Chiiori

Chiiori is an Edo era farmhouse located in the Iya Valley of east central Shikoku. It was purchased by the travel writer Alex Kerr in the 70s, though he's apparently no longer affiliated with the project. Kerr's writing tends to be condescending and self-congratulatory expatriate ranting (a post on an Americans-in-Japan expat website put it perfectly, though I actually don't think this is a joke: "I would like to leave Alex Kerr alone so that he (and Ian Buruma) can have the peace and quiet to pen more books."), but all hard feelings aside, the house was incredible. After taking two trains and a bus through the mountains near Oboke, a small pickup truck was waiting for me on the side of the road. I hopped in the back and was ferried up the mountainside to Chiiori. The house is in fact so remote (as Kerr's book Lost Japan reiterates) that it was featured in TIME and appears in the current issue of the Atlantic Monthly. I'm not sure why I'm being such a cynic, as the place itself was truly breathtaking and the volunteer staff were incredible individuals. To be fair, I'll give Mr. Kerr the last word. From Dogs and Demons:

Occassionally one sees foreigners having an impact in certain out-of-the-way niches in Japan, such as Iya Valley in Shikoku, where the Chiiori Project, a volunteer movement centered on Mason Florence's and my old farmhouse, is drawing numerous foreign travelers and exchange teachers. The sight of all these foreigners trekking to such a remote place is reawakening local interest in reviving Iya's natural beauty.

Iya Valley: