If you appreciate outdoor activities, setting up camp on a riverside can be a great experience. From rafting, when it's available, to fishing, nature observation for kids, wildlife and birdwatching, and more, riverside spots are often enjoyed by camping enthusiasts.

Taro Yoshioka (@TaroYoshioka) knows this very well. A photographer and "outdoor producer," Yoshioka launched his own company called Moving Inn, based on the concept of "moving hotel," which offers various outdoor experience plans including car and camping car rentals and nature-focused lodgings in Tokachi, Hokkaido.

Naturally, he's also an avid camping enthusiast and occasionally sets up camp at one of the numerous streams and brooks in the northernmost prefecture of Japan. However, one of his Tweets he posted just before Christmas this year particularly got noticed on social media:

"I wanted to grill up some crispy meat like they do in Monster Hunter. But having to continuously hand-turn your meat is a pain, so I made an automatic rotisserie. I wanted to keep it primitive, so it's powered by the river. I want to try kebabs next!"

"I could watch this waterwheel forever. The Earth's energy is amazing."

Although he isn't the first person to come up with the idea, for many Twitter users who saw these videos, his riverside waterwheel rotisserie surely stood out for its ingenuity, not to mention its compact size and cool design.

In a follow-up to these video posts, Yoshioka revealed that he went to a hardware shop to look for the parts the night before and felt a bit uncomfortable when he overheard the store clerk saying to someone on an in-store phone: "Um, this guy just showed up saying he wants to build a waterwheel..."

His original video already has over 43,800 likes and the video has been watched nearly 568,000 times at the time of writing, eliciting comments such as:

  • "You made it with parts you found in a hardware store! Amazing!"
  • "You could also use that to bake a Baumkuchen. I want to try it!"
  • "It's a simple concept but one that doesn't usually get implemented. Your initiative is awesome! And most of all, it looks like fun!"
  • "It's a masterpiece of hydropower!"

Maybe Yoshioka will consider providing his Moving Inn customers with one in one of his outdoor activity or rental plans! In any case, it will be fun to see what other things he has in store.

To see more, follow him on Twitter or on Instagram where he posts his photography.


By - grape Japan editorial staff.