 Welcome
My
name is Howie, a guy originally from a quaint little village
called Kenmore, in Western New York. I am now living with my
wife and three sons on Tanegashima, our small beautiful
island located off the coast of Kyushu and mainland Japan.
We are a very different kind of family. We are not working
in the conventional sense, our kids are not in school, we
are mostly self-sufficient supplying close to 100% of our
fresh food needs, and we spend 24/7 together. It was a tough road
to get here but now we are settled and enjoying a very
simple existence. Over the years I realized the
three things that got us here, Taking Chances....Making Changes....Being
Happy.
For those of you contemplating life changing decisions, hopefully
you can find a
few ideas, inspiration, motivation, etc....on these pages to help you along
your road. Please communicate your thoughts, suggestions,
constructive criticism, or simply say
hi using any of these options: |
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Leave a comment at the bottom of any page
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Facebook
- comment on my personal page
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 Fun Easy English
Welcome Fun Easy English Students to my personal blog.
To those of you coming over from my English language
learning site, hopefully these pages will be good reading
practice for you. Enjoy.
|
 Tanegashima,
Japan
This is our beautiful island off the coast of mainland
Japan. This is where we make our home and now where we are
engaged in agroforestry. Please visit my updated island site
for detailed information about this incredible place.
TanegashimaJapan.com |
 Heading
to Japan?
The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) finally has much of
their site in English now....might have been all along and
simply could not find these pages. Anyway, these are few
useful links, including many specific to our location which
you can use if planning to visit Tanegashima. A good idea to
check the JMA pages before coming to Japan as information
about weather in Asia does not always hit the American
weather sites in a timely manner, especially when it comes
to typhoons. |
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JMA home page
- Then click "Weather" to access local information
- Then scroll to the Observation Table and click "Extra detail"
- Then click "Observation Map" which gives you links to all the
information you will need for your trip
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We
Purchased a Mountain
We purchased a mountain in the Northern section of the
island. We are planning an agroforestry project. If you
wanna know more please scroll to the Agroforestry links. The
information is written in English but will be translated to
Japanese soon. Thanks for your interest in our agroforestry
project.
山を購入
島の北部に位置する山の土地を取得しました。この山をアグロフォレストにするアグロフォレストリープロジェクトを計画しています。 詳しくは、Agroforestryリンクまでスクロールしてください。英語ですが、日本語も近く公開予定です。よろしくお願いします。 |
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Mountain Update |
 Recent
Camping Trip
Picture of us before returning home after our most recent camping trip. This was
one of our most productive trips ever. We cut the huge oak trees and a bunch of
cypress trees to open up the canopy in order to get sunlight into the campsite.
We also were really happy to see the beginning of our agroforest was doing
great. |
 Agroforest
Beginning
This is the beginning of our agroforest up in our mountain. We are growing all
kinds of stuff including: bok choy, spinach, daikon, chingensai, and garlic. We
were surprised the deer did not eat anything. The entire metal frame is now
covered with fishing net found at the beach. |
 Cutting
Trees
We plan to keep most of the trees on the mountain but these simply needed to be
cut in order to open up the canopy and let sunlight into the campsite. These two
oak trees had trunk diameters of about 50 centimeters. The cypress (hinoki and
sugi) trees cut will be used as practice for debarking and notching in
preparation for a future log cabin. |
 Possible
Log Cabin Design
This is the possible modular log cabin design for our mountain property. Modular
since the entire structure would actually consist of six separate cabins or
modules. This was originally to get around any building regulations since
Japanese building codes allow for a structure of up to ten square meters to be
built without requiring even permission. Each module would be 2.5 by 4.0 meters
for a total of exactly 10 square meters. This design might go totally out the
window though since we recently found out that we are allowed to build up to a
200 square meter home with only reporting to the local housing department. There
would be no inspections since the structure is being built in a wilderness area.
BTW there are no property taxes on our mountain property due to the wilderness
area designation. Anyway, this is actually the first draft which takes into
consideration many factors including view and the addition of solar panels. To
the north, this particular section of the property has a fantastic view of the
wilderness including a view of the reservoir through the trees. The dining room
and wood deck would be facing this fantastic view. The kitchen would be getting
much of the sunlight throughout the day and on the roof of this particular
module is where the solar panels would be installed as the roof would be south
facing. From a design and appraisal point of view, the cabin would include a bit
of functional obsolescence since the master bedroom could only be accessed
through an adjacent bedroom. Anyway this is the design for now. Much more about
this in future updates. |
 AGROFOREST
Forest Farming
Apparently begin self-sufficient was not enough for the Hayman family.
Picture - Trail to one of our proposed campsites.
We are already supplying close to 100% of our fresh food needs with our farms
and now it's time for the next step, which in this case, means buying a
mountain. Yup, we purchased a mountain which backs to the reservoir which supplies
water to the island. The total land area of the mountain is over 18,000 square meters, which is
about 193,750 square feet for those of you still using the Imperial measuring system, or
about 4.5 acres. The mountain is loaded with oak and cedar trees and has
beautiful views of the reservoir. Public facilities are located directly across
the reservoir and include a huge park, sports fields, a community center, and
several bathrooms. A small cabin style bathroom is located a mere 4 minute walk
from our property in a small park and includes flush toilets, a public source of
drinking water, and picnic tables. |
Property Location
This Google map shows the location of our mountain forest. Zoom out to see the
entire reservoir and the parks and facilities in the area. See the map below for
the approximate boundaries of our property. |
 Approximate
Boundaries
This is a google satellite map showing the approximate boundaries of our
mountain forest. Match this with the map above for an idea of the extent of this
fantastic piece of real estate. |
 Agroforestry
Project
We are planning an extensive agroforestry
project. Included in the project are: 4 campsites, a day use area, and numerous
hiking trails.
For those of you who want to know more, please read the following
pages.... |
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About agroforestry -
general information about agroforestry and how it relates to our specific
project.
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History of our forest
- our forest has a very long and interesting history. Learn how this land
transferred from famous Japanese clans of the past and eventually became the
property of the Hayman clan.
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Agroforest flora
- the beginning of a list of flora found in the forest.
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Agroforest fauna
- the beginning of a list of fauna found in the forest.
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Our mission -
the main goals we are trying to achieve through our agroforestry project.
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Agroforest plan
- proposed plan for the agroforest including trails, campsite
locations, and what we plan to grow.
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Project progress
- an ongoing reverse chronological record of our progress from initial interest
in the property up to the present.
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Agroforest agriculture
- a continuously updated list of things we plan to grow.
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Agroforest camping
- visit one of our 4 planned campsites and Lover's Point.
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Agroforest challenges
- A few of the challenges which need to be met in order for our agroforestry
project to succeed.
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Agroforest products
- a collection of very unique products you can purchase from our agroforest.
100% organic from our forest....a land untouched for thousands of years.
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Agroforest equipment
- a review of work and camping equipment which is contributing to the success of
our project.
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Please consider
becoming a sponsor
- for those of you who believe in our mission, please consider sponsoring
this very important project.
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 STORY
Our Ongoing Island Story
Main story page with both new and old stuff. A lot of fun stories and really cool
pictures. A little something for everybody. Now working on filling in the gaps
over the last 60 years.
Continue reading.... |
 FARMING
Farming for Self Sufficiency
Farming section which is a total mess right now but still
has a lot of useful information. I am planning to completely
redo this section as the next ongoing site project for 2021.
Continue reading.... |
 THOUGHTS
My Thoughts About a Few Things
When I began making this site, I really had no idea which
direction it would take. We made changes that most people would not have even
thought were possible but somehow we pulled it off and are finally stable,
living on a small island in Japan. Hopefully these pages will serve as
inspiration to those of you thinking about making similar changes to your
situation.
Continue reading.... |
COMEDY
