A policy information page by the Rural Development Bureau, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, comprehensively introducing the system overview, support measures, and implementation examples of the "farm stay (nohaku)" policy being promoted.
"Farm stay (nohaku)" refers to "rural area stay-type travel" where visitors stay in rural, mountain, and fishing areas and enjoy meals and experiences using rich regional resources during their stay. It is positioned as a policy that utilizes regional resources as tourism content, attracts domestic and international tourists including inbound visitors to rural areas, and aims to improve regional income and create related population.
The government has set the goal of achieving 7 million overnight stays annually in farm stay areas by FY2025, and the Farm Stay Promotion Action Plan was compiled in June 2023 toward this goal. The Farm Stay Promotion Review Committee resumed consideration from December 2022, holding a total of three review committee meetings to examine specific promotion measures.
The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries supports farm stay areas in developing systems for regions to work together as one, initiatives to polish attractive tourism content utilizing regional resources, and development of accommodation facilities utilizing old private houses and closed schools. Specifically, comprehensive support is implemented through the FY2025 Rural Area Revitalization Grant (Farm Stay Promotion Type under Regional Resource Utilization Value Creation Measures).
As "Farm Stay Inbound Reception Promotion Priority Areas," 40 areas have been selected through comprehensive evaluation of council management systems, goals and plans for expanding inbound reception, content provided, and other factors. These priority areas receive priority support through cooperation with the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries and related organizations to fundamentally strengthen inbound tourist attraction systems to farm stay areas.
As practical support, practical handbooks were published in March 2025, including "Farm Stay Educational Travel Reception Handbook," "Travel Company Guide for Selling Farm Stay Experiences that Connect Children's Futures," "Fostering Life Skills through Farm Stay (School Proposal Pamphlet)," and "Farm Stay Knowledge Collection: Toward Sustainable Farm Stay Areas."
For nationwide development, farm stay areas supported by the Rural Area Revitalization Grant for farm stay promotion are being developed across the country as of March 2023, with implementation status organized and published by regional blocks. Additionally, the Farm Stay Area Case Study Collection Utilizing Landscape Resources introduces detailed implementation examples from 21 areas nationwide.
The article concludes that farm stay is developed not merely as a tourism policy but as a comprehensive regional revitalization policy aimed at rural area activation and sustainable development.