- 4 months ago
Ben Fogle- New Lives in the Wild (2013) Season 21 Episode 2- Japan
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Short filmTranscript
00:01Any time I can stick it to the man in a small way, I do.
00:05Could you start your life all over again?
00:08Leave behind everything you know for something completely different?
00:13It's like, I guess we live in a bit of a pressure cooker.
00:16I'm Ben Fogel, and over the next few weeks,
00:19I'm going to live with the incredible people who've done just that.
00:22Did you ever feel like abandoning the property?
00:25No. It's my home.
00:28Would you say you enjoy the companionship of animals more than people?
00:31Probably, yeah.
00:33In some of the most remote places on Earth.
00:36This is why I love the wilderness.
00:38I'll discover their motivations.
00:40For me, it was just, yeah, you're born, you go to school, you work all life, and then you die.
00:46The challenges.
00:47There's no way that I was going to put my wife and my children in that house,
00:51the condition that it was in.
00:53Just make sure there's absolutely no electrical current down there.
00:56And find out what it takes to make a new life in the wild.
01:01Hasta la vista, baby.
01:03This week, I'm heading to the land of the rising sun to meet Yorkshireman Rupert.
01:16Would you like a cup of tea?
01:18Whose search for a simple life led him to the mountains of Japan.
01:22Am I right in thinking that you've fully embraced Japanese culture?
01:26A hundred percent.
01:28Maybe more than your average Japanese person.
01:31I'll see first-hand the contentment this new life has brought him.
01:36I come in my field, I just feel energized and like a child.
01:41But learn how it's also pushed him to breaking point.
01:44You're getting emotional now.
01:46Yeah, because I'm thinking I can remember it all.
01:48It almost feels like you're still traumatized by it.
01:51Yeah, because it'll probably happen again.
01:55My journey takes me nine and a half thousand kilometers east to Japan
02:04and the southern island of Kyushu.
02:06I've been to this country before and it never fails to totally captivate me.
02:25If you love travel, as I do, this is the ultimate destination.
02:30It's so wildly culturally and geographically different from anywhere else.
02:36And I still get so excited to get back here.
02:40I'm just an hour's drive from the nearest city.
02:43But right now, it feels like I'm the only person here.
02:47Which is remarkable, given that there are 124 million people living in Japan.
02:54What's really interesting for me is that over the last century or so,
02:57there's been a huge urban migration.
03:00I think only 10% of the population live in its rural areas.
03:04So what on earth a Yorkshireman is doing as part of that 10%?
03:09Well, I hope to find out.
03:15I soon join up with a tarmacked road and spot a small village ahead.
03:19He lives somewhere around here.
03:29Where is he?
03:31Rupert?
03:32Oh, hey-o!
03:33Hey-o!
03:34That is the most unexpected welcome here in Japan.
03:38Well, you can't take the Yorkshire out of the Yorkshireman.
03:40I love it.
03:41But this is a slightly different environment to the one you're used to.
03:45I mean, look at these.
03:46A little bit, yes.
03:47Can I have a look around?
03:48Yep, go on.
03:49Oh, it's so good to be here, Rupert.
03:51In fact, you've just won first prize as the first Englishman to visit me.
03:56Really?
03:57Yeah.
03:58I take great pride in that.
04:0457-year-old Rupert grew up in the small town of Ilkley, near Leeds.
04:09A keen runner and cyclist, he attended art college before moving to Singapore at the age of 24 to work in graphic design.
04:17Over the next two decades, Rupert worked in photography, making good money.
04:23But as city life took its toll, he began to yearn for a fresh start.
04:28In 2013, Rupert moved to Fukuoka City in southern Japan, but soon found himself drawn to the surrounding countryside.
04:38It was in 2022 that he relocated to a remote village of 20 people, purchasing a traditional Japanese house for just Ā£20,000.
04:50It's been his home ever since.
04:54Oh, here we go. Wow, Rupert. This is amazing in here.
05:05Yeah.
05:06Wow, it's incredibly atmospheric.
05:11So, what state was this in when you moved in? How much work have you done here?
05:14Actually, it's in quite good condition, because the house is, it's a relatively new, new house.
05:20What's new here in Japan?
05:22Well, this is 60 years old, so that's quite new for this style, very traditional, which is why we bought it.
05:29We?
05:30Oh, I'm married.
05:31Where is your wife?
05:33She's at work now.
05:34I'll meet her later.
05:35Yes.
05:36Looking around, I don't see a huge amount of evidence of Yorkshire, apart from your face and your head.
05:42That's kind of it. So, am I right in thinking that you've fully embraced Japanese culture?
05:48Yes, yeah, I mean, yeah, maybe 100%, maybe more than your average Japanese person.
05:57You can see just how much Rupert has embraced the country's aesthetic in his home.
06:06While the house is connected to the mains and a local water supply, it relies on a small wood-burning stove for heating.
06:12And it's definitely needed.
06:15It is cold, though. Do you like the cold?
06:17Yeah, I love it. I'm from Yorkshire, so it's in my blood. No insulation.
06:21Well, I can show you. No underfloor heating here, so...
06:25What's under that?
06:27Wait, dirt.
06:29That's straight outside?
06:31Yep. And actually, you can feel the wind coming.
06:34All right, well, I can warm you up a bit if you're feeling cold. Would you like a cup of tea?
06:37Yeah, I have a tea plantation.
06:39Of course you have a tea plantation.
06:44This is all very surreal and very charming.
06:47It's atmospheric and beautiful, but so unlikely to be met by a Yorkshireman on the side of a Japanese hilltop.
06:54So it's like I really am treading in two parallel universes here.
06:59But I've got a lot of questions to understand more about his very simple life.
07:05But what I do get a sense of is he's very happy.
07:12Because the village is so isolated, Rupert bought a small van for just Ā£150 to get around.
07:19His other prized possession can only be accessed by ladder, his very own rice field.
07:26Is this going to pass health and safety? I think that looks OK.
07:29I think it'd be banned in England.
07:32I'll follow you up. OK.
07:39Ice security paddy field.
07:42It's like a castle.
07:44Not much rice going on right now, though.
07:46Yeah, I harvested in November.
07:49Yeah.
07:50That's a pretty good view.
07:52Yeah, when I saw this rice field, I thought it was like love at first sight.
07:58I can see the smile on your face glowing.
08:02You're obviously really proud of this.
08:04You love the rice.
08:05Yeah, I'm proud of my rice.
08:07So how on earth does a Yorkshireman know where to begin when it comes to growing rice?
08:13Was this all through local knowledge?
08:15Local knowledge and self-taught.
08:17Mm-hmm.
08:18I've experienced how they grow it the modern way.
08:20And it's just, I don't know, disillusioned me.
08:23No one does by hand anymore.
08:25What do the locals make of this?
08:27I mean, I can see they're quietly impressed.
08:31But they also, I spoke to one farmer the other day.
08:34He looked horrified when I said I didn't use insecticide.
08:37Mm-hmm.
08:38It's called no-yaku in Japanese.
08:40Mm-hmm.
08:41So no insecticides, mu-no-yaku.
08:43So I like using that word a lot.
08:46So you're healthier.
08:47And economically, are you pretty stable?
08:50Well, rephrased, I don't really like money.
08:55And living where I live, I don't need much money.
09:00My wife works on a minimum wage, and we live on very little.
09:06Would you say this is an idyllic life?
09:08Oh, yes.
09:09I come in my field, I just feel energised and like a...
09:13You know, like...like a child.
09:20I see what he means.
09:22I sense an almost childlike giddiness about Rupert
09:25when he talks about his life here.
09:27On top of growing tea leaves and rice,
09:30he also has a vegetable garden to supplement his meals.
09:33And as his wife Asaki is away for her job in education,
09:37tonight's dinner will be a traditional Japanese meal for two.
09:42Wow, look at that.
09:45Wow.
09:46That's not artificial colour, really.
09:48Wow, that's amazing.
09:49That's true.
09:51And almost everything on the table comes from Rupert's land
09:54or the surrounding area.
09:56I'm the cook in the house.
09:57My wife doesn't really cook.
09:59Our roles are kind of reversed.
10:01She goes to work and then I cook.
10:03Did you always cook when you were back in Yorkshire, for example?
10:06Always, yeah.
10:08Back when I lived in London after college.
10:12Mm-hmm.
10:13And Singapore...
10:15How did you end up in Singapore?
10:16There was a recession in England in 1991.
10:20Mm-hmm.
10:21And I got retrenched.
10:22And then I was offered a job in Singapore.
10:25Yeah, it seemed such an exotic place.
10:27I was 24 years old.
10:28You know, that's quite exciting, isn't it?
10:30And sometimes you can get drawn into things and then you can't see the...
10:34What is it?
10:35You can't see the wood for the trees.
10:37Mm-hmm.
10:38Do you think that happened to you?
10:39Yes.
10:40Yeah.
10:41And then maybe after 10 years, I just steadily got disillusioned.
10:47Mm-hmm.
10:48And with the expense.
10:50And yes, it was so money-based.
10:53I got in a taxi one day and he said, how much do you earn?
10:57That's the first thing he said.
11:00And I think I said, I have nothing.
11:04I mean, that was the reason I was leaving Singapore.
11:07It was impossible to live there.
11:09And I actually didn't want to live there.
11:11I didn't want to pay to exist.
11:15And there was a point with work, because I was having to work very hard to pay the rent.
11:20It was like $3,000 a month.
11:23And I developed like a nervous twitch.
11:26It was terrible.
11:27It was like really bad.
11:29It was like an open prison for me.
11:34So at what point did you decide to leave the open prison and come here?
11:40That was actually, I was there way too long after 18 years.
11:44Just a long, long time.
11:46I think when you, well, you get older, you get wiser, don't you?
11:51You start thinking more.
11:54I was changing as a person.
11:56And more spiritual.
11:58And the more I learn about Japan, Japan was always on the list.
12:01So that's where I ended up.
12:03No money, but happy as.
12:08He's a fascinating individual.
12:10He looks like he belongs here.
12:14But it's been a very circuitous journey.
12:17And I'm looking forward to finding out a little bit more about, you know,
12:20how that's impacted him.
12:21Whether he is as eternally happy and zen as he has sort of alluded to.
12:29I've just spent my first night in a traditional Japanese house.
12:48My host, Rupert, moved to rural Japan after spending almost two decades in Singapore as a photographer.
13:01His wife, Asaki, is now the breadwinner and works in schools throughout the country.
13:06So it's down to Rupert to forage food for the couple's three goats.
13:11Do you like the goats?
13:14I like them.
13:15They're more, for me, fertilizer, farm animals.
13:18But they're my wife's pets.
13:20She loves them, loves walking them.
13:22I mean, who walks a goat?
13:25Well, in her absence, it looks like we do.
13:29OK, so where's she going?
13:32As they need to be moved into their field.
13:34Yeah.
13:35Come on.
13:36No, over to this one.
13:37Here.
13:38Look, this pile here.
13:39We drag some food here.
13:40Oh, she's already gone.
13:41While they're eating, they're pooing.
13:42It's just a machine.
13:46Which leads me on to the next thing that you can help me with.
13:50And that's muck out their shed.
13:52Oh, yeah.
13:54Do you get much help around here?
13:56No, it's just me and my wife and my rice field.
13:59That's a solitary thing.
14:00I do that all myself.
14:01To some people, that's a negative connotation.
14:04Yes, yeah.
14:05What does it mean to you?
14:07For me, it's a meditative.
14:11Do you enjoy being alone?
14:13Yeah, I enjoy it, yeah.
14:14But I'm not a hermit.
14:16How do you find having me here?
14:18Yeah, well, it halves the work.
14:21I love that.
14:23Free labor.
14:24Free labor.
14:25Well, I do need to cover my board and lodgings.
14:29Oh, stinky.
14:30It looks like this is also salvaged.
14:32Was this a hen house?
14:34It was a hen house before.
14:36But the snakes were able to get even through the wire mesh.
14:40I'm wondering what other sort of difficulties you face here in Japan.
14:44You obviously get earthquakes.
14:46Earthquakes.
14:47But we're actually in a landslide red zone.
14:49So I think a lot of people wouldn't want to live in this house.
14:51Probably why it was so cheap.
14:54But I take my chances.
14:57I mean...
14:58You're laughing, but is that a big gamble here?
15:00Like, is there a real threat?
15:01This could be swept away?
15:02You just never know.
15:03I mean, with climate change, the rainfall is getting worse and worse.
15:07And so after a big rainfall, I mean, literally the hill here that we're on could just slip
15:14down to the valley because it's very, very slim.
15:16And when you say big rainfall, I assume we're not talking about English rainfall.
15:19We're talking...
15:20Do you get typhoons here?
15:21We get typhoons.
15:22Oh, yeah.
15:23That's the other one.
15:24They're quite scary.
15:25I love the fact that it's just one you'd forgotten about, the risk of typhoons.
15:29Well, I shouldn't, but I enjoy them.
15:32It makes you feel really alive.
15:34Typhoons, landslides.
15:37Well done.
15:38There are a few more hazards here than in Yorkshire.
15:42It makes me wonder if Rupert ever yearned for the moors and villages of northern England
15:50when he first moved abroad.
15:55When you left the UK to go to Singapore, did you miss England?
15:58I did, but I didn't miss the reason why I left England.
16:03And what was that?
16:04I was in a kind of a very toxic relationship.
16:09So you had to get away.
16:10So I was offered this job in Singapore, and I was like, like, great escape.
16:15And then in Singapore, I went into a good relationship with a local girl.
16:19And ironically, she left for college to go to college in England.
16:25Oh, really?
16:26So she went to England, and then I stayed in Singapore.
16:28Things happen that keep you there, and you get new friends.
16:33So I ended up staying far too long.
16:36Is Yorkshire still home?
16:38I mean, it's my roots.
16:41I can't seem to take the Yorkshireman out of me.
16:44But definitely, Japan feels like my home.
16:48I've always wanted to go to Japan, and there was just all these distractions and things that allow me to kind of follow that.
16:57Well, it was a dream for decades.
17:00And then meeting my wife was another significant thing.
17:05When I arrived in Fukuoka City, both of us wanted to live in nature.
17:11If you had never left the UK, what do you think you'd be doing now?
17:14Where do you think you'd be?
17:15Oh, God, I don't know.
17:16And that thought scares me, actually.
17:18I don't know whether I can answer.
17:21Japan is destiny.
17:24When there's destiny, there isn't another option.
17:28It's just this one.
17:29This is where you were meant to be?
17:31Yeah, it feels like it.
17:35I've met people all over the world who weren't necessarily born where they or even I think they belong.
17:43But Japan, it was like he was drawn to it.
17:47And Japan was not necessarily the goal, but perhaps it was the destiny.
17:53So I think he's found happiness here that he wouldn't have found elsewhere.
17:59Amidst these stunning natural surroundings, it's clear why Rupert feels so at home here.
18:06Wow, this is amazing.
18:10So peaceful in here as well.
18:11Oh, yes.
18:12I like it.
18:13I love coming here.
18:15This bamboo forest has a rainwater channel flowing through it that leads to Rupert's rice field, but it needs clearing.
18:25Seeing my host at work, I can't imagine him living any other life than this one.
18:32I'm wondering what it was like when you first arrived.
18:34Did you feel like a fish out of water?
18:36I suppose first few years, but adapted fast.
18:41I mean, there were issues with money, language barrier, of course, because Japanese is not an easy language.
18:48So even if you're in a crowd of people, but if you can't communicate with them, you're kind of all alone.
18:53Because I'm wondering how you went from this urban dwelling individual who'd come from, you know, capitalist Singapore living in an apartment in urban Japan to now being a rice farmer.
19:05Yeah, he's a ridiculous transition, isn't it?
19:17Yeah, I'm not sure what to say to them.
19:19I'm not sure what's caused this sudden change in Rupert.
19:29It seems there's more to his Japanese story that I've yet to discover.
19:33We all have a tendency to try and show off our best side.
19:38And given 12 hours, 24 hours, we can all give the very best edit of who we are.
19:44And it then takes a few days to start uncovering, perhaps, not necessarily the negatives, but more of the authentic side of that lifestyle.
19:56And I think slowly I'm just picking beneath the surface of who Rupert is.
20:02The next morning, we drive to another remote village, 30 minutes away, where Rupert wants me to understand more about what led to his reaction yesterday.
20:24Wow, look at this.
20:30This is beautiful.
20:32It turns out this was the first house Rupert and his wife bought when they decided to move to the countryside eight years ago.
20:40It cost just Ā£5,000.
20:43But while they still own it, it's now totally abandoned.
20:48So the first couple of years, it was just wonderful.
20:52And then, yeah, I guess still quite difficult to talk about.
20:58This is in flood zone.
21:02So they started work after two or three years of us being here.
21:07They started work on the river.
21:09And then the dream started turning into, like, it was just hell.
21:14They remove the original river, as in beautiful, pure nature, demolish all the rocks and then just fill it with concrete.
21:24So it was kind of having to suffer ten-ton trucks going backwards and forwards past the house.
21:33So if you imagine these, on full throttle, full of soil, this ten-ton truck and the diesel fumes going in the front door.
21:40It sounds to me like it really, really impacted you more than just the kind of inconvenience of the trucks going past.
21:50And when they started dynamiting the rocks, you can imagine the noise, because it's a narrow valley.
21:55And what was your overriding sentiment? Was it anger? Was it sadness?
22:00No, it was sadness, yeah.
22:08Yeah, I used to go and cry in the forest.
22:11You're getting emotional now.
22:12No, I am.
22:13Thinking about it.
22:15Yeah, because I think I can remember it all.
22:17It almost feels like you're, you're still traumatized by it.
22:22Yeah, because it'll, it'll probably happen again.
22:25So if I, if I wanted to come back to my dream house, it'd be alright for a few years and then same thing will happen again.
22:34Because I know it's not the first time they've done that to the river.
22:38Did you react?
22:40Yeah, I did a few, maybe, silly things.
22:43When the trucks were so bad, I actually, I did a protest and laid in the road to stop them.
22:53That's a big reaction to lie down in the road in front of ten times trucks.
22:57Yeah, in retrospect, but it was just a re-, it was a reaction.
23:01Uh, well, it's better than hurling bricks at the trucks.
23:03And my wife, well, at one point, yeah, it was too stressful.
23:07Her, being with me, so upset.
23:12So, she started looking for a house.
23:15And actually, we were so lucky with the other house.
23:17It was, it was the first one we saw.
23:20Uh, so, and we, we kind of decided to buy it there and then.
23:25And moved, uh, really fast.
23:28She thought of selling this, I said, no way, we've just put our heart and soul into this.
23:32So, uh, we keep it, even if it's just, it's a museum.
23:37It sounds like it's almost like a bereavement for you.
23:41This, that whole experience, the loss of a dream.
23:45Yeah.
23:47Yeah.
23:48Yeah, instead of losing my house in an earthquake, which is possible,
23:52I just, uh, I just had to leave it.
23:55Couldn't live in it.
23:57Forced out of my home.
23:58It's quite unexpected, really.
23:59For all the reasons to be driven from your house, a construction site was not what I was expecting to hear.
24:16But it's interesting, his reaction was pretty big to lie down in the road and stop the trucks coming.
24:23But the trauma obviously ran and runs really deep.
24:29And I'm wondering whether there is something deeper within that led to such a huge reaction to what was obviously a pretty awful period.
24:43I'm in the mountains of rural Japan.
25:00Three years ago, Rupert and his wife made the decision to leave their old home for a fresh start in this village.
25:08And while he tends to keep to himself, it seems he's known to his neighbors.
25:12So what have we got here?
25:15We've got old shrine wood.
25:17In our local community, we have a shrine just up there.
25:21So they built this new one.
25:23And as usual, like, everyone knows Rupert likes wood.
25:26Yeah.
25:27So they said I could have all the wood.
25:28Looks a bit too big for your vehicle.
25:30It's a bit too long.
25:31Yeah.
25:32I've got a saw.
25:35You're getting good rhythm.
25:37It's quite fast.
25:39Yeah, you finish it off about halfway.
25:41Yeah.
25:42There you go.
25:47There we go.
25:53I can see the pleasure you get out of using this.
25:56If I offered you a chainsaw now, which would you use?
25:59I'd say no, because, well, I got tinnitus for a start.
26:03So it's too noisy, too smelly.
26:06So I much prefer this.
26:12Happy with all that?
26:14Yeah, very happy.
26:16I did it twice as speed.
26:18So it saves a bit of time.
26:20I've been wondering, you mentioned, you know, the trauma of all the trucks passing your house
26:26and how it made you feel.
26:28And you were just mentioning there about, you know, the fact that you would choose an old fashioned saw over a chainsaw.
26:34You don't like the sounds.
26:36I'm wondering whether you've ever explored whether your sensitivity, perhaps, to environmental noises and things,
26:44maybe is something bigger or deeper.
26:46Yeah, it's funny you should touch on that because I do have, well, I'm dyslexic for a start.
26:54Ditto.
26:56Me too.
26:58And actually, my wife worked it out.
27:01I didn't really know too much about it.
27:04I have ADHD.
27:06Ditto.
27:07Yeah, really?
27:08Yeah, me too.
27:09I mean, what's interesting, obviously, as you'll know, there's like a spectrum of ADHD.
27:13And where do you think you, where have you found yourself?
27:16Yeah, and it's impacted on quite a few things.
27:19Because I am very sensitive to sound.
27:22Which makes complete sense now, why all those trucks rumbling past your house.
27:27Yeah, so it's worse than maybe for a normal person, I think.
27:29Well, my wife was kind of, sort of, not, didn't really affect her.
27:34And better away, for me, it was just like, ah!
27:38I was thinking when you were saying how one of the things you did when all those trucks were rumbling past
27:43was just to throw yourself in the road, almost in protest.
27:48Because that's quite dramatic, that's quite a dramatic reaction.
27:51But I would have done exactly, can I say, I could see myself in a mirror, I would have done exactly the same thing.
27:57You almost can't control how you react to certain things.
28:02Yeah, my wife, she bought a book, so it's all in there.
28:06And it's like a comic strip of all these things that affect ADHD sufferers.
28:10And it's just me, me, me, me.
28:14And doing things halfway as well, which I can be famous for.
28:19That is the story of my life, can I say.
28:22Drives my wife up the wall.
28:24Even though I now understand why I do those things the way I do, it can still be annoying for other people.
28:32And for myself, to be honest.
28:34Yeah, yeah, yeah.
28:36For sure.
28:37Wow.
28:38Thanks for sharing that.
28:39I think what is maybe surprising is that he actually knows why he behaves the way he does.
28:50The fact that he actually got a diagnosis of ADHD.
28:53Because a lot of people just roll their eyes back in the UK.
28:58And I kind of get it.
28:59It's kind of, it's something that a lot of people talk about.
29:02But I think sometimes, especially when you hear about hypersensitivity to sounds and to lights and things.
29:08I think it can explain a lot.
29:10And I think it's done that for Rupert.
29:14And it's, I think, it's always nice to, to meet someone who you can share with.
29:24It's now clear why Rupert made the decision to embrace the life of a quiet rice farmer.
29:30Right, where do you want this, Rupert?
29:31We can put it just here, it's fine.
29:36As the evening starts to draw in, we get busy processing rice the traditional way.
29:46And it feels like this is the life my host may be always yearned for.
29:51I think this is the most contented I've seen you in quite a while.
30:03Wow.
30:05No one else to answer to except my rice.
30:08I love it.
30:10What makes you happy Rupert?
30:12Rice.
30:15And my wife.
30:17I think it should be the other way around though.
30:19Wife and then rice.
30:21I'm dyslexic, don't forget.
30:23I know Rupert's joking, but it does feel strange that I've not met Asaki yet.
30:29Especially as she played such a big role in bringing him to this village.
30:33And it sounds like Asaki has been more than just a wife.
30:37She's kind of really helped you through some difficult periods here.
30:41Yeah, without her, yeah, I'd probably be, I don't know why.
30:45Yeah, I mean, I'm very grateful to her.
30:50Yeah, I couldn't have achieved this without her.
30:53She's helped you through some dark times.
30:55Yeah.
30:58Yes.
31:00Especially the other house.
31:02Yeah.
31:03I wanted to be more in a farm, like, as much as me, and I do a bit more work.
31:10But if I make money, I don't want to go back to doing photo assignments, commercial work.
31:16If I make any money, it's from selling small amounts of what I produce.
31:22Is that how you see your kind of financial security in the future through the produce that you actually grow and make here?
31:29We don't live on much, so I can, it should work. That's the plan.
31:36Do you think you could have done this? Do you think you'd be doing this without her?
31:41No. Impossible.
31:43I'm glad that he recognizes what Asaki has done for him, and I'm really glad that not only does he recognize it, but he wants to kind of, you know, change their lifestyle together looking forward so that they can live the life they want to here in rural Japan.
32:05Japan.
32:18After another chilly night, I come downstairs to finally be greeted by the elusive Asaki.
32:26Ah, Asaki.
32:28Hello.
32:29Hi there. Very nice to be here. I'm Ben.
32:31Konnichiwa.
32:33You've been working hard.
32:35Yeah, I've been busy this week.
32:38Asaki works as a teaching coordinator, which sees her having to travel throughout the country.
32:43Now she's home, I'm intrigued to learn more about this couple.
32:48I've finally met.
32:50This is great, yeah.
32:52How did you guys meet?
32:54We were in Fukuoka city, and my student, English student, introduced me.
33:02Oh.
33:03Yeah, who was actually a photographer.
33:04Oh, really?
33:05Yeah.
33:06And he lived in England as well, that student, so they go on at the bar or something.
33:12Yeah, international bar it was called, so a lot of foreigners went there, and it's quite a good place to meet people.
33:18Mm-hm.
33:19So if I hadn't have met him, I would not, maybe not have met Asaki.
33:25I must admit, I did wonder if I was ever going to meet Asaki.
33:29And witness her take the goats out for a walk.
33:35Okay, we're off.
33:37To which way are we going?
33:39Going downstairs.
33:40Downstairs.
33:42Careful, they're going to run.
33:43Are they going to run?
33:44You can let her go.
33:45Oh.
33:46Oh, my gosh.
33:47Oh.
33:51The goats have their own idea of what they want to do.
33:54Yeah, they just go to where the food is.
33:57Where the food is.
33:58Yeah.
34:04Asaki, this is so beautiful.
34:06Yeah.
34:07I'm wondering, I've obviously been to visit the home that you lived in before this, where you had all the noise.
34:14Do you miss that home?
34:16Not really.
34:18I feel quite comfortable here.
34:22But yeah, it was a shame at that time when we had to leave.
34:27It sounds quite stressful.
34:29Obviously, Rupert had a specific sensitivity to all the noise and all the trucks.
34:35Were you surprised by his reaction?
34:40At first, yes.
34:42He was not like a Japanese person.
34:48And the decision to ultimately leave and find this place, was that mutual?
34:53Did you both decide to look for elsewhere?
34:57I took initiative because he was out of his mind.
35:03So he didn't look for another place, but I did.
35:10Yeah.
35:11And then I brought him to this place and he liked it.
35:17Obviously, you're the main breadwinner right now.
35:20You're earning the main income.
35:23Do you think that will always remain the case or do you hope to be able to alter or change that?
35:27And hopefully, Rupert will start earning some as well.
35:32I mean, Rupert kind of said he doesn't like money.
35:35Talking about money.
35:36Yeah, but also he likes spending on good food.
35:43Quality things always cost some money.
35:46Like we can produce everything like soy sauce, oil, cooking oil and things.
35:53Have you got goals or ambitions, hopes for the future?
35:58More vegetables.
36:03Yeah, more time for me to farm and spend outside.
36:07This is the place to do it.
36:10Yeah.
36:11Look at this.
36:12It's perfect actually.
36:18I'm so glad I finally met Osaki.
36:21And they're very well suited on the face of it.
36:23They're both a little bit socially reserved.
36:26They're both, you know, a little bit shy.
36:28I think it was really hard for her seeing Rupert's reaction at their old house.
36:35When all those trucks were rumbling past and he flung himself in the road.
36:40But behind the scenes, Osaki has done a huge amount of work to get him to where he is today.
36:47And I think perhaps they're just reaching a crossroads where it's time for Rupert to give Osaki a chance
36:54to actually be able to kind of share the beauty of this lifestyle.
37:13For the past few days, I've been staying with fellow Brit Rupert.
37:18In truth, I've seen very little of Japan beyond his daily life here.
37:24So today we're exploring more of his adopted homeland.
37:30First stop is a natural beauty spot that looks like something out of a Japanese film set.
37:40It's so peaceful here.
37:41The water, sometimes it just, it just makes you shut up.
37:46Just, the water's doing the talking.
37:49Mm-hmm.
37:50Yeah, I love it.
37:51I mean, it's in Japan, it's linked to the Shinto religion.
37:55It's purification.
37:57Mm-hmm.
37:58So you come here and you can kind of, you know, clean your mind.
38:02Is there anything you miss about the UK being out here?
38:04I'm guilty of not missing much at all.
38:10My family, because I've been away from England for over 30 years.
38:14Are you close with them?
38:16Yeah, I'm close, yeah.
38:18I keep in contact with them.
38:20Yeah, I've only been back twice in 20 years.
38:22And this summer, my wife, despite in the middle of rice growing season, my wife literally forced me to go back to England and see my mother and father and brother and sister, because it's been seven years.
38:41And little did I know, if I hadn't gone back this summer, I would never have seen my father alive, because three months after that trip in November, he died.
38:58Oh, I'm so sorry.
39:00Yeah, that was quite a surprise.
39:03What kind of man was your father?
39:06Happy man.
39:08Very happy man.
39:10Mm-hmm.
39:12And I think, yeah, after my dad's passing, I've come to places like this just to sit.
39:23And these places are so beautiful.
39:25And look, it's just us two.
39:27Nobody.
39:30What does that mean?
39:31Nobody here.
39:33But everything is here, actually.
39:46I think one of the things I have found over the last decade of spending time with different Ruperts all around the world is you can find your dream place, you can create your dream lifestyle.
40:01But there are some things that are much harder to escape, and bereavement, neurodiversity.
40:09But hopefully, and what I've certainly experienced in the past, is that nature can be a great tonic for those things.
40:21In fact, nature has been Rupert's remedy for almost every challenge he's faced since moving here.
40:26Oh, wow.
40:27I'm in Japan now.
40:32For my final experience of this country, we're heading to another place of special significance for my host.
40:44And from the view alone, I can see why.
40:50This is a pretty magnificent spot.
40:54This is a pretty magnificent spot.
40:56It is.
40:57When I first found it, it was like, wow.
41:00And the best bit, no one comes here except me.
41:06When the trucks and the river problem happened, it was my... I could just escape it all.
41:13It's your refuge.
41:14Yeah, refuge.
41:15Retreat.
41:16Is that strange being here with me, then?
41:19Er...
41:21Actually...
41:23No, I don't mind.
41:24I'm wondering why you opened the doors to your house and your life to me for a week.
41:31What you hoped you'd get.
41:33Well, I thought my journey is good to share because, I mean, I've achieved like a dream.
41:44So it's pretty optimistic and hopefully can inspire other people to maybe think of doing a similar thing in whatever situation they're in.
41:56It's like a blueprint.
41:58So try and apply that and you're happy as me.
42:03So now, yeah, my new place is here.
42:08A pretty beautiful place it is.
42:12And thank you for visiting.
42:14It's been good.
42:15Yeah, good to share.
42:16It's been fun, hasn't it?
42:17Yeah?
42:20Yeah.
42:21Well, I should take a record of you being here.
42:23Yeah.
42:24Best place to be here.
42:25So I could take...
42:27You stood there.
42:28Here?
42:33I genuinely had no idea what to expect when I first came here.
42:38All I knew was that I was meeting a man who left Yorkshire.
42:43But Rupert has definitely defied any sort of assumptions I may have made upon first meeting him.
42:51Because it's taken him on a 17,000 kilometer journey around the world to a part of the Japanese countryside that most people are leaving behind.
43:04And him embracing technology that's hundreds of years old to actually find the happiness that he has been searching for.
43:13But it's almost like he's been looking for that sense of belonging.
43:18And he's finally found it here.
43:20And it's not on his own.
43:21It's with Asaki, who has been his kind of crutch throughout many of the harder periods of his life.
43:28I have to say I'm going to miss this place.
43:40I'm going to miss Japan.
43:43Well, I hope you've had a good time.
43:44Oh, I can't tell you how much I've enjoyed getting to know you both.
43:49Yeah, in just a few days.
43:50Yeah.
43:51I've actually got to learn a lot about myself as well.
43:54Oh, I'm really glad you've taken something away from it.
43:57So listen, thank you so much.
43:59Good luck with everything.
44:01Come on, give me a hug.
44:02Good luck.
44:04Yeah, keep up that rice farming.
44:05Oh, yeah.
44:06I'm not stopping that.
44:07Yeah, make sure you take enough time for yourselves to enjoy all of this as well.
44:11I'll be back.
44:12Yeah, yeah.
44:13See you again.
44:14How do you say it?
44:15Sayonara.
44:16Sayonara.
44:17Sayonara.
44:18Sayonara.
44:20Rashi.
44:22Yeah.
44:24That was nice.
44:32Next time, I'm in Thailand.
44:34It really is magical here.
44:36To meet a woman whose memories of a youth spent in nature.
44:39That was the happiest time of my life.
44:42Have inspired her to start over again in the wild.
44:45What's fascinating is that it's kind of come full circle.
44:47People are now returning to this simplicity from the complications of urban life.
44:52It does give me balance and freedom.
45:06Yeah.
45:07To meet some people.
45:08Yeah.
45:09For real life of the world.
45:10If you ever get a star with a millimeter, it's gonna be Father's over all of you.
45:11Soon.
45:13Visit theļæ½aniac.com, Kristenministerial digamos, for what we see on this planet in the cave at Polaris, which is a dream event, you know why the ŃŠ¾Š³ma to bring second.
45:16This process of emergency, where you'll have people here.
45:17Let us know who's going in a new admire, please.
45:18One of the hooks.
45:19That's not a major, or the harmonyyou are talking to someone.
45:20Is this just near mare, please.
45:21Hey,racaisons, you can leave me.
45:22Ha habitable, please don't miss out.
45:23We'll find one of peopleilleurs, but you are willing to come to this new year.
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