Taro Wakayama is the owner of Wakayama Farm, an exceptional place in Utsunomiya. This city can be reached in one hour by Shinkansen from Tokyo. Despite the name having the word “farm,” this is the last carefully tended bamboo forest in Japan. A few years ago, it started welcoming visitors on its ground. Mr. Wakayama…
The Japanese Shugendo Religion: Going Back to One’s True Nature
Taichi Tani is a monk in a village in Kochi Prefecture on Shikoku Island. Although Shikoku is famous for its pilgrimage and numerous Shingon Buddhism temples, Mr. Tani’s temple is outside the pilgrimage route and from another tradition: Shugendo. Shugendo is a Japanese religion mixing Buddhism, Shinto, and Taoism. Ascetic training in the mountains is a central…
Teaching Japanese Kids about Healthy Food
Fumiko Ichimura is a nationally registered dietitian in Japan. She uses her knowledge about balanced meals in a primary school, where she makes the menus so that children grow healthy and learn to enjoy eating. I asked her about the effects of Japanese food on health, the changes in Japan’s eating habits, and teaching kids…
Coralie Camilli, a Philosophical Journey with Aikido
Coralie Camilli is a French philosopher, a black belt in aikido, and a practitioner of Thai boxing. In late 2019, she decided to go to Japan to study aikido and Japanese sword fighting right in their country of origin. Resulting from this experience, in 2020, she published “L’art du combat” [“The Art of Fighting”], a book…
Discover Japanese Arts and the People Who Make Them
Japan is home to numerous passionate artists. Some express themselves through traditional painting, calligraphy, traditional dances, or music, while others do it through modern means like animation or modern theater. Read our interviews of inspiring artists in Japan: their personal connection to their art, their place in Japanese society, and the messages they want to…
Higa Farm, Changing the Perception of Organic Farming in Japan
Masamichi Higa and his wife Sara are the owners of Higa Farm, where they grow organic vegetables that they deliver to their customers as set boxes every week. Organic farming is still something new and misunderstood in Japan, but the young couple is determined to change things. Read on to learn more about organic farming, what…
How to Discover Your Purpose in Life and Help Others Do the Same: An Interview with Kasia
The Japanese concept of ikigai can be defined as one’s “reason for living” or “purpose in life.” Living in accordance to your ikigai results in a sense of fulfillment. Kasia, founder of Ikigai Connections, has taken this concept to heart and built a business that helps people all over the world live up to their…
Japanese Cram Schools Are Not What You Think
Takahiro Goto is the director and a teacher at the cram school “GS Shingaku Kyoshitsu” in Hachioji City in the Greater Tokyo Area. Cram schools (“juku” in Japanese) are schools where young students study hard to prepare for their desired school or university entrance exams. Before talking to Mr. Goto, I did not quite understand why…
Bouncing Forward: Helping Japan’s Fishing Industry after the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami
Takashi Suzuki is an assistant professor at Kagoshima University and a former project researcher at the University of Tokyo. Now a specialist in marine life and fisheries, he was a student on the Iwate Prefecture campus of Kitasato University student when the 2011 Great East Japan earthquake happened. Since then, he has been devoting his studies and activities to…
Bringing Japan to America, One Company at a Time: An Interview with Tetsuo “Ted” Kumon
As an American consultant living and working in Japan, I’m always thrilled to meet professionals who are engaged in business between my birthplace and Japan, my adopted home. When I met Tetsuo “Ted” Kumon, a U.S. market-entry specialist, at a trade show several years ago, I was intrigued by his business. In an age where…