¡°I want to be a farmer!¡± shouts my 7 year old. ¡°Me too!¡± her little sister yells in agreement.

The reason for their newfound agrarian passion? The girls, rosy-cheeked from exertion, have spent the past hour tipping out sacks of dried leaves into a pen, hosing the leaves with water and sprinkling layers of rice bran ¡ª before jumping up and down on it all, in rain boots.

Their activities ¡ª a traditional fermentation technique for seed planting ¡ª are part of a children¡¯s farming class at Japan¡¯s first agriturismo (agricultural tourism) resort, Hoshino Resorts Risonare Nasu, which opened late last year in Nasu, Tochigi Prefecture.