INTERN BLOG

A Post from a Day in the Office (Hi there!)

Hello everyone, my name is Patty. I’m an intern from Indonesia but I’m currently studying in Japan (Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University). It is currently my 5th week here in Kannonyama Fruit Garden that I’ve become so used to living in the countryside. It was sunny today and I managed to take some good pictures (you should too)! I came here with the intention of improving my Japanese language skills and to learn about agricultural business...

Greetings!

Hello everyone! My name is Caroline from Germany, and even though I am introducing myself for the first time here, it is already my 5th of 6 month here at the beautiful Kannonyama Farm. As a rather long-term intern, I was happy to experience and be part of the whole process with every little stage or step that happens in this company before the product arrives at the costumer. Starting from planting the trees,...

Hello everyone, I’m the new intern who just arrived last Friday. My name is Lea, I’m from France but I’m studying in Beijing, China, which I arrived from last Friday. I will be staying at Kannonyama until the end of August. My hometown in France is called Saint-Tropez, it’s in the south of France more exactly in the Cote d’Azur My trip to Kannonyama was supposed to be easy since from Beijing, it only...

Nathan Lefievre Day 1

おはよございます! Yesterdqy 3rd June was my first day in Japan at Kannonyama. After a night on the traditional Japanese futon, Mr. Kodama showed me during the morning the different parts of the company. Firstly, the factory, in the city, with many big machines. After the factory we took the car to go to the main office of Kannonyama, to see the IT service and where the fruits are packed for sell. After visiting this...

Hi everyone and nice to meet you. I’m Ambrine and I’m gonna stay at the farm until the end of August so this shouldn’t be my first and last post. I arrived here a week ago and already did a lot! The very fist day, kaichou treated us to ramen in his favorite restaurant and it was during this evening that I got to be introduced to Larissa, Polina and Caroline. They explained a...

It’s been a while since I’ve posted. So today’s my last day here at Kannonyama. At the end of the month I’ll be returning to Tokyo & Waseda. Its all very bittersweet. & I’m getting ready to go, and will be joining the other interns after lunch for my last day of work & to bid everyone goodbye. But first off, I’ll recount the fun events that happened the last couple of days.  ...

Yesterday we had the opportunity to work at a very special place. Despite the wet and cold weather, the view of blossoming Plum trees was really beautiful, so that we could forget about everything else. It felt almost like we were camping with our small team while collecting cut branches. Especially because afterwards we made a fire with the old bamboos trees we collected the day before. In this cozy atmosphere, together with the...

Today turned out to be a busy and fun day. First off, Kaichou brought us to the greenhouse to help pick oranges. We learned how to identify the ones that were sweet, as opposed to the sour ones. And yes, it involved a lot of tasting. Afterwards, Kaichou brought us to a farmer’s supermarket and we had coffee at the adjoining coffee shop, overlooking the prefecture. It was beautiful.   Afterwards, Kaichou drove us...

My first week of being at Kanonyama Fruit Garden is over. Everyone is very friendly and helps a lot. Even though I spend my childhood at the country side, I almost forgot how hard it can be to do field work. But still, working with hands and body feels amazing. It’s very busy here now. Despite cold and rainy weather everyone is working hard. We, the international interns, also, trying our best. This weak...

  After almost 13 hours of traveling from Tokyo, a Kannonyama human came to my rescue. I took the night bus from Tokyo, and then trains to Kokawa staion. From which I walked to the farm. In retrospect it was ill-thought, as it took almost an hour with my luggage. However, as I got closer, a staff at Kannonyama realized I was one of the interns and proceeded to give me a lift to...

Shouchan went back home to Taiwan recently. We had a nice send-off for her though, with a big group dinner at a local restaurant and a little karaoke afterwards. Thanks for being my intern buddy Shouchan, it will be pretty lonely without you here.   But there is definitely plenty to keep me occupied. Things are getting busy at Kannonyama now that we’re in December. Apparently, there’s a custom called ‘oseibo’ in Japan where...

Over the last month there’s been a lot of preparation and anticipation for the annual Kannonyama thanksgiving festival, which we finally had last week! We had a great turnout of festival-goers and we couldn’t have asked for better weather. Throughout the day, there were plenty of activities and entertainment organised. There were even a couple of celebrity appearances too with Wakayama girl group Fun x Fam and Maya Ayahane stopping by to perform. At...

最近在為一年一度的感謝祭做準備~~ ^o^ 很開心可以一起參與到這個盛大的活動!!! 已經開始期待感謝祭的到來~~~~ 我來到Kan-Non-Yama Fruit Garden 也已經快3個月了,來到這裡很開心也認識到很多新朋友~~ 每天都是很充實的一天!!!    ...

I’ve always wanted to experience a ryokan and this week I finally stayed at one!   Kaichō took Shōchan and I to the beautiful Hiinanoyu Ryokan near Wakayama City. We wore yukata, bathed in an onsen, had relaxing massages, slept on tatami mats and ate an assortment of delicious food prepared by the skilful Hiroto Akama. We also went and checked out the nearby Awashima Jinja (the famous doll shrine) and Wakayama Castle. It...

Yesterday we spent the day at the LOHAS festival in Osaka, a festival promoting sustainable lifestyles. The event was HUGE and a lot of fun.  At the festival, Kannonyama had a stall selling a few products including fruit jellies, drinks, honey and some fresh fruits. I helped in the stall (to the best of my ability) handling sales, offering samples to passerby-ers and calling out the infamous ‘いらっしゃいませ!’   Lots of couples and families with...

來介紹一下和歌山有名的世界遺產~高野山~ 休假會長帶我跟Taylor一起去了高野山 高野町很有日本古老街道的風味~很漂亮也很寧靜!! 一路幽靜的散步到奧之院弘法大師御廟~~ 一進到御廟內需要很莊重安靜!!! 很開心能有這趟旅程~~ 又開始期待下次的旅程了~~~~ \^o^/   [By Shōchan – Kannonyama intern from Taiwan  ...

Shōchan and I had an adventure day this week on our day off in Wakayama City. It was a lot of fun! We visited Wakayama Castle, a picturesque old castle that sits upon a hill looking over the city. It was beautiful and rich with history. We also went to a place by the sea called Marina City where we had super fresh sashimi sushi and walked along the ocean boardwalk. Of course, we...

今天跟澳洲來的朋友Taylor一起出遊~~~ \^o^/ 一起去了和歌山城與マリーナシティ!! 吃了好吃的握壽司與厲害的鮪魚解體秀~~~ 在kannonyama的期間看到的都是整片的山 今天終於看到了海~~~ \^o^/ 很期待下次的旅行 會有什麼樣的驚喜!!!!    ...

The last few days I’ve been doing field work (enchi) up at the mountain base.   There, I’ve learned how to pick mandarins (mikan)  and persimmons (kaki) which are in season at the moment. We don’t have many persimmons in Australia so it was really interesting (and tasty) to learn more about them. There were two types, Taishu and Kinokawa. We were only picking the Taishu variety, so I had a quick lesson on...

台灣的大家~~你們好！！！ 今天早上的工作是對抗山豬 ˋoˊ ~~~ 在蜜柑園四周的圍籬做加強，釘上鐵條固定！！讓山豬不能鑽進蜜柑園偷吃！！！ ˋoˊ ~~~ 下午採太秋柿，把整片山的柿子全部摘取完畢 YA~~~ \^o^/ ~~~ 雖然疲累，但大家一起工作一起聊天，真的很有趣！！ 很歡迎大家來到觀音山Fruit Garden瞧瞧！！    ...