"The Isolated House" (ABC TV/TV Asahi, Sunday 7:58pm) is a variety show that uses satellite photos to find secluded houses. In the September 22nd broadcast, they interview a 67-year-old man who farms in a "fantastic" location deep in the mountains of Yamagata Prefecture.
The guests are actors Misako Tanaka and Katsumi Takahashi. Tanaka, who is from the Oki Islands in Shimane Prefecture, says, "I was born and raised in the Oki Islands, so I'm very interested in a self-sufficient lifestyle. I grow my own vegetables, catch my own fish and eat them..." he says, revealing his confidence in his isolated life. Takahashi, who is from Niigata Prefecture, reveals, "Surprisingly, I'm in the city. People often say I'm an outdoorsy person, but actually I'm not very good at it."
The satellite images obtained by the search team showed a large area of land in the mountains of Yamagata Prefecture, several buildings, and what appeared to be a pond. The search team headed to a village along a river that runs through the mountains, and asked a man living in an old house to look at the satellite images. The man simply said, "This is Katsuo Land!" Apparently, he and his wife had actually been there, explaining, "The husband runs a soba restaurant in a village at the foot of the mountain, and they also farm in this 'Katsuo Land.' It's a fantastic place."
The search team was told the location of the soba restaurant by the man, and headed there. The restaurant is located in an old house that was founded in 1891 and is over 150 years old, and on the day the search team visited, it was bustling with customers. The owner is 67-year-old Katsuo, who is also the owner of 'Katsuo Land' deep in the mountains.
In addition to the soba restaurant, he also works for a construction company. He prepares the soba noodles at 3am, goes to work, and operates the soba restaurant during his lunch break. He returns to work in the afternoon and works in the fields deep in the mountains in the evening.
After graduating from high school, Katsuo trained for three years at a long-established soba restaurant in Tokyo, "Abunagasaka Sarashina." When his father passed away at the age of 27, he took over the soba restaurant in Yamagata. Since then, he has worked both at the restaurant and as a company employee for over 40 years. The search team closely followed the soba noodles being made. He treated us to freshly made soba noodles along with vegetables from the fields. Then, they headed to "Katsuo Land" in the mountains, which even the locals call "a fantastic place."
