A little different to the traditional tour bus! (Olivia Garnett)
Picture this: 16 ecstatic Japanese school students dressed in suits, clinging onto a dusty ute driving through lush paddocks in the south west of Western Australia.
It's not something you see every day.
The starry-eyed 12 to 15-year-olds are visiting from the Fukushima region on a tour which might just change their lives.
It has been almost 18 months since a terrifying tsunami devastated the Pacific coast of Japan, triggered by a massive earthquake.
Cattle farms were inundated by seawater and left with dangerous levels of radiation, forcing farmers to abandon properties.
Motivated by their dire situation, Meat and Livestock Australia arranged for these Japanese school students to visit beef cattle farms in Western Australia to reinspire their interest in agriculture.
Miho Kondo, manager of Japan trade services with MLA, is looking after the kids on the tour, many of which come from Wagyu beef properties.
She says the visit to the organic farm in Boyup Brook has opened their eyes to different ways of farming.
"Because of this radioactive contamination issue in their village they are not able to raise cattle anymore, which is a really sad thing."
"So this visit hopefully will give them some hope in the future for their wish to re-build their cattle farming and the community."
"It has been really interesting... once we got to the farm the kids faces brightened up and their eyes shining and they're laughing and smiling," Ms Kondo said.
Owner of Blackwood Valley Organic Beef, Warren Pensini, insisted the students jump on the back of the ute to get to where the cattle were grazing.
"That was pretty interesting, I possibly should've cleaned the back of the ute before they got on." he laughed.
The rain didn't seem to dampen the excitement of the children who were fascinated by the wide-open spaces and friendly cows.
Mr Pensisi says he learned a lot from his foreign visitors.
"Certainly they had a good perspective on what we were doing and they could relate it back to what they do in their own situations."
"I think it's always great to have that cross-cultural learning."
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