・ E-Bike Tours: Where Travel Itself Becomes the Experience
E-Bikes make participation easy for everyone, regardless of age or fitness level, effortlessly conquering hills.
Experience a special immersive journey feeling the breeze as you explore riverside satoyama landscapes, farmlands, traditional farmhouses, and shrines.
・ “Soba × Honeybee” Experience: Learning Food Cycles
Soba cultivation is unique to satoyama, where it's grown specifically for honeybees to gather nectar.
Learn about the bees' work among the flowers, then hand-knead soba noodles from buckwheat flour and savor them.
A one-of-a-kind program to experience the natural connections behind the act of “receiving” food.
・Learn the Story of Sonobe Castle, “Japan's Last Castle,” On-Site
Built during the Bakumatsu to Meiji periods, it is Japan's newest castle.
Through existing structures like the yagura gate and guardhouse, learn about the atmosphere of this turbulent era and local history via a picture-story-book format.
・Learn about the “God of Food” at Makiji Shrine, a treasure trove of cultural assets
Pay homage to Ōmisamitsuhiko-no-Mikoto, the deity presiding over agriculture and food, at this venerable shrine listed in the Engishiki, boasting one of Kyoto Prefecture's largest thatched roofs.
A precious opportunity to decipher the background of satoyama food culture through “myth and prayer.”
・Zazen meditation at an ancient temple founded in the Muromachi period—Experience Kyoto's “beauty of stillness”
Zazen at Ryōon-ji Temple offers a time to clear your mind as the journey concludes.
Surrounded by the nature of the four seasons and enveloped in silence, it is an experience where the essence of the “Japanese spirit” truly resonates.

10:20 Arrival at Sonobe Station / Briefing
The Sonobe Culture and Tourism Association will explain today's route.
Your Satoyama time begins here with E-Bikes.
10:40 Transfer to Sonobe Castle (E-Bike / 10 min)
▶ Kamishibai Guide at Sonobe Castle, “Japan's Last Castle” (10 min)
Built during the Meiji period, Japan's newest castle structure.
Tour the surviving Yagura Gate, Tatsumi Tower, and Guardhouse.
11:10–13:10 Soba Noodle Making Experience & Lunch (Former Maki Elementary School / 2 hours)
▶ Soba Noodle Making Experience
Using locally sourced buckwheat flour / Taste freshly made noodles on-site.
▶ Honey Experience (30 min)
The relationship between buckwheat fields and honeybees
The process of harvesting buckwheat honey
Learn how nature's cycle transforms into food.
13:10 Transfer to Maki Shrine (E-Bike / 10 min)
▶ Visit Maki Shrine (15 min)
An ancient shrine listed in the Engishiki
Worships Ōmisamitsuhiko-no-Mikoto, god of agriculture and food
Kyoto Prefecture's largest thatched-roof shrine hall
13:50 Transfer to Ryōonji Temple (E-Bike / 10 min)
14:15–15:45 Zazen Meditation Experience at Ryōonji Temple (90 min)
Founded in 1509, an ancient temple of the Soto Zen sect
A time of tranquility embraced by the satoyama landscape
A “calming the mind” program to conclude the journey
15:45 Move to Sonobe Station (E-Bike / 30 min)
Around 16:00 Closing ceremony and disband at Sonobe Station