arriving here in Japan. And now, I continue to do that, but with many more people watching. More specifically, 125,000 of you since we started sharing this journey!
Thank you all for your support and kind and encouraging words. Thank you to those who sent emails, posted comments, shared their experiences with me, or dreamed of finding their own countryside version for themselves. Knowing that you look forward to my videos every Sunday makes me so happy!
As we wrapped up the past year, I started contemplating what upcoming opportunities we could potentially explore together in 2024.
Helping with rice planting
Today marks the third consecutive day of blissfully sunny weather this spring. The rice fields have been freshly flooded, and it’s also the third time this week that I have joined the rice planting team (basically my neighbours who own the fields across our house).
I waded into the fields with my bare feet. In some parts of the field, the mud reached my knees as I walked through rows of already-transplanted rice seedlings. I crouched over and fixed the seedlings that hadn’t quite been properly transplanted by the rice transplanter. Just like humans, machines can also get old, and manually fixing them is necessary for paddy field maintenance.
I like the feeling of the mud squishing between my toes, but I don’t think we are ready to take on our own field—at least for now. Maybe we can count on it when we have our own house in Japan.
A brief akiya hunting update
We are still akiya hunting—or, more specifically, town hunting. Location is more important than the house (at least that’s what Jesse says; I still have my heart set on an epic samurai residence in the countryside!). So, we are exploring some surrounding towns to see if we get the “this feels right” feeling.
More soon on our akiya house hunt. But for now, we return back to this lovely little house, with lovely neighbours, our rascally little dog, and our thriving flower garden.
Chat soon,
-Mika
