Koshihata was similar to Hattoji, a reconverted farmhouse way off in the boondocks, with several important differences: it was even FURTHER from civilization, with no stores or other facilities anywhere near the villa (the nearest beer vending machine was two kilometers away). More importantly, unlike Hattoji, which has been restored for tourists, this is a living community, with people farming rice and growing vegetables as they have for centuries. To get to it, you cycled up tiny roads deep into the mountains, gradually steeper until the final valley. In fact, it was so far north, and so far back in the hills, that on one of my autumn visits I nearly froze on the ride down the hill with no gloves or warm cap. For the tour, I'd considered taking an alternate route on the way up, but that was scratched when the group decided to take a long, two-hour lunch - BEFORE the hills. From the following day on, we snacked at lunch and kept moving, and as a result our arrival time was never a problem.

One of the tour members cranks up the hill with a heavily laden bicycle. I had been worried about each rider getting multiple flats daily, but fortunately we had only two on the entire trip - one of them mine (the price I pay for those fast thin road tires).