Experience Kamikatsu: The Zero Waste Lifestyle
Posted on February 16, 2021
Have you ever wondered about where your trash goes or how your actions, big and small, impact the ecosystem and community around you? The people of a small town in Tokushima prefecture, Kamikatsu, have been pondering these ideas since the early 1990’s. Kamikatsu is on track to be Japan’s first Zero Waste municipality, meaning that all resources will be conserved through responsible use, reuse, and recycling. The people of Kamikatsu understand the magic of connecting the consumer and community with the land, and they do it with impeccable style!
Kamikatsu’s waste recycling center and Hotel Why form a bold question mark, encouraging guests and community to look inward and contend with their relationship with nature and waste.
Photo by @sayafull
The recycling center is a social place for the local residents to learn, create, and question. The Waste Recycling Center also acts as the Community Learning Center, Kuru Kuru Thrift Shop, Laundromat, and Creative Laboratory.
Photo by @sayafull
Hotel Why welcomes travelers into Kamikatsu to learn and live the Kamikatsu eco-lifestyle. The hotel’s woody interior with up-cycled material is rustic yet modern, with plenty of natural light and sensational views.
Photo by @sayafull
Even the hotel atrium is a natural invitation to take in the expansive sky and coexist with it. Imagine how majestic this atrium might look in a heavy rain!
Photo by @67yqh403s8q9jqh
In addition to the hotel, guests can enjoy a hoppy beer at the local Rise and Win Brewery.
Photo by @sayafull
Or perhaps you prefer to rise early and connect with the local community. You may learn a thing or two from the locals about the thriving citrus agriculture in Tokushima prefecture. There’s also a farmers
market where you can sample the local produce!
Photo by @harayuki09
The town is also home to the INOW program, named after the word ‘Inao’ (inao) in the local dialect, meaning ‘let’s go home!’. The program allows participants to get to know the local way of life and zero waste methods in an immersive two-week exploration. The application can be found here!
Access: 7-2, Aza Shimoniura, Oaza Fukuhara, Kamikatsu-cho, Katsura-gun, Tokushima
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