Nathan and I met recently in Kyoto when I gave a talk on PRIDE at the Creative Mornings event. He has been researching and writing and practicing meditation and religious studies in Japan and around the world for many years and has a deep understanding of how Buddhist philosophies and teachings can help in counseling and supporting people in times of crisis. We will talk about his background as well as stories and teachings from his book titled "Refuge in the Storm". Please join us!

About Nathan on his website: http://nathanjishinmichon.com/

Nathan is a bit of a global citizen, having lived in seven countries and in multiple places in the US. Nathan is ordained both as a priest within the Shingon Buddhist tradition (A Japanese branch of Esoteric Buddhism) and as an interfaith minister through the Unity-and-Diversity Word Council

Nathan Jishin Michon received his MA in comparative religion, MDiv in Buddhist chaplaincy, and Ph.D. in History and Culture of Religions. He also received a certificate in advanced peace and conflict studies at European Peace University.

The characters of their name, Jishin (pronunced jee-sheen), mean “benevolent heart”

Writer James Clark and filmmaker Robbie McKain have joined forces to do a fundraiser for a film about the Michinoku Coastal Train (MCT) in Tohoku - a 1000 km trail that was created to bring more visitors to the area to enjoy the beautiful coastal hike while supporting the communities still rebuilding after the 2011 Earthquake-Tsunami-Nuclear Power Plant triple disaster.

It sounds like there are so many wonderful stories of recovery and resilience to inspire us that they are covering in their film, can't wait to see it!

See the other talks in the Seek Sustainable Japan talkshow series PLAYLIST about Tohoku:

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLcyYXjRuE20HzjMGTIsQ4KayQPtUCr6Tu&si=VJNZAM5koyAhYAoU

Read about their plan on the Japan Recovery in Action project's kickstarter fundraising page: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/mctdocumentary/tohoku-recovery-in-action?lang=ja

Project Updates on Instagram:

Robbie McKane on Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/robbiemckane/

James Clark on Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/jamesclarktravels/

Music thanks to the Beanpod host Casey Bean - buy his music at Bandcamp

How do Japanese consumers think about sustainability and sustainable brands? This is the 3rd annual report that James Hollow and his team at Fabric in Tokyo have compiled this data from their original research.

• See FABRIC co's entire Sustainability in Japan 3 report "The pathway to regenerative business"
• Watch the video version of this talk on youtube
• Support the original singer-songwrite Casey Bean (BGM artist)

Heather Fukase is originally from Australia, and has lived in a beautiful rural area of Nagano above Matsumoto-city for the last 17 years where she has raised a family. For more than 10 years Heather (and her husband) has been growing vegetables and fruit organically and as naturally as possible.

Watch the video of this talk: https://youtu.be/6UgDbxlZD2I?si=9ftLDbCWFYgqdCJz

In this talk, Heather shows me around her farmland and talks through some of the challenges and successes of being a farmer in Japan. I have talked with Heather twice on the Seek Sustainable talkshow so it was so special to be there with her in her organic farm fields to catch up.

== Previous talks with Heather on Seek Sustainable Japan ==

** 2020 Talk with Heather: https://www.youtube.com/live/hqmjj9SQaBE?si=GPQu4CGW2Bm2rvUi

** 2022 Talk with Heather: https://www.youtube.com/live/v0-9ACjmo8U?si=cRa6mDAh51Zqd6EE

I was really struck by the community side of issues of letting your weeds grow and using pesticides as well as the historical significance of big changes in farming in her area from Mulberry trees for the silk trade, use of pesticides, and the industrial style of soba (buckwheat) farms. It also surprised me how passionate and excited she is about organic farming STILL despite all the challenges.

It also surprised me that she has a side hustle as a teacher and doesn't know anyone who is able to survive on farming full time as their sole income.

Please follow Heather on Instagram for more updates and if you are in Japan, you will love a delivery of her great veggies and fruit delivered fresh from her farm (I just got potatoes, rhubarb, apples and look forward to rice soon).

https://naganonaturally.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/naganonaturally/

Our Autumn Sustainability in Japan and beyond chat - here Tove Kinooka and JJWalsh (both of us do sustainability focused work, consulting and projects in Japan) share some of our insights for exciting sustainable business, travel, events and projects in Japan (or relevant to Japan).

Watch the video on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/live/6SZ8N1Nnw84?si=H2ShN9X8i9OW1R_g

Topics:

Fabric "The pathway to regenerative business" available freely online: https://fbrc.co/en/sustainability-in-japan #japaneseconsumers #sustainablebrand #brandawareness

One young world conference in Belfast: https://www.oneyoungworld.com/summit-2023 #oneyoungworld

Hotel Sustainability at Inhabit London - a B-corp biz : https://www.inhabithotels.com/b-corp/ #sustainablehotel

OIST Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology's Global Bioconvergence: https://bioconvergence.jp/en/

Setouchi Global Academy in OsakiKamiJima Hiroshima: https://sga.aust.jp/ - connected to College of the Atlantic in Maine (USA) https://www.coa.edu/ & I spoke with students who are studying Human Ecology

#sustainability #education #research #japan #osakikamijima #collegeoftheatlantic #setouchiglobalacademy

Azby Brown is a long time resident of Japan and lead research of the radiation testing open source advocacy, education and training organization SAFECAST. Here Azby talks about the decision by the Japanese government to release waste water into the ocean and the surrounding issues and consequences as well as advice for how future actions and decisions could be more sustainable and inclusive in the future.

Azby Brown website: https://azbybrown.com/

Background Intro & Outro music thanks to the original singer-songwriter of Ishikawa, Japan - Casey Bean - support this creator by naming your price for his original tracks on Bandcamp

https://caseybean.bandcamp.com/

== Enjoy JJ's Ad-Free Seek-Sustainable-Japan Videos all winter ==

Ava Grauls, Makiko Shimizu Harris & Megumi Ohata talk here about their beautiful and fascinating artwork which they displayed together in Hiroshima, Japan at Gallery G this summer (2023).

These 3 talented humans share insights about their work as well as advice for budding creatives and artists trying to make a living.

This is a lightly edited version of our original LIVE talk here:

https://www.youtube.com/live/8-XH8t27MNE?si=ggY1dATXQev9F-Gg

LINKS:

Ava Grauls (Belgian / South African)

https://www.avagrauls.com/

Makiko Shimizu Harris (Japanese / American)

https://linktr.ee/makikoharris

Megumi Ohata (Japanese / mix

Korean)

https://www.megumiohata.com/

Background music thanks to original artist & podcaster Casey Bean of TheBeanpod - support Casey's music on Bandcamp by naming your price: https://caseybean.bandcamp.com/

== About Seek Sustainable Japan & JJWalsh ==

Joy Jarman-Walsh (JJWalsh) is host of the Seek Sustainable Japan talkshow-podcast which launched in 2020 - JJ is originally from Hawaii & long-time Hiroshima-jin who pursues a passion to promote inspiring ideas through talks with "good people doing great things in Japan" & tours around lesser known travel gems in Japan.

JJ's aim is to focus on what we can do to seek out a better, more meaningful quality of life, which works hand in hand with the needs of nature, and more in balance with establishing a stable income (= pursuit of sustainability) #seeksustainablejapan

|| SUPPORT jjwalsh ||

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbjRdeieOLGes008y_I9y5Q/join

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/jjwalsh

BuyMeACoffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/jjwalsh