Risonare Nasu Brings Back "YATAI to FARM" Autumn Harvest Brunch for 2026

Risonare Nasu, the agri-tourism resort in the Nasu highlands of Tochigi Prefecture, is reviving its popular outdoor brunch event "YATAI to FARM" for the 2026 autumn season. Running September 1–4 and 7–9, the experience is capped at three groups per day and places guests at a table alongside the resort's own rice paddies as the stalks turn gold ahead of the October harvest.

What Is "YATAI to FARM"?

The event was conceived as a twist on the familiar "Farm to Table" concept: instead of transferring harvest ingredients to a dining room, the dining room itself is moved out to the farm. A chef cooks at an outdoor counter (屋台) right beside the paddies, serving each dish as it comes off the grill. Guests sit in a front-row seat overlooking the rice fields and mountain scenery that define the Nasu landscape.

Risonare Nasu describes itself as Japan's first agriturismo resort — a hospitality model rooted in Italy's agriturismo tradition, where agricultural activities and rural landscape are central to the guest experience rather than peripheral. The "YATAI to FARM" event brings that concept directly to the plate.

Three Highlights of the Experience

1. Harvest at the Agri Garden

Guests harvesting seasonal vegetables at the Agri Garden, Risonare Nasu

The brunch begins with a tour of "Agri Garden" (アグリガーデン), the resort's working farm, which grows more than 120 types of vegetables and herbs annually. The garden operates on a circular agricultural model: kitchen scraps from the hotel are composted and returned to the soil. Guests hear from staff about how the soil is built and maintained before heading into the rows to pick seasonal vegetables themselves. The connection between what is pulled from the ground and what lands on the plate is immediate and tangible.

2. Charcoal-Grilled Vegetables and a New "Riso Pilaf"

Charcoal-grilled vegetables and the new iron-pot Riso Pilaf at YATAI to FARM

At the outdoor counter, the chef grills the freshly harvested vegetables over charcoal alongside seasonal highland produce sourced from local Nasu farms. New for 2026 is a dish called "Riso Pilaf" (リゾピラフ) — rice grown in the resort's own paddies, cooked low and slow in an iron pot (羽釜) with maitake mushrooms and bouillon until the broth's flavor penetrates each grain. The result is a richly savory rice course that the resort says captures the essence of a Nasu autumn in a single bowl.

(Riso Pilaf is a dish where rice is cooked in broth, allowing the umami of the ingredients to soak through to the center of each grain.)

3. A Ringside View of the Golden Rice Fields

Golden rice stalks swaying at Risonare Nasu, viewed from the exclusive YATAI to FARM seating area

Three private tables are arranged along the bank of the resort's 8,500-square-meter rice paddy. In September, the stalks are bent heavy with grain ready for the October harvest. The panorama of swaying golden rice against a backdrop of Nasu's mountains offers a setting that can be hard to access outside of a farming community. The clean autumn air and wide-open views give the meal an unhurried, quiet quality that contrasts with busier dining settings.