h2353

Member for
17 years

Hokkaido

Hokkaido

Kucchan-cho (near Niseko)

虻田郡倶知安町比羅夫

  • Poultry Farm
  • Vegetable Gardens
  • Nature Guide
  • Outdoor Sports
  • Nature School
  • Sightseeing Business
  • Farm Inn, Backpackers Lodge, Etc.
  • Camping Place
  • Restaurant
  • Farm Foods Processing Place
  • Meat Processing Place
  • Other

生活文化の伝承

Welcome to Bouken
• Bouken Kazoku (bo-ken kazoku, “adventure family” in Japanese)
A getaway where nature, culture and human bonding join together at the foot of Mt. Yotei in Hokkaido, Japan.
• History
o Bouken Kazoku
20 years ago, we moved to Hokkaido upon seeing our own children getting dependent on the convenience brought about by modern technology and losing the ability of critical thinking, improvising, and interacting with nature. Bouken Kazoku was established in 1993, providing the opportunity to experience self-sustaining life, hands-on cultural activities and natural excursions.
o Building
The time-honored wooden building of Bouken Kazoku was Hirafu Elementary School, which was a model school of bird-watching activities, and eventually shut down because of the low enrollment. In Bouken Kazoku, you can still see the paintings of birds by schoolchildren and teachers. Now, the schoolhouse welcomes you with its nostalgic sentiment, classroom-converted guestrooms, and an array of fun activities you can try your hands on.
• Japanese Cultural Workshops
o Experience Japanese culture in DIY workshops.
 Straw-sandals: Make your own exclusive straw sandals, like the old-days!
 Traditional toys: Make toys guns using bamboo and newspaper, and other fun stuff!

• Natural expeditions and hands-on workshops
Outdoor expeditions:
All outdoor activities led by explorer Anan (Otosan of Bouken) and professional staff as your outdoors expert.

Summer:
• Whitewater rafting: Build your own raft and down the stream we go!
• Mud spring: Hike up to the crater of a sleeping volcano and enjoy the all-natural mud spring. Great for the skin!
• Fishing: Learn how to fish in natural creeks of Hokkaido!
• Wild vegetable picking: Hike in nearby hills and learn about the gifts from mother nature
• Farming: Get your hands dirty and feel the magic of soil.
Winter:
• Snowshoeing: Walk in the silence of the snow and catch glimpses of wild animals.
• Igloo building and staying overnight: Make your own igloo and stay inside overnight!
Hands-on workshops
Led by Otosan/ Okasan of Bouken and professional staff.

• Natural dye: Make beautiful patterns on fabric with all-natural dye derived from plants.
• All-natural cooking workshops
• Learn how to make ice cream out of eggs laid by Bouken-raised chicken and fresh-from-the-farm milk!
• Make all-natural smoked sausages from scratch!
• Smoke your own cheese, egg and sausage.

• Restaurant
At Japanese Kitchen Bouken, we’ve combined our love for nature, great food, and Japanese culture. In a 76-year-old wooden house that was an elementary school, we’re having fun with the best local produce we can find, complementing it with hand-picked wild vegetables, and serving it with neighborhood warmth. Our “Okaasan” cooks Japanese family-style meals with fresh-from-the-farm ingredients. We also brew our exclusive organic “tree-sap coffee,” replacing water with early spring sap from birch, maple and walnut trees.

  • Living Self-Sufficiently
  • Holding Courses for People to Experience Farming
  • Opportunities to Study Japanese
  • Lectures or Classes for Learning About Nature
  • Environmental Education
  • Outdoor Skills
  • Camping
  • Hand-Made Goods
  • Slow Food
  • Making Jam
  • Producing Miso
  • Making Japanese Pickles
  • Making Ham and Sausages
  • Slaughtering Chickens for Meat for Human Consumption
  • Producing Processed Food
  • Traditional Local Japanese Cooking
  • How to Cook Generally
  • Selling Natural Food
  • Making Wooden Things
  • Dyeing Cloth
  • Making Vine Baskets
  • Skiing
  • Traditional Japanese Garden Design
  • Walking to Enjoy Nature
  • Mountain Climbing
  • Walking in the Bush
  • Bird Watching
  • Fishing
  • Hot Spring
  • Traditional Japanese Family

70 to 90% organic

No

We have an organic attitude of sorts, but we do not go out of our way to be organic or alternative, rather, we do what suits us at the time

  • We have lots of fish
  • General diet including meat and fish
  • We put great effort into how to cook and what to eat
  • We cook mainly Japanese meals
  • We usually cook homemade meals
  • We may buy obento (lunch boxes) at convenience stores and supermarkets

When we have a party or an event, we might drink with WWOOFers but these occasions are not so often

No, nobody smokes

  • Farming area
  • Outside the town
  • Near the mountains
  • Quiet place

Our home and our workplace are situated at the same place or very close to each other and so the atmosphere stated pertains to both our home and our workplace

Within 5 ha

  • Ex-School Building
  • Other

元小学校

15

20

15

-5

Yes

  • Chickens for Eggs

Yes

  • Dog

  • Almost All Year Round
  • January
  • February
  • May
  • June
  • July
  • August
  • September

  • A Few Weeks to a Few Months
  • Both Short Period and Long Period Welcome

Up to Three

20 to 50

It is possible

  • No conditions. If we do not have other WWOOFers or other WWOOFer reservations, we welcome all WWOOFers
  • WWOOFers of any age
  • We prefer non Japanese WWOOFers
  • WWOOFers who like nature
  • WWOOFers who are interested in living in a rural area
  • WWOOFers who are interested in food
  • WWOOFers who can cook
  • WWOOFers who like doing house chores, for example cooking, cleaning and washing
  • WWOOFers who can clean rooms
  • WWOOFers who like outdoor sports
  • WWOOFers who are interested in doing the same activities as our trainees and our staff
  • WWOOFers who can talk to people well and serve our customers and guests well
  • WWOOFers who can use computers
  • Active WWOOFers
  • Cheerful WWOOFers
  • WWOOFers who like talking to people
  • Responsible WWOOFers
  • WWOOFers who have aspirations
  • WWOOFers who can be cooperative
  • WWOOFers who can learn things with the Host together
  • WWOOFers who can get up early in the morning
  • WWOOFers who have no dislikes about eating and food
  • WWOOFers who can drive manual & automatic cars
  • WWOOFers who have a will to learn the native language(s)
  • WWOOFers who are interested in this culture
  • Healthy WWOOFers
  • WWOOFers who do not have any animal allergies
  • WWOOFers who do not have allergy to eggs
  • WWOOFers who are interested in nature experience or becoming a nature guide rather than farming

  • Weeding
  • Chopping wood
  • Feeding livestock
  • Cooking
  • Washing the dishes
  • General housework
  • Making flower gardens
  • Repairing houses
  • Painting
  • Helping farm / environmental experience courses
  • Helping with shop activities
  • Meeting / engaging with guests & customers
  • General living and accommodation related activities
  • Shoveling snow
  • Helping outdoor sports activities
  • Processing food
  • Making handicrafts

Usually WWOOFers need to volunteer more than 6 hours a day, however, we are balancing that by giving WWOOFers something extra, eg. extra days off

  • In a traditional Japanese Tatami mat room
  • Using a Japanese futon

  • With the Host

We can cook for WWOOFers who are really light vegetarians, who can eat chickens, ham & sausages, eggs, dairy products

Yes, at a designated location

  • No

At least one of our Host members has much time to communicate with WWOOFers

  • WWOOFers do not need to speak Japanese now but they have to have a will to learn Japanese
  • No, WWOOFers do not need to speak Japanese if they speak English

  • Japanese
  • English

興味のある方は是非一度メールください。

Bouken Kazoku' is located in Kutchan-cho where the Niseko mountains spreads out on Mt. Yotei and the west side in the southwest of Hokkaido.
 They are also the nature and life experience center which can do various experiences with the institution to which the image of the wooden school building for 80 years is made as for the maximum remnants, and stay and experience, and the institution which allotted the sunken hearth hut, the campsite, the snow hut, etc.
WE ARE ACCEPTING WWOOFers
永い間ご無沙汰してました。久々のウーファー募集です。
6月~8月の三ヶ月間・二週間以上協力いただける方。
仕事の内容は施設(宿泊施設・キャンプ場・森)修理整備やガーデニング・草刈りなど