u/TheRealDrewciferpike

I'm a walnut farmer in California, and I'll be lucky enough to visit Japan with my older parents and my son (16) during the summer of 2027 (exact dates TBD).

Selfishly, I'd really like to learn how walnuts are farmed in Japan, and meet a grower and see how things are different. From googling, I understand that production in Japan is quite limited, but that just makes me more intrigued. I guess most production is in Nagano, specifically Tomi? I have no idea if this is really the case, but I'd like to connect with farmers (or even one!) and visit, regardless.

More importantly, I read that there are native walnuts in Japan (Onigurumi), but I can't find much information on them. That REALLY interests me, and I want to learn as much as I can. I don't care if it's cultural, culinary, agricultural, artistic... The knowledge just tickles me.

(At the same time, I'd love to visit someone that farms old varieties of rice. My father spent 50 years growing and processing rice, so it would mean a lot to him to visit a fellow farmer.)

My family is all about visiting somewhere and learning about real life, not flashy things. We feel that what others find mundane is the stuff that will blow our minds, as that's usually what happens when folks visit us in California!

So...

1. Where can I see walnuts being grown in Japan? English and native.

2. Does anyone have any connections to farmers that would be willing to share their experience with a fellow farmer that respects what they're doing and wants to learn about how they do it? Also artisans or cooks that utilize walnut wood or walnuts, in traditional and/or almost-forgotten ways.

3. Are there cultural aspects that I can learn about while I'm there? Especially regarding how walnuts or walnut wood are used in culturally significant ways (Shinto altars, etc)?

I'm ok to share my contact information via DM if anyone has legitimate connections that would be willing to listen to me ask questions for a while.

Thanks, in advance!

EDIT: I showed my son some of the first responses, and now he wants to add that he'd like to see where the huge Japanese yams are grown, if that's near either of the regions mentioned, regarding walnuts (Tomi) and rice (Uonuma)...

I don't know why I slept on this, but here I am. Is this going to change my life, or will this feel gimmicky? Where can I do a deep-dive on real-world examples of networks, especially in regards to my needs?

I'm part of a farm with orchards spread all over the place, and Verizon is currently the "best" option for communication. I used quotation marks because there are definitely locations where service is crap, so when one of the guys calls me with an emergency and I can only make out every 5th word, it's a bummer when I roll up and see that I could have brought exactly what I needed to get a tractor going again, if I could have understood everything.

More importantly, I want to make sure that emergency services can effectively locate an individual or crew, if there's an actual emergency. (Years ago, a man had a heart attack in the middle of an orchard. There's no way for first responders to find someone like that unless there's another person to guide them...)

We do experience occasional cell outages, so I'd like to maintain a redundant safety communication system for everyone on the farm (5 guys, me, the owner, and it would be cool to outfit any labor contractor crews that are on-site, too).

Are there aspects I'm not aware of, that would be even more useful?

My wife and I will be visiting Vero Beach for the first time, 11/7-11/14, as a combination anniversary/birthday/post-harvest relaxation trip. I've been looking online for event calendars to see what's happening while we're there, and all I've found is the theater. Is there a city/county chamber calendar or something like that?