My Journey to Ichinohe: A Story That Begins in the Mountains

I'm Colombian, born and raised in Bogotá, a super chaotic and messy city, but one surrounded by beautiful mountains, rich in culture, and above all, full of life. I've been lucky enough to travel around the world twice, and now I find myself living in Ichinohe, a small town in Iwate Prefecture, in northern Japan. Every day I spend here, I learn something new and feel more connected to the region and its people. I’m not exaggerating when I say I’m truly in love with this little corner of the world ^^!

To summarize my story: when COVID-19 hit and lockdowns began, I somehow managed to graduate from university in the middle of that chaos. That was when I decided I wanted to build my life project in Japan. Like many others, my first contact with Japan was through anime, spending hours obsessively watching series on my computer, drawing the characters, playing Nintendo games and dreaming about how rural Japan's looks. But anyway, it was during the pandemic that I finally and truly committed to learning the Japanese language, culture, and its people's lifestyle.

Around mid-2023, I made my first exploratory trip to Japan with the goal of seeing as much as I could of the central and western parts of the country, because I wanted to save the north for later. As many know, Japan is incredibly easy to explore, with an efficient train network and cities that hold their own hidden treasures. From big cities like Tokyo, Osaka, Hiroshima, and Kobe, to smaller ones like Takamatsu; every place had something special to offer, and I learned something from each of them.

Later that same year, I moved to Morioka, the capital of Iwate Prefecture. The reason? Because my heart was already set on northern Japan even before I arrived. This region, known as Tōhoku, was not only the home of the first Japanese person I ever met (my Japanese teacher), but there was something genuine that kept pulling in more and more as she told me stories and showed me pictures of the festivals and local events.

After nearly two years here, I can say this region (though far less crowded than other parts of Japan) is absolutely full of history, culture, beauty, and hidden traces of the past. During the year and a half I spent in Morioka as a student, I had the chance to visit the nearby regional towns and even went a little bit further visiting other prefectures, and in those trips I took part in festivals, tried local fruits, discovered dragon-shaped lakes, and learned to appreciate the silence of the Satoyama (a concept I Iearned at university and could finally experience firsthand). I also had to face challenges, like being one of the very few Latin Americans in the area and navigating a space where English is barely spoken, and Spanish even less.

Finally, when my student program ended, I wasn’t ready to leave. Supported by the connections I had made, I began looking for job opportunities and that’s when I discovered a program called 地域おこし協力隊 (Chiiki Okoshi Kyōryokutai), or the “Community Revitalization Cooperation Team.” Through this program, I joined a project focused on promoting tourism and supporting local development, and that’s how I ended up in Ichinohe!

Why did I choose this town? Beyond the logical reasons, there was something emotional. As I mentioned, I grew up surrounded by mountains, and Ichinohe offered that same feeling of comfort and protection. Plus, having a UNESCO-recognized geopark just a few blocks from home, walking through local architectural history, discovering legends still alive in the memories of its people, breathing clean air, and drinking fresh water every day… all of that made me feel at home from the very first day.

Since arriving, not a single day has gone by without surprising me. The vibrant energy of summer festivals, the fiery red of the maples in autumn, the rebirth of the fields in spring... Ichinohe may not be a famous place, but maybe that’s exactly why it feels so real. And through this blog, I want to share that reality with you, what I see, what I learn, what I live. 

In future posts, I plan to write about the festivals, how to get here (from Tokyo or Osaka), small everyday adventures, landscapes, and the people who have made Ichinohe, for me, no longer just a dot on the map… but a home.