Stories
Stories from Yugawara.
Personal essays by Matt Ketchum from three years living in Yugawara: clearing a farm, the train down from Tokyo, the river and the sea, and the people who made it home.
Wild food · Part 2
A Year of Eating Wild in Yugawara
Yugawara eats with the seasons of its hills and bay: citrus most of the year, plums in February, set-net fish at Fukuura, and boar in winter. Almost none of it is free for the taking, so here is when each arrives and where to eat it.
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Wildlife · Miyakami
A Boar in Miyakami, and an Ageing Hunters' Association
A boar was reported in Miyakami on 18 January 2026, at about 16:05, on streets the macaques use. In 2017 the hunters' association had 19 members.
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Wildlife · Swine fever
Swine Fever in Yugawara's Wild Boar
Classical swine fever has reached wild boar in Yugawara: four positives, two in Miyakami and two in Kajiya. It does not infect humans.
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Wildlife · Kawabori
The Seven Boar Catchers of Kawabori
About ten volunteers in Kawabori, the seven boar catchers, set snares after damage above ¥5 million. Town News met them on 17 June 2023.
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Wildlife · News
Hakone's Deer, and the Question for Yugawara's Mikan
In October 2026 Nippon TV followed deer through Hakone and Odawara mikan farms that have lost half a harvest. Our groves are the slope between them.
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Wildlife · Deer
Deer Moving into the Mountains above Yugawara
Sika deer are moving into the mountains above Yugawara. The management cull is 30, after 20 and, before that, 70. Notable farm damage has not shown up.
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Wildlife · For residents
Firecrackers from the Town
Yugawara gives residents firecrackers and rocket fireworks on request, hands trained farmers animal-repellent fireworks and metre-long sticks, and takes reports of damage at the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Division.
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Wildlife · The patrol
Twenty Years of Chasing Monkeys in Yugawara
Since 2004 Yugawara has sent people out to chase macaques off its streets: air guns, rubber bullets, a town team, and now fireworks, GPS collars, and a cooperation team its councillor describes as volunteers.
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Living here
Buying a House With Onsen in Yugawara
Many onsen houses in Yugawara draw their water from the town's supply. Before you buy, find out which kind of supply the house has, what it costs each month, who fixes the pipe, and what the land allows.
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Wild food · Part 1
Citrus, Persimmons, Loquats, and Chestnuts
Yugawara is a citrus town: dozens of kinds grow on its terraced slopes, and one of western Kanagawa's main mandarins was bred here. Persimmons, loquats, and chestnuts are garden trees, and the town now asks owners to pick them early, because monkeys come for the fruit.
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Hiking and adventures · Part 1
Shiroyama, Yugawara's Castle Mountain
The hill behind Yugawara Station is named for a castle nobody can date. Here is what the chronicle says about the Doi clan and Yoritomo's escape in 1180, what the earthworks and stone Buddhas really are, and which stories are legend.
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Local life · Travel safety
Booked a Yugawara Ryokan? How to Spot the Fake “Payment Failed” Message
A message with your real booking number says your card failed and the room will be cancelled. It isn't from the inn. What to do as a guest, and what Yugawara's small inns can do to stop it.
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Personal essay · A day out
My Turn to Show the Way
Goats and chickens at the farm, Gosho Shrine, Makuyama Park, bouldering, dinner at Saluté and a beer at Kadoya: the day I knew Yugawara well enough to share it.
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Onsen history · Part 1
How Yugawara Became an Onsen Town
A river valley where hot water came up through the gravel became one of Kanto's best-known spa towns. Here is how: the poem, the wounded soldiers, the wells, the railway, and the town-run pipes.
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15Wildlife · Local life
Living with the T1 Troop: Macaques in Yugawara
Yugawara's remaining macaque troop is small, persistent and deeply entangled with life at the edge of town. Here is what residents and visitors should know.
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Local life · In the news
Masato, the Monkeys, and the Yugawara Behind the Brochures
A Yomiuri TV report on Yugawara's monkey problem, and why the people who work the land belong in the story.
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Personal essay · Friends
Until the Fire Burned Down
Rooftop potlucks, grilled wild boar and a gazpacho salad, staying until the fire burned down, and cleaning up together afterwards.
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Personal essay · Walking
The Lake I Needed
A solo walk into Yugawara's hills, following an app's random pin, to a lake I'd never heard of that gave me exactly what I needed.
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Personal essay · Friendship
“Hey, These Ones”
Fudō Falls, ripe biwa straight from the tree, bamboo work, and one man's easy generosity that opened Yugawara to a newcomer.
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Personal essay · Sunrise
The Balcony Above the Valley
Sunrise over the Yugawara valley from a share-house balcony, and the habit of sharing it with someone far away.
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Personal essay · River and sea
Two Waters
A free afternoon: sushi near the station, a walk along the Chitose River, and time on Yoshihama Beach, where moving water and open sea calm you in different ways.
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Personal essay · The train
The Decompression Chamber
Why the Tokaido Line Green Car, and the way the view opens up after Fujisawa, became the first part of arriving in Yugawara.
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Personal essay · Farm work
The Weekends That Became Home
How weekends at a share house, clearing an overgrown farm and learning to build with bamboo turned Yugawara into home.
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