Frequent travellers to Eastern Japan would have made stops to major cities like Tokyo or Yokohama, while there are also many of us who would have visited local-favourite cities like Karuizawa and Nikko. But have you heard of Tomi City (東御市 Tōmi-shi) in Nagano Prefecture (長野県)?
My name is Wanping, and I’m one of the Managing Directors of TokudAw Inc. At TokudAw Inc., we design our tours in a way that contributes to sustainable tourism that creates jobs for the Japanese community and protects National World Heritages whilst promoting Japan as the ideal travel destination.
One of the more recent tours that we’ve organised is our original Charity Rice Planting Tour at Tomi City, Nagano Prefecture where you will get to experience rice-planting. Part of the rice harvested from the rice fields that you will visit will be donated to people who are in economically difficult situations in Japan.
Our Charity Rice Planting Tour takes place 3 times a year: in winter when you enjoy the newly harvested rice and learn how to make fermented vegetables using Tomi produce; in late spring to prepare the rice paddies and sow rice, and in late autumn. You can choose to join only one seasonal tour or if you really enjoy rice planting, you can join the tour throughout the year!
Today, we will be introducing the winter version of our rice planting tour as well as letting you know what you can enjoy when you visit Tomi City in winter.
Charity rice planting at Namonai-nouka (Winter version)
The Charity Rice Planting tour at Tomi City where everything related to rice takes place at Namonai-nouka (名もない農家 Farmer with no name) where the hosts Mr and Mrs Hirota (廣田), affectionately called kā-san (母さん mother) and tō-san (父さん father) by the locals, will treat you like part of their family for a day.
Namonai-nouka practices organic and sustainable farming where no single part of the rice harvesting goes to waste. All the food served is harvested from their own farm and grown organically by the Hirota family. All the food is also lovingly handmade.
In the winter version of the rice tour, we used newly harvested rice to make goheimochi (五平餅), a local dish available in mountainous areas such as Aichi, Nagano, and Gifu.
In our version of the goheimochi, we used walnut miso (味噌) as walnuts are a speciality in Tomi City and miso fermented with rice koji (麴) from Namonai-nouka. The goheimochi was roasted on a traditional kama (釜) pot and we ate them with vegetables that we fermented ourselves early in the morning.
At Namonai-nouka, since nothing goes to waste, straw from the harvested rice is used in craft to make daily necessities. Kā-san very patiently taught us how to make a mini-broom! I learnt a lot about how we should treat food and crops with love and respect, and in return, when we eat them, they would be exceptionally delicious!
Namonai-nouka (名もない農家)
Address: 239-4 Kawa Hara, Tomi-shi, Nagano, 389-0401
Nearest station: Tanaka Station (田中駅）
Access:10-minute taxi ride from station
To book an experience at Namonai-nouka, please send an email to [email protected].
Snowshoe trekking on white powdery snow at Yunomaru Kogen
Yunomaru Kogen (湯ノ丸高原) has a ski resort where you can enjoy typical snow sports like skiing and snowboarding. However, this time we put on our snowshoes—special shoes that allow you to walk through the snow—and took a trek through the winter forest, on the soft powdery snow that Nagano is famous for.
There are trekking options available for participants of different levels, so don’t worry if you are a beginner. It was actually my first time snowshoe trekking and it was not difficult at all. There will also be a guide who will accompany you on the trek so that you can enjoy trekking safely as well as be introduced to many secrets of the trekking route that only locals know.
Yunomaru Kogen (湯ノ丸高原)
Address: 1270, Tomi-shi, Nagano, 389-0501
Nearest station: Tanaka Station (田中駅)
Access: 30-minute taxi ride from station
Bamboo lantern making at Unnojuku
Unnojuku (海野宿) is one of the olden post towns along the Hokkoku Kaidō (北国街道) highway that was established in 1625. The Hokkoku Highway was an important road connecting the Nakasendo (中山道 Central Mountain Route) and the Hokurikudō (北陸道 Northern Land Route).
In post towns like Unnojuku, you’ll find many traditional houses that remain intact even after centuries including Edo-style buildings, thatched-roofed buildings, and rugged warehouses that were used for raising silkworms from after the Meiji Era. This area was selected as one of “Japan’s Hundred Best Roads” as well as a “National Conservation District of Traditional Buildings”, all well-harmonised together to form a traditional line of houses.
At Unnojuku, we experienced making bamboo lanterns (竹灯籠 take-tōrō) at a free workshop! This free experience was part of an initiative to create 365 bamboo lanterns that would be lit up during the Unnojuku Spring Festival (海野宿春祭り Unnojuku Harumatsuri).
These bamboos are locally sourced from Tomi City and would be lit up using solar-powered batteries. It is really an experience to remember as your work would be part of a local exhibition and at the end, they even presented me with a small bamboo lantern as a souvenir!
Unnojuku (海野宿)
Address: Honnuno 845, Tomi-shi, Nagano, 389-0518
Nearest station: Tanaka Station (田中駅)
Access: 20-minute walk from station
Getting there
One of the biggest perks of visiting Tomi City is that it is still currently not so well-known to the international community. As such, you can slowly enjoy a local and authentic experience without having to weave through crowds. If you are looking for a day trip option when visiting Japan, Tomi City has a lot to offer—Tomi City is only a 2.5 hour car ride from Tokyo (東京), 1 hour from Karuizawa (軽井沢), and about 1.5 hours away from Hakuba (白馬).
From Tokyo, take the Hokuriku Shinkansen (北陸新幹線) and alight at Ueda Station (上田駅) and transfer to the Shinano Railway (しなの鉄道) to alight at Tanaka Station (田中駅). The train journey would take about 1.5 hours.
Bring Tomi to me
Keen to find out more about our original Charity Rice Planting Tour in detail? Join me on 12 February 2022 (Saturday) at 3:30pm (Singapore Time) where I’ll be hosting a free virtual tour called “Bring Tomi, to me!” at JAPAN RAIL CAFE’s Facebook page.
Alternatively, if you wish to enquire about our fully-customisable tours, feel free to contact me at or visit our website. As a Japanese-Singapore team, we can provide a large variety of local options, so please do let us know what you would like out of our tour and we will be able to suggest options that suit your interests.
Header image credit: TokudAw Inc.
