Part-Time Bean Harvesters : Sasayama

While the computer was down and out we weren't just moping around, doing nothing all day - at least not every day. After a rowdy birthday/karaoke party in Kobe on Saturday, we headed to the small town of Sasayama with one of Colleen's English teachers, Nishida-sensei. The point of our trip was to meet an old teacher friend of Nishida's and help him pick some beans from his farm plot. The town of Sasayama is well-known for it's particular type of soybean and this weekend was the town festival which celebrated the beans and sold them like mad. While we trimmed leaves from the bean plants we watched the long line of traffic idle by as people from all over flocked to the tiny town for beans.

Chikanari-sensei and his wife Tsutako were totally amazing and inspirational people. In addition to teaching and farming, they are both amazing artists (her: flower arranging, him: drawing) and social-minded individuals. After our light work in the field (I'm a little embarrassed by how easy they were on us - maybe 2 hours work at most) they took us to a great restaurant called the Community Cafe. It employs handicapped people and uses profits, along with donations and money from various fundraisers, to run a center for others with mental/physical disabilities where arts & crafts are made to be sold and different programs/classes are held. We were amazed to find such an awesome and progressive place in such a little town and even more so when Chikanari told us how much literally every person in the town supports the place and that people with disabilities have started moving there from all over Japan. We left in awe with Colleen's social worker gears turning double-time.