Hideyuki Ikuhara's main responsibility at Yamagishi is feeding the pigs. It's a full-time job, but he expects no salary for his efforts. In fact, he quit his work developing high-tech televisions and gave up all his possessions for this lifestyle — and he couldn't be happier.
Welcome to Yamagishi, Japan's most famous commune, in Toyosato, Mie Prefecture. The Yamagishi quest for happiness takes place in rural communities called "jikkenchi" — roughly meaning "places to realize (Yamagishi) principles" — where people live with a decidedly anti-capitalist twist: no money and minimal possessions.
"When I was a high school student, a teacher talked about alternative societies based on true communism," explained Chinami Seto, who prepares food at Yamagishi. "Years later I remembered his talk when I met a Yamagishi vendor. Impressed that people were putting their ideals into action, I gave Yamagishi a try."
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