Our mission

Many people know that Japan has many empty houses and an ageing population, but did you know that it's only part of the story?

The real issue is people moving from the countryside to the city, in search of a more modern, 'convenient' life. This leaves countryside towns with dwindling populations to keep rich culture and beautiful scenery alive and well.

Through everything we do, our mission is to reverse this trend and bring new people to Okumikawa! (While we'd mostly love to see new faces here, it's fine if we help people to start new lives in other countryside areas too 😁)

Whether Japanese or from overseas, we want to encourage migration to Okumikawa, and show people that the countryside has so much to offer if you're looking for something outside of the rat race.

We started our tourism business to help promote Okumikawa to the World, and help to spread awareness of the problems and opportunities of countryside life in Japan. Yuko has also started a market project to give new small businesses a platform to start their journey, and to help promote small businesses and the idea of 'shop local.' We hope that through these things we can help Okumikawa preserve it's cultural history and nature by reversing the population decline and gathering a community of active lovers of Okumikawa.

We'd love to have your help!

A message from us, and our story

We are Yuko and Alex, we host guided tours and offer package tours in the Okumikawa area of Central Japan, and sell "zakka" at markets around our area (and someday to the World).

Hihumi 1.2.3. started with the feeling of missing Japan during the Covid-19 crisis in 2020 in Australia. As a Japanese person who lived in beautiful Australia, I got homesick during that time because I knew that I wouldn't be able to travel to Japan for a while. However, I realised that cute or unique products from Zakka-ya (variety stores) made me happy and gave me inspiration even though I was just browsing some online shops in Japan, and I wanted to introduce this wonderful part of Japanese culture to Australia. In 2023 we had the opportunity to buy our dream house in the mountains of Aichi Prefecture, Japan so we jumped at the chance and started our small business here. We love this area and want to share it with the world through our guided tours and package tours. We also have stalls at markets in the area selling zakka, while trying to develop a 'support local' culture.

Where we live is a beautiful mountain village in an area called 'Okumikawa' that is famous for its beautiful nature and deep history. I grew up nearby and visited often, and when we lived in Tokyo I brought Alex here, and he fell in love with the area too. We want to share our love of this area, the sights, the history, and the stories with everyone to help preserve these for the future and to give this place the attention it deserves!

I hope you can fall in love with our part of Japan on a tour with us!

Thank you and take a look at our instagram!
- Yuko