We settled on the property early in October and finally had unfettered access. I invited Yasunori Homma and his wife up to inspect the property as they had recently purchased an organic farm near Niseko town. The weather was fantastic and they were inspired by the property and the potential. Homma-san was in the process of doing an Agricultural MBA and decided to do his graduate thesis on Takadai Meadows and its agri-tourism potential.

Tagami-san, our development engineer visited the site to research all-season access. When not working as an engineer he is a mushroom hunter and walked away with a bountiful harvest of fungi. He estimated that the farm would have over 400 hundred varieties of fungi 40 edible 40 poisonous and the rest undetermined.

Late October saw a visit from a Russian friend who came to enjoy the fall colours. Blue was in the lead, followed by Evgeny and finally me at the rear. Suddenly a blue streak came flying past me followed by a white faced Russian - they hadn’t actually seen a bear but there in the middle of path was a steaming pile of what appeared to be bear dung. Locals tell us that there are no bears in the area but they are occasionally known to pass through on their way to breeding grounds.