By Kendra Evans
An American-style harvest festival held in
the mountain fields of Kiyosato, the Paul Rusch Festival is a popular two-day
event which promotes local agriculture and business, in celebration of Paul
Rusch and his work in Yamanashi Prefecture.
Paul Rusch was an American priest, who
worked in Kiyosato in both the pre- and post- war years as a missionary. He
built the rural camp Seisenryo, originally an Anglican youth centre, but
repurposed after the war as the Kiyosato Educational Experiment Program, or
KEEP. The KEEP farm, with its focus on dairy farming and encouragement of
community agriculture, helped shape the town of Kiyosato. Now, every October,
the fields of Seisenryo fill with people, to celebrate Paul Rusch and his work.
Getting to Kiyosato from Kofu Station is
fairly straightforward: the Chuo line takes you to Kobuchizawa, and from there
you can take the Koumi line, which runs amongst the forests and gives
spectacular views of the countryside. It takes about an hour and a half on the
slow train.
Arriving in Kiyosato, the first thing to stick out was the architecture: European style houses, all bright colours, lining the road down the hill, with the Kobushi Mountains floating up in the distance. The autumn leaves of the trees, and the green and yellow of the Kiyosato picnic bus as it passed by us on the street all made for a cheerful first impression.
We rode the shuttle bus to the park, and
were immediately stunned by the view. The Seisenryo Field is quite high up the
Yatsugatake Mountains, and slopes slightly downwards to reveal a glimpse of the
Kofu basin through the gap in the mountains behind. The music and the smell of
grilled meat led us straight into the park.
In the centre of the park was the main
stage, with a large picture of Paul Rusch himself behind it. There was a
variety of acts performing during the festival, all with a real American feel –
cheerleading, country music, big bands and more. There was a children’s corner,
and plenty of pets as well.
The stalls at the Paul Rusch Festival were
mostly run by small businesses and farms within Yamanashi Prefecture,
particularly Hokuto and Kiyosato. Anything produced in the local community,
from fresh vegetables and dairy products, to wooden furniture and pottery, was
all on display. One stall was even giving a demonstration of metal working.
Amongst them were food stalls of all kinds,
particularly meat. Bacon and sausages are popular produce from the Yatsugatake
area, and the beef rib steaks were particularly delicious.
But the highlight was probably the last
thing we tried: ice cream. Seisenryo soft serve is very
popular in Yamanashi, and for good reason – it has such a rich flavour, you can
tell it is made straight from the local milk.
Although I didn’t get to experience them,
according to the schedule there are plenty of hands-on experiences available at
the festival also, such as American football and tractor riding.
Das Cute
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