Asian Rural Institute

James and I just spent four days at the Asian Rural Institute (ARI), and we will get to go back there 1-2 more times during our time here in Japan.

“The Asian Rural Institute (ARI) is an international training center in Japan. Participants from developing countries in Asia, Africa and the Pacific are invited to study at ARI for nine months in sustainable, organic agriculture techniques, leadership and community development. ARI invites 25 to 30 grassroots rural leaders to study at Nasushiobara, Japan, every year.”

Many of the farmers come from regions of the world where resources and food are scarce, people cannon afford fancy equipment, and educational resources to learn basic farming techniques are limited. ARI teaches these participants how to think creatively to utilize the resources around them to produce organic and sustainable farms. I was very surprised to see the ways that ARI uses common resources to bolster the food quality at very low costs.

James and I enjoyed our four days at ARI, and worked very hard while we were there. Alongside the 30 participants, there are several permanent staff members as well as volunteers (like James and I) who come to help in whatever they can and to learn more about ARI for anywhere from a few days to a year. I was reminded these last four days of what extremely hard physical and mental work farming requires, as the average day at ARI is 11-12 hours long. The schedule at ARI starts with morning exercises at 6:30am and ends after the last farm chores at 6:00pm. And even after dinner, participants are often involved in meetings and planning sessions. They work very, very hard to learn how to go home and teach their communities how to provide food in a healthy and sustainable manner.

We spent the last four days doing a variety of tasks – weeding and planting vegetables, feeding pigs, harvesting wheat and straw, and taking our turn in the kitchen. One of the greatest parts of our stay was mealtimes – ARI eats almost entirely off its own crops and livestock, so meals are incredibly healthy and fresh. And we had the opportunity to chat with a broad variety of people from around the world over these meals, which was a great opportunity. Conversations can be challenging because people’s English levels varied a great deal, but the conversations were always rewarding.

This is several bushels of the wheat we harvested that is hanging to dry.

These were some of the women in the group I was working with. From left to right: Marie from the Philippines, Tamina from Japan, Jeanvan from Indonesia, and Nehermia from Nepal. They were all very hard workers, but they all knew how to laugh while we worked!

Tying the wheat into bushels with pieces of twisted wheat...took me awhile to get this down.

This was during our break time after cutting and hauling hay by hand for several hours in 90 degree heat...James took a shot of me getting a 4-minute nap.

Here is the truck that we dumped load after load of straw into, for two days in a row. ARI uses straw for many different things, one of them being to line the beds of the vegetable crops so as to keep moisture in the land and to keep some of the bugs out.

Some of our straw crew making plans for the day.

James off to go work with one of the women in his group.

Onigiri and Homelessness

Onigiri is a very popular Japanese food. It is basically a rice ball, shaped into an oval or triangular shape, that is wrapped in Nori (seaweed paper) and often has umeboshi (pickled plum) stuffed into it. Some onigiri is seasoned with different flavors, including salted salmon or katsuobushi. You can find onigiri at just about any food stand in the city, and even the ubiquitous 7-Elevens and Lawrence convenient stores sell these. If you need a mid-afternoon snack, why grab chips or an apple? Japanese love their onigiri just about any time of day.

Tokyo Union Church has a really incredible ministry to the homeless people of Tokyo, and one of the things they do is serve onigiri to the homeless in the parks every Monday-Friday. So every single weekday morning, the church kitchen is full of volunteers putting together the onigiri packages that will be distributed in various parks throughout Tokyo. One of the interesting things about Japan is the role that shame plays in the culture. I think this strong sense of shame has its pros and cons (one pro being that crime is very low here and it is a very safe city, considering how densely populated it is). People don’t want to shame their friends or family with ill behavior. But it also means that many people, particularly men, feel shamed when they lose their jobs. And so sometimes they end up homeless because they do not want to ask people for help, or admit to other people that they’ve lost a job, etc. So there are a fair number of homeless persons who, until very recently, had a really good job and were making a good deal of money. Having volunteered at a variety of homeless shelters in the states, homelessness in Japan seems to be a very different issue than the states. Certainly there are similarities, and homelessness anywhere is a tragedy. But it has been very interesting to learn about the different ways that homelessness plays out here. One of the differences is that not nearly as many homeless people here are struggling with drug and alcohol addictions. And I have yet to see any homeless person asking passersby for money. Another interesting difference is that the Japanese government, I have been told, does not really recognize the homeless population. So there are very few, if any, government-sponsored programs for homeless people. The main groups of people in Tokyo that feed and provide for the homeless are Christian groups. All the churches know which areas other churches cover, and they try to reach as many people as possible. It is really an amazing thing to know that a network of Christian churches, in a country where less than 1% of the population is Christian, is really the only group tackling the issue of homelessness in whatever ways they can.

Some of my favorite moments here at TUC thus far have been working in the kitchen making onigiri and chatting with the other volunteers. Many of the volunteers are Japanese, but there are also volunteers from around the world. TUC is truly an international church. It has been such a great witness to me to see these people coming together and putting their faith into action. Last week James and I had the opportunity to help prepare food for the monthly homeless dinner that TUC serves, and so we spent nearly 4 hours chopping vegetables and preparing food. And the unique thing about these dinners is that the main chef is himself homeless. He himself used to be the main chef at a restaurant, and I don’t know his fully story but apparently he comes every month and the church pays him to make the dinner. He brings some of his homeless friends so they can also get paid, and they work very hard all day preparing the food. And it was clear this man is a real chef – he could chop vegetables faster than anyone I’d seen. He also had high standards – James and I could not cut the cabbage as thin as he wanted. He kept laughing and trying to show us how to cut it thinner – but if we used his method I’m pretty sure we would have lost a few fingers. Apparently we don’t got no cookin’ skills! It was fun to watch him work, though. We were making Japanese curry and he was grabbing all sorts of spices and throwing them into these massive pots on the commercial-sized stove, in what seemed like an almost haphazard method to me. He clearly was not using a recipe. And when we were all done cutting up vegetables, he had prepared a special meal for all the volunteers – it was amazing! It was some kind of chicken spaghetti, but the sauce was not quite like anything I’d ever tasted before. It may have had some kind of fish sauce in it? But he had been cooking it on the side all along, although I didn’t realize it was for us. And he prepared these beautiful tofu salads, that everyone got on an individual plate. The tofu was mounded with thinly sliced and curly pieces of carrot and cucumber and ginger, and his homemade dressing. And I thought to myself – this man just created a gourmet meal for us, and he is going to go sleep in a park tonight.

It is mind-blowing to think about the way God works. Most of the time I don’t understand it at all, and sometimes I think God should “fix” things up in the world a little more than it seems he is. But sometimes, like the day we were working with the homeless chef, I just marvel at the seeming little ways that God coordinates things for his glory. God used this homeless chef to cook a fabulous meal for the 420 homeless men that showed up for dinner. 

In Between Two Worlds

We are house sitting for the pastor and his family for the next five weeks. Our first two weeks here we stayed in the studio apartment above their garage, which was really quite nice. But now we have a whole, large, beautiful home to ourselves for five weeks - not bad given that we are in the middle of Tokyo where most people live in tiny, tiny apartments. I have no idea what street we live on - because I think it doesn't actually have a name. Fun little fact about Tokyo: most streets don't have names, just the major ones. That makes following directions (or getting directions in the first place) a real fun little challenge.

All that to say, I am learning to associate places with neighborhoods and landmarks. One thing James and I have already discovered about this enormous city is that it is composed of several smaller neighborhoods (like most major cities). But the neighborhoods of Tokyo all have an interested and unique flair. It reminds me of Seattle in this way - Seattle neighborhoods are all so different and personal. 

Thus we live kind of nestled in between two different neighborhoods - Shibuya on the one hand, and Daikan'yama on the other. If I had to compare these two neighborhoods to NYC neighborhoods, I would say that Shibuya is like Times Square, and Daikan'yama is similar to Soho or the Village. This first series of pics below is Daikan'yama, which is a rather quiet (for Tokyo's standards) neighborhood full of trendy boutiques, bars, cafes, and specialty shops of all varieties. James and I both love this neighborhood - you can spend hours wandering through these quaint and wandering little streets lined with lights and patio umbrellas and al-in-all have a very European-esque feel to it. Except for it's filled with trendy and young Japanese folk, with a decidedly Tokyo flair to it. 

This second set of photos is Shibuya - a crazy, bright, flashy, never-sleeping section of Tokyo that is filled with excitement and energy and drama. Massive big screen TV's line the streets, sales people with microphones blaring sales pitches in Japanese outside massive electronic stores, teenagers giggling in that unique high-pitch monotone voice, and hundreds of people crossing the sidewalk every time it turns green. In fact, there is an intersection called "Shibuya Crossing" right in front of the massive Starbucks (featured in Lost in Translation) that has crosswalks running in a variety of vertical, horizontal, and diagonal directions creating a deluge of persons walking every which way on the green. Interesting place. Fun for about 45 minutes, then time to take a break until the next visit. We do walk to Shibuya every morning, however, to catch our train to work. Never a dull moment here!

Daikan'yama

Shibuya 

School Uniform Bliss

I have been enthralled every morning/evening to and fro the train station by the never-ending variations of Japanese school uniforms. They are completely influenced by the jolly ol' state of Britain, which makes my heart oh so happy. I think I've made my Anglophilia clear on this blog before, so it should come as no surprise that the never-ending supply of plaid pleated skirts, mary janes and knee socks, preppy suits and ties for teenage boys, sailor-suit inspired wear, and the adorable little hats that elementary school children wear are charming snapshots for me every day. But don't you worry your little multi-cultural hearts out - these kids have found a way to put a unique Japanese spin on their British inspired uniforms --hundreds of little Anime, Hello Kitty, and Pokemon trinkets attached all over their bags, shoes, purses, and even hair clips. Quite the blend.

And no, I didn't actually take these photos. I thought I might freak these kids out, or be breaking some kind of law, if I just started snapping my camera away at little school kids. These are compliments of la web.

James and I have been in Tokyo for nearly one week now, and we both love this city. It is old and new all at the same time. It is familiar yet foreign. Bustling yet quiet. There are so many fascinating juxtapositions in this city, and we have just barely begun to explore them.

We have been welcomed into this new city by the people of Tokyo Union Church in such warm and loving hands. Everyone we have met thus far has been so excited to share this new place with us, and our time working at the church thus far has been very good. There are so many things to say and share that James and I will have to do it bit by bit, focusing on one thing at a time.

Today’s special feature: Kimonos. James and I had the opportunity of a life-time to be dressed in Kimonos yesterday by the Women’s Society at Tokyo Union Church (TUC). This society has been a part of the church for years and years, and is composed of a broad variety of women – some from the US, some from Europe, some from other parts of Asia, and many women from Japan. One of the things this group does is to share various elements of Japanese culture, and yesterday’s session  was all about the art of dressing in Kimonos. There were several Japanese women who volunteered to dress us in their beloved robes, many of them family heirlooms. And James and I were chosen to be dressed as the bride and groom, which was quite an ordeal. We learned about the various types of Kimonos, varying degrees of formality, kimonos for different seasons of the year, kimono styles from different eras of Japanese history, and more. Dressing in Kimonos is very complicated, and takes a very skilled women to put the robe on just right. There are no buttons or Velcro or zippers – it is all put together by ropes and cords and string. And the obi (the beautiful garment tied around the waist) is like putting a finishing touch of origami on the robe. Apparently if a woman wants to get dressed in a kimono for her wedding, and her mother is not very skilled at dressing in Kimonos, it costs over $100.00 at a beauty salon to be dressed properly in one. So James and I feel quite fortunate that these Japanese women were willing to share their time and skills with us. 

Preptastic Birthday Party

A few weeks ago we had a birthday party for our dear friend, Sara, and it also happened to coincide with the end or her time as a student in Princeton. So we figured that we should give her one final taste of pure preppiness, with a little Kentucky Derby Flair. We had the house bedazzled in those preppy shades of pink and green, and James was working hard to crank out mint juleps galore. Fortunately for everyone invited, putting together some kind of preppy outfit was not a difficult task—especially for our Southern friends. Have to admit – although I’m from the Pac-Northwest, and although I do love my Northface fleeces and my Chico’s, I have always had a strong penchant for the looks of J.Crew, RL, and Vineyard Vines.

All that to be said, it was a great evening to celebrate another year with Sara. She is a  fabulous friend and I don’t know what we’ll do when she no longer lives within a 3-mile radius. Lots of weekend trips, I suspect.