Japan at Half-speed

A walking tour through the Kunisaki Peninsula in Kyushu is an invitation to appreciate thé country’s beauty ata snail's pace.

- KAREN TEE

The weather outside is frightful, thanks to a freak cold snap. But it is toasty indoors, where we are sitting cross-legged on tatami mats around a low Japanese dining table.

We are a motley crew of 11 travellers from the United States, the United Kingdom, Sweden, and Singapore on a walking tour of the Kunisaki Peninsula in Kyushu, run by travel company Walk Japan. But because of the unseasonably frigid temperatures, we have sought shelter in this cosy home belonging to Et-chan, a sprightly 82-year-old grandmother. She pours freshly brewed o-cha tea and urges us to eat the freshly plucked mikan (Japanese tangerines) and snacks she has set out for us.

Through our guide and interpreter, Jonathan Finger, an Australian who has lived in Japan for nine years, we learn she is old friends with Walk Japan's chief executive officer, Paul Christie. She chanced upon Christie "wandering through the woods" more than a decade ago and took it upon herself to show him around her rural community.

These days, the shiitake mushroom farmer also hosts groups on Walk Japan's tours, relishing how meeting people worldwide keeps her young at heart. We are hopelessly charmed by her zest for life.

TAKING THE TIME TO SLOW DOWN