Photo/Illutration Hanako Kakuta (Photo by Toshiyuki Hayashi)

TOTSUKAWA, Nara Prefecture--Hanako Kakuta became enchanted with the appeal of Japan’s biggest village, nestled as it is by summits in the Kii mountain range.

With a population of just 3,000 or so souls, Totsukawa is larger than Tokyo’s 23 wards that are home to millions of residents.

Kakuta, 40, did her Ph.D. course on the synthesis mechanism of female hormones at Yokohama City University’s graduate school.

At the time, she frequently interacted with foreign visitors to Japan through social media and offered her home for their overnight stays. Her aim was for tourists to experience typical daily life in Japan.

“I did not want sightseers to believe mistakenly that they understand Japan after going solely to Tokyo and Kyoto,” recalled Kakuta, a native of the northeastern Tohoku region.

In 2017, Kakuta found it difficult to continue her studies and quit graduate school. She joined a company that operates a guide matchmaking website for visitors from outside Japan.

One of Kakuta’s great joys is to spend time in a rich natural environment, so she moved to Totsukawa in October 2019 to take part in a joint research program with a local government.

Though the project was dropped due to the pandemic, Kakuta had grown fond of the villagers and admired their skills in agriculture and forestry.

In June 2020, Kakuta quit the company and became a member of the municipality’s local revitalization cooperation corps.

She was involved in a range of activities primarily in the hope of promoting Totsukawa among non-Japanese travelers. She learned about the region’s attractions via exchanges with villages so she could serve as a guide for visitors.

Kakuta became a freelance guide when her three-year tenure expired.

She uses her fluency in English to figure out beforehand how to provide sightseers with the most rewarding time in the village. For example, she proposes a farming experience at a tourist inn and other interaction activities with villagers.

“Local areas in Japan are full of attractions, so many foreigners become interested in them,” she explained. “If they have someone who can guide them, they go all the way to those regions.”

Kakuta also recently opened a cafe near a famed regional tourism spot known as Tanize Suspension Bridge.

Her current dream is to create “encounters beyond national borders” for more people to build bonds with Totsukawa.

“How vividly people are able to remember their trips can change, depending on who they come across in their destinations,” Kakuta said.

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