How I Ended Up Living in Nakatsu, Northern Kyushu
What’s up, peeps! Haruka from Gut Chef Japan here!
I was surprised by how many people read my first blog post, Why I Moved from Okinawa to Nakatsu in Northern Kyushu.
One of the questions I get asked most often is, "Why Nakatsu?" So today, I thought I'd share a little more about why I chose to live where I do now.
As you can imagine, Okinawa is one of the most attractive places in Japan to move to. It has a subtropical climate, beautiful beaches, and a laid-back culture. So naturally, people ask me, “Why did you leave Okinawa and choose Nakatsu?”
My answer usually depends on who’s asking and how much time we have. If it's someone at my local supermarket, I'll probably just say, “I'd never been to Kyushu before and thought it seemed interesting. Plus, we found an amazing house at a pretty reasonable rent!”
But today, I’m going to assume you have a little more time to sit down with me and hear the longer version of the story.
So let me tell you why I chose to move to Nakatsu—a place that isn’t even particularly well known among Japanese tourists, let alone international visitors.
1. My Neighbors Planted the Seed
Back in Okinawa, one of my neighbors was a couple from Kumamoto in Kyushu. They worked at a burger shop down the street, and after struggling to find an affordable place to live on the island, they decided to move back to Kyushu.
Natsuki—or "Nacchan," as I called her—started sharing information with me about various programs offered by local governments to encourage young families and couples to relocate to rural areas of Japan. Many of the places they were considering were in Kyushu.
At the time, I thought it was an interesting idea, but I wasn't seriously considering leaving Okinawa. My business was doing well, and I was happy with the life I had built there.
However, as the date approached when I would need to move out of the house I was using for my work, I began to think more seriously about the possibility of relocating. So I started doing some research.
One day, I typed a rather specific question into Gemini:
"Which cities in Japan offer relocation incentives for young couples moving from another prefecture, have plenty of sunshine throughout the year, aren't too cold, and are easy for international visitors to access?"
Gemini suggested several cities, but one in particular caught my attention: Bungo-Takada City in Oita Prefecture, about an hour from where I live now.
That got me interested enough to schedule a consultation with the local government office in Bungo-Takada and book a trip to visit. The date was December 26, 2025—a trip that would end up changing the course of my life more than I expected.
During our visit, we joined a vacant house (akiya) tour organized by the local government and viewed five properties. There was one house in particular that we really loved.
The local government staff were incredibly supportive throughout the process, and we even met the owner of the property we loved three times during our stay. Unfortunately, things didn't work out.
To make a long story short, I did my best to reassure the owner, but she was very hesitant about renting to people with cats and dogs. Although the listing stated that pets were allowed, I think she had been imagining someone with a very small dog rather than a household with multiple rescue pets. Her parents had also passed away only six months earlier, and it was clear that she still felt a strong emotional attachment to the property.
The challenge was that traveling from Okinawa wasn't cheap, and we didn't have the luxury of making repeated trips or waiting months for another suitable property to appear in Bungo-Takada.
So I started searching elsewhere.
I found a real estate website that specialized in pet-friendly rentals and clearly listed the types and sizes of pets allowed for each property. As someone with rescue cats and a puppy, that information was exactly what I needed.
What started as a backup plan quickly led me to the second major reason I ended up moving to Nakatsu.
2. We Found the House We Live in Today at a Great Price
By this point, I had already decided to focus my search on Oita Prefecture rather than looking across all of Kyushu.
Kyushu is a large region, and after visiting Oita, I had fallen in love with its fresh seafood and seasonal produce. I also had the impression that the people were hardworking but friendly. It simply felt like a place where I could imagine building a life. So I opened a pet-friendly rental website and started browsing.
About ten minutes later, I found the house we live in today.
I remember it was a Saturday, and I was immediately impressed. The house was spacious and had all the room we needed, especially a large kitchen. Since cooking is such a big part of my life, that was a huge plus. What really caught my attention, though, was that the property allowed everything from cats to large dogs, with no specific limit on the number of pets.
As someone with rescue cats and a puppy, that felt almost too good to be true. I called the real estate agent right away. After that, we opened Google Maps and started exploring the neighborhood. The more we looked, the more excited we became.
There was a castle across the river and a beautiful temple nearby. The house sits on a small island connected by a bridge, creating a peaceful residential atmosphere while still being surprisingly close to downtown Nakatsu. There were multiple supermarkets, restaurants, and even a large shopping mall within easy reach.
It seemed to offer the best of both worlds: a quiet place surrounded by history and nature, while still having all the conveniences we needed nearby. I remember that we decided to apply for the property the following Monday, just two days after finding it on the website.
Of course, there was one catch—we had never seen the house in person.
Moving into a property sight unseen came with a few surprises, and we ran into some issues after arriving. Thankfully, the real estate company and our landlord have been very supportive, and we've worked together to gradually improve the house over time. My mum even came to visit in June and helped us replace all of the shoji paper screens throughout the house.
After months of small projects and improvements, the house is finally in great shape, and it truly feels like home.
Looking back, it's funny to think that I found the place where I now live after only ten minutes of browsing a rental website. Sometimes life changes because of years of careful planning, and sometimes it changes because you happen to click on the right listing at the right time.
3. I Wasn't Interested in Living Somewhere Too Touristy
As I mentioned earlier, Nakatsu is rich in history and offers a wonderful mix of nature, culture, and historical sites. Yet despite all that, it isn't a major tourist destination—even among Japanese travelers.
If our only goal had been to grow our business as quickly as possible, we probably would have chosen somewhere like Yufuin or Beppu. Both destinations attract large numbers of domestic and international visitors, and there would likely have been more opportunities to market our experiences.
But that wasn't the only thing we were considering.
When we lived in Okinawa, we lived in Nago, a city that attracts many tourists, especially during the summer months. During peak season, even simple things like grocery shopping could become frustrating. The farmer's market we regularly visited would be packed with visitors, and finding a parking spot for our usual weekend shopping trip sometimes felt impossible.
Living in a tourist destination comes with benefits, but it also comes with challenges.
Places become crowded during certain times of the year, and many restaurants, cafés, and attractions end up pricing their services for visitors rather than local residents. While that's understandable from a business perspective, it can make daily life more difficult and expensive for the people who actually live there.
Having experienced that firsthand, we knew we weren't looking for a place that revolved entirely around tourism.
Nakatsu felt like the perfect balance.
There are plenty of places I can recommend to future international guests, from historical sites and local markets to beautiful natural scenery. At the same time, daily life here feels calm and manageable. I can go grocery shopping without fighting crowds, enjoy local restaurants without long waits, and genuinely feel part of the community.
When choosing where to live, I wasn't just thinking about where to run my business.
I was thinking about where I wanted to build a life.
After all, we're not operating our business 24 hours a day. We spend most of our time here simply living—shopping, cooking, walking around town, and spending time at home. We wanted a place where everyday life felt peaceful, not somewhere where we would constantly be surrounded by crowds of tourists.
For us, Nakatsu offered exactly that: enough interesting things to share with visitors, while still feeling like a place where real people live their everyday lives.
4. Was the Move Worth It?
So, to wrap up this blog post, I want to ask myself a question:
Was such a big move worth it? Am I happy here?
The answer is a definite yes.
One of the biggest reasons is the amazing community we've found here on Koiwai, the small island where we live. We've become close friends with two wonderful neighbors, and both of them have dogs. Our puppy gets to play with them almost every day, either in our garden or in the temple grounds next door.
One of my friends often shares vegetables and fruit that she or her friends have grown. In return, we help her with things that have become a little more difficult as she's gotten older, such as washing her dog, taking her to get her nails trimmed, or helping her shop for pet supplies. Just last weekend, we took her and her dog to a pet store to help choose a new harness.
She's 83 years old, incredibly healthy and active, and honestly someone I look up to a lot.
My other friend loves cooking as much as I do. She often shares preserved foods she's made with seasonal ingredients, and I do the same with her. We exchange recipes, talk about what's in season, and she teaches me about ingredients that are unique to this area and how people traditionally prepare them.
Because of these friendships, I've learned so much about where I live in a very short time.
More importantly, they bring a lot of joy to my everyday life.
I love chatting with them, exchanging food, and watching our puppy have the time of her life playing with their dogs.
There are also practical reasons why life here works so well for us.
In Okinawa, we lived in a very rural area, about 40 minutes from the nearest supermarket. Here in Nakatsu, we have countless supermarkets to choose from and at least five farmer's markets within a 20-minute drive.
And perhaps the biggest difference is that we're no longer on an island.
In Okinawa, visiting a new prefecture meant booking a flight. Here in Northern Kyushu, we can simply get in the car and explore new places whenever we want. That sense of freedom has been something we've really appreciated.
Of course, I know that building a business in Nakatsu may be more challenging than doing so in a place like Beppu, a world-famous hot spring destination that attracts visitors from around the globe.
But I have no regrets.
I'm determined to build a successful business here, and I'm excited to share a glimpse of my daily life, seasonal cooking, and life in rural Japan with guests from all over the world.
So if you're interested in joining me in my daily life here in Northern Kyushu, I'd love to welcome you to Nakatsu.
We'll visit a local indoor farmer's market together and then cook at my home using whatever seasonal ingredients we find. There is no set menu—just a chance to let our creativity flourish and create something delicious together.
Can’t wait to experience seasonal produce with yhou here in Nakatsu!
