Kurashi - News From Japan

Hanno chum Spencer is going to Edinburgh for a theatre job for the festival, but before that, he decided to take his orange Suzuki scooter for a ride north. Amazing images. He set his camera to take one image every ten seconds, thus the madness, but he is getting better at stopping at cool places. My music. Using GarageBand, and other tricks of the trade. All rights reserved, 2015. Love how that works with his videos. And if you post the videos on your blog can you put a link to http://spencersheridan.is ?

Wonderful, wonderful program from NHK World about a lake just 60 km north of Tokyo, probably not very well known to Tokyoites, but it has its charms. Lake Kasumigaura is actually an ancient lagoon but the current lake was created some 50 years ago when a dam helped set the borders of what was to be water, and what was to be land. However, that also changed the conditions of the area, a lot. NHK World shows wonderful, wonderful lotus plantations, and fishing experiences in the old style Hobiki-sen boats... Just an hour or two from the nation's capital. Wonderful, wonderful... NHK World: Journeys in Japan However, (Kurashi taking a deep breath...) NHK World fails to take any notice the huge environmental issues that this lake, Japan's second largest after Lake Biwa, continues to face. Why gloss over the realities? Why NHK World producers, and foreigners participating in this game, cannot raise even the most simple questions about what ordinary people here in Japan on...

I went for a walk and watched fireflies near a temple where I live. Amazing creatures. Got a lesson in bioluminescence from Pandabonium, too, via National Geographics. There is a lot I do not know. I like how my town is not exploiting this site for tourism. July - hot and humid. Japan still has no nuclear reactors online. Do people in other parts of the world even think about this? Can we get some support, please? Seems a small town in Tochigi near major tourist spot Nikko, where the Tokugawa shoguns have their final resting place, will be selected to permanently store radioactive waste from the Fukushima nuclear disaster. "Permanently" is a pretty serious word when it comes to nuclear waste. Not sure why they didn't put it in Fukushima. Expect Narita-style protests? The Mainichi: Tochigi town favored as permanent radioactive waste storage site Shioya Mayor Kasuhisa Mikata, right, expresses his disappointment ...

Do visit the Japan Organic Agriculture Association event on Friday, July 25, 2014 to learn more about Miyazawa Kenji . Poet, writer, vegetarian, and more. From Iwate prefecture. And he is well known in Japan and around the world for his essays on wilderness, and the universe, how hard it is to be human, and the wonders of nature. Night of the Milky Way Railway and Other Stories This collection of timeless children's classics by Japan's most beloved modern-age writer features Ginga tetsudo no yoru  (tr.  Night of the Milky Way Railway ), Miyazawa's most celebrated work. It is a story about Giovanni, a schoolboy, and his friend Campanella, and their voyage across the Milky Way aboard a night train. One evening while stargazing, Giovanni hears a voice: "Milky Way Station!" The next moment he is on a train speeding through the galaxy with Campanella. Outside their windows the boys can see a shimmering, phosphorescent river of stars. On the train they me...

Earth Day in Nasu is now an annual event for many small organizations that have hosted large symposiums on how to care for our planet over the years. They do wonderful market events and workshops as well as art shows. Earth Day in Nasu , Tochigi prefecture has all kinds of projects prepared for May, 2014. Which got me to explore another rural Tochigi initiative, that has been around for over 40 years: The Asian Rural Institute (ARI) is a training center for Rural Leaders. Founded in 1973 by Rev. Dr. Toshihiro Takami the aim of the program is to invite and train local grassroots leaders to more effectively serve in their communities as they work for the poor, the hungry, and the marginalized. Each year from April to December we bring together about 30 leaders from countries primarily in Asia, Africa, and the Pacific to take part in our Rural Leaders Training Program . The training focuses on sustainable agriculture through integrated organic farming techniques , com...