Archive for the Dossier ‘Blog’

An ARI study tour would not be complete without visiting the rural areas and we did so by visiting our 2009 graduate Ven Ban in his village Trapen Tasom in Takeo province. Ban runs an organic farm with his family but it was originally started by his father after he had come back from a Thai refugee camp after the civil war. They welcomed us with fresh coconuts to drink from and delicious vegetable form the fields. The farm is a beautiful place with Ban concentrating on chicken raising. We observed his fields and learned about the huge differences between rainy and dry season farming.

Not everything was peaceful, though. There are still landmines in this region, with the latest ones discovered and removed from the farm just days before our visit. Another one was still somewhere hidden meters away under a pile of rubbish. Ven Ban’s father then told us about his escape from Takeo to the Thai border during the Vietnamese invasion that brought an end to the Khmer Rouge reign of terror.

This was my first time to visit the countryside of a South East Asian country and it was a big learning opportunity. To feel the hot sun and get the dust in your eyes gave me such an immediate impression of the realities of the grassroots farming Ven Ban and the people of his community are practicing each day. It is extremely difficult for him to promote organic farming, but through the support of many people he will manage to create a training center soon.

Perhaps the most enjoyable part of my study trip to Cambodia was the “home stay” experience at a kind of youth community center called “Small World Family”. I went there with no idea what the young people who started this project two months ago were doing there, only to be surprised, inspired, delighted by what I saw.

It’s a bit difficult to explain what SWF tries to achieve. Basically, young people like college students can become a member and utilize the space for sharing ideas with others – ideas for businesses or social projects, for example. They are also free to use internet and get drinks so they don’t need to spend their money in cafés. Then, once they’ve come up with some plan they can further make use of the office space or facilities of the SWF building and expand from there. They also organize events and hold workshops. Some of the members actually live in the house and invest their money to pay the rent.

Everybody I met at SWF radiated with enthusiasm and energy. During the last two months these folks had cleaned the compound from ground up, sowed grass, planted trees, decorated walls… I felt as if I was meeting the most progressive young people of the whole country. They seem to be brimming over with ideas how to connect to young people and offer them opportunities. To feel their dedication to contribute something meaningful to their society was really uplifting after learning about the sad history of Cambodia’s Khmer Rouge time and the civil war that followed.

Most of the SWF folks were at my age, and I felt there was a kind of mutual understanding that this can bring despite cultural differences. During my homestay, two of the founding members of SWF, Theary and Chhunny, made time to show me around in Phnom Penh. Thanks to them I felt very comfortable. I did not expect such hospitality, let alone to be so touched by their passion. My prayers are with these great people.

These are some impressions from the Small World Family house. They asked my co-participant Mr. Tamura and me to sow some seeds and we carved our names into the bamboo vessels.

This link leads to Small World’s Facebook page.

The Goel Community is located in the countryside South of Phnom Penh and was started by Korean missionary Mr. Han Jung-Min.

Women who join this project can secure themselves a stable income by weaving and dying fabrics made of natural material. This fair trade and fair labor concept helps them especially during the dry season since farming activities are limited then. Mr. Han revives traditional weaving and dying techniques which had been lost during the Khmer Rouge time. To him, this project is not just a business but a vehicle for sustainable community development, as he slowly gives away all responsibilities to the Cambodian people themselves and sets limits to the commercialization of the products. I was quite impressed not only by the high quality and beauty of the natural clothes but also by Mr. Han’s approach to rural development which was quite in line with the philosophy of ARI.

We visited some of the women at work in their houses, so it gave us opportunity to get a few glimpses of their everyday life.

When I close my eyes I can still see Cambodia: how the bustling streets of Phnom Penh rush past me on a tuktuk drive, or the views of white cows grazing in the green plains, each mist-shrouded horizon beckoning to follow a mystery, an ancient city perhaps, a group of obedient elephants, or a purple sunrise. I hear the chatter of crowded markets, the cacophony of traffic noise mingling with street vendors’ voices, the discussions replaying in my mind, conversations with people, at times disturbing, but mostly inspiring.

I chose not to prepare myself for this ARI-organized study trip, but to let myself be surprised. And surprising a journey this was indeed. It was my first time to a country in South East Asia, and the first time to what some people still call “the third world”. I’ve been waiting for this opportunity, to get a taste of the ‘real’ world, as I experience the Western affluance in which we “developed” people live more and more as mirage, a Scheinwelt (illusory world) of artificial fabric well-detached from the realities of the people from whom it sucks its wealth.

I come back with many new impressions, and I let them sink in with their inconsistencies and superficialities with which I perceived them, not yet able to grasp the deeper truths this country holds. I have nothing but gratitude for the hospitality of people and their smiles.

First gallery: Ancient Ruins of Angkor Thom and Angkor Wat

Last year, in the night of January 1, 2011, I dreamed of climbing a mountain from where I could see a giant Mt. Fuji glowing red in the evening sun – a good omen of hatsuyume that my empty life as a Tôkyô paper-pusher would soon come to an end. A few weeks later I was promised a job at the Asian Rural Institute in Tochigi – a place that had deeply impacted me some seven years before. I was thrilled to be able to return there, living sustainably through organic farming, and to serve a good purpose. I shaved my beard – first time in a decade – and enjoyed some free days with my girlfriend.

Then the earthquake came.
What I felt during the time afterward was something I’ve never known before. A sense of helplessness, mortality, anger and confusion. It was time for me to make adult decisions. Ones that will shape the course of your life. Like not to panic, but to stay in a country overwhelmed by crisis. Like moving to a place 60 miles away from a leaking atomic reactor. You take a leap of faith. You hold on to the calling you think you’ve received. You don’t understand at that time, but you trust it will be alright in the end. Whatever happens, God is there.

Twothousandeleven. I learned about the arbitrary nature of death. Whether it strikes the 77 in Norway or among my close friends or some desert tyrant. Even the disgusting lifeform that tyrannised North Korea met its sudden end. Life. It can be washed away by gruesome waves in an instant. Or it slowly decays from the inside, under the rays of radioactive particles you swallow every day. White hairs on my head like silent estrays. It’s wonderful to be alive, but I’ve never felt so old.

Zweitausendelf. Lady Gaga proved once and for all that you can get rich from Scheiße while the weapon of mass stupidification AKB48 (that pop-girl militia whose name already sounds like some kind of machine gun) fired their katyushas at our braincells, the system’s counterattack on those raising their voices against the hollow shells our democracies have become. Pandora’s box broke open on March 11. There is no right life in the wrong one. I understood this sentence for the first time. We need to repent from competition and cynicism, from the corruption of culture through commercialization, from corporations contaminating children with consumerism, from the specter of Capitalism altogether.
The Asian Rural Institute hints at a right way of life. No system against the system, but something very basic, very human. There it was again, the ARI miracle of community. Through all the unnerving situations of MMXI, I experienced love. We support each other. We stand together. The will to fight back, the will to resist. I worked like a sushi chef on fire. Throw your order at me, I’ll do it.

Nisenjûichi-nen. This year I read a lot and found consolation in art. I wrote against cults but joined the iPhone sect. New camera equipment. (The money I spent this year, ojwawej. Another sign of adulthood?) I’m sorry I let the blog fall into coma. There’s just so much to do… And like a flower unfolding its blossoms one by one, God lightens up my path. 2011 was a good year. I could recognize my dream. For 2012, I’ve got a plan.

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Best Films 2011

“The Tree of Life” by Terrence Mallick
“The Social Network” by David Fincher
“Into Eternity” by Michael Madsen
“Soul Kitchen” by Fatih Akin
“The Fighter” by David O. Russell

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Best Music 2011

Connie Francis – Siboney
Tocotronic – Andere Ufer
Bob Dylan – Mr. Tambourine Man
Brothers Keepers – Adriano Letzte Warnung
Tôkyô Jihen – Nôdôteki Sanpunkan

It was about two weeks ago that I met a certain gentleman in a church in Tôkyô. He was about 60 and from his pronounciation I concluded he came from some country of the Commonwealth, perhaps New Zealand. After we had chatted for a while he asked me if I knew “The Ringing Cedars”. It was a book series from Russia. I had never heard of it before. He pulled out a book from his bag and told me that it was probably the most important writing of the last ten years. The title was “Anastasia”, the first volume of the “The Ringing Cedars” written by a Russian author called Vladimir Megré. He went on praising its life-changing messages and that one of his friends had even thrown away his whole library after he had read it. It already sold millions in various countries, triggering a revolution of Bible-compatible spirituality and eco-awareness. People give up their city lives to start self-reliant farming in harmony with nature by reading “Anastasia”, or rather by following the instructions given by the mysterious woman of the same name whose encounter with the author is explained in the book.

The Amazon introduction sums it up neatly:
“Anastasia”, the first book of the Ringing Cedars Series, tells the story of entrepreneur Vladimir Megre’s trade trip to the Siberian taiga in 1995, where he witnessed incredible spiritual phenomena connected with sacred ‘ringing cedar’ trees. He spent three days with a woman named Anastasia who shared with him her unique outlook on subjects as diverse as gardening, child-rearing, healing, Nature, sexuality, religion and more. This wilderness experience transformed Vladimir so deeply that he abandoned his commercial plans and, penniless, went to Moscow to fulfil Anastasia’s request and write a book about the spiritual insights she so generously shared with him. True to her promise this life-changing book, once written, has become an international best-seller and has touched hearts of millions of people world-wide.

And the English translator claims:
[These books] penetrate one’s thinking and feelings with the gentle force of a divinely-inspired treatise — a treatise on not only the meaning of human life, but much more. I would even go so far as to call it a revelation…

He offered to give me the book, as long as I would pass it along or give it back to him in case I did not like it.
Being quite a bit puzzled by that man’s enthusiasm, as well as the exuberant readers’ comments on the back cover I couldn’t make much sense of it initially. There are many books out there, and there’s no shortage of spiritual companions. But since he seemed to be a man of certain position and not just anybody I decided to give it a chance. Besides, after all he had said I was genuinely curious. Who knows, maybe it had something interesting to tell. I promised to read it and let him know my opinion later. When we parted he said: “This book describes the instruments for world peace.”

Well, “Anastasia” made quite an impression on me. I did some light research on the internet to find more about its background. Hoping that my opinion can assist people who get in touch with the “Ringing Cedars”, I’ve decided to post the letter I wrote to that gentleman when I sent his copy back to him.

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Dear XYZ,

Read the rest of this entry »

A half year has passed since March 11. My mind is still not able to decelerate and give a decent reflection of what has happened. The struggle continues, though we have regained something that you could call a normal life – just that a slight amount of radioactivity has become part of that normality. For lack of spare time between the last aftershock and the next, pictures have to stand in for words, brief glimpses of my life at Asian Rural Institute during the past six months.

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MARCH

On March 11, I was in Kyôto, far away from the tremors that shook Eastern Japan and unleashed floodwaves of biblical proportions onto the coastal areas. It was from this tv in a small Chinese restaurant that I got a first impression of what was going on.

I moved to Asian Rural Institute on March 26th. The members had evacuated to the seminar house nearby and set up a crisis central, following the developments at the Fukushima I power plant with growing concern. Every morning started with information sharing: Wind direction, radiation levels of air and water, etc.

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APRIL

Since strong aftershocks continued, almost all of the ARI community members stayed together in the seminar house. We reduced outdoor activities to a minimum for fear of radioactivity. Throughout April, serious discussions about ARI operations went on. We decided to temporarily move the training program to Machida, a safer place west of Tôkyô.

Dr. Tasaka from the International Christian University helped us taking the first soil samples from our fields for radiation checks. The hydrogen explosions at Fukushima 110km away had released radioactive material into the atmosphere, polluting our fields with iodine and cesium.

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MAY

Not knowing whether this year’s rice would be edible or not we nevertheless completed the transplanting of rice seedlings. The harvest will feed the community members for one year and is one of the most important community works at ARI.

A delegation of politicians and scientists from Korea pays a visit to get a closer look at our microorganism project. The tanks in the background are part of a company’s experiment using microorganisms to reduce radioactivity. ARI agreed to provide some of its paddy fields to try it out – so far with meager results.

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JUNE

During the evacuation in Machida I often went to Tôkyô city for distraction and errands. Tiny alterations in the people and the city’s appearance indicate that the traumatic events are changing Japan. On this day, fundamentalist Christians had posted themselves at the Shibuya crossing telling the citizens to repent.

Each plant absorbs contamination differently. The mushrooms we sowed in spring had to be thrown away as they easily accumulate radioactive particles. The onions are alright. ARI lies in a low-contamination zone, but the effects on our farm are substantial.

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JULY

Beginning from April, ARI had been heavily involved in a citizen’s movement called “Kibô no Toride” (Fortress of Hope). The members of Toride project conduct thorough radioation measurements and decontamination throughout the Nasu area, since the local government’s responds are lackluster. In staff meetings we share the latest results to take appropriate action.

The evacuation of our training program ended at the end of July. The participants, staff members and volunteers moved from Machida back to the ARI campus in Nishinasuno – a huge work.

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AUGUST

Sunflowers are part of phyto-remediation, a decontamination method tested around Chernobyl. These plants absorb radioactive cesium from the soil. The sunflower seeds can be used for radiation-free oil and biodiesel, while the rest of the plant is burnt in special incinerators.

Soy beans are another means of land decontamination. Much of our daily farmwork these days is spent on weeding the many fields on which we planted them.

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SEPTEMBER

ARI staff members started organizing public study sessions related to atomic power and the pollution that comes with it. Hundreds of citizens have attended to listen to guest speakers and watch documentaries.

Dr. Fujimura Yasuyuki (leader of the Toride project), Inaba Mitsukuni (organic farming NPO leader), Murakami Moriyuki (organic farmer and religion expert), and Dr. Kawata Masaharu (Chernobyl decontamination expert) answer questions from the audience and discuss alternative ways of energy production.

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Es gibt keine Zeit (für myself), keine Zeit, das Schweigen zu brechen. Ich setze mich nicht hin, denke nicht nach, ordne das Nichtgedachte nicht in Sätze, reflektiere nicht was ich tue und wie mir geschieht. Alles Gedachte passiert meinen Schädel, ist auf Durchreise von und in andre Köpfe ohne meins zu werden.

Fünf Monate seit dem Beben, viereinhalb seit ich hier am Asian Rural Institute zu leben und arbeiten begann. Es war so unglaublich viel los in dieser kurzen Zeit, und ich habe mich vielleicht absichtlich nie umgedreht, als ich den Berg hinaufrannte. Ich fange mit kurzsichtigem Blick auf was mir zugeschmissen wird, Arbeit, Gespräche, Abgründe, ich denke nicht nach. Ich mache einfach, mache, jongliere mit dem Greifbaren und werfe es dem nächsten zu. Nichts bleibt lange in meiner Hand, außer vielleicht die Kamera und die saugt gierig auf, ist ein Vielfraßauge, das ich mit Menschenlicht füttre. Ich seh nur das, was vor mir liegt, alles übrige fliegt davon, Atomkraftwerkskatastrophe, Strahlenkrankheit, Nachbeben, die Zeit, ich verfüge nichts außer über die Gegenwart, und sie eigentlich über mich, den Augenblick leben heißt hier Flaschenhals sein, den Sand durchschleusen, aber nichts festhalten. Am Ende dieses Jahres – so hoffe ich jedenfalls – werde ich zurückblicken und verstehen, was all dieses und ich uns gegenseitig bedeuten. Bis dahin ist das einzige, zu dem ich jetzt in der Lage bin, den Fluss auf Sprungsteinen zu überqueren, indem ich einen unsicheren Satz nach dem andern mache. Ich muss mir die Worte leihen, und auch die Gebete sind geborgt, weil nicht nur mein pausenloser Alltag zusammen mit dem unaufhörlichen Codeswitching mein Sprachzentrum blockiert, sondern auch wegen der Betäubung, der Lähmung, die von dem unsichtbaren Übel, das 110km Luftlinie nordöstlich vor sich hinwütet, sich im Hals festgesetzt hat. Das Gespenst hat sich festgesetzt. Ich kann heute nicht weiter darüber und darüber, was mit diesem Land passiert, sprechen, ich brauche länger Anlauf dafür. Dies hier ist wie der erste Schritt zurück.

Ich habe lange geschwiegen weil ich alle Hände voll zu tun habe und nichts richtig zuordnen kann. Doch es geht mir sehr gut, bin glücklich, trotzdem unsere Wirklichkeit nach und nach von dem von uns geschaffenen Irrealen penetriert wird. Für heute sollen ein paar Bilder genügen.

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Im Blick zurück entstehen die Dinge, die dazu führen, dass wir uns finden.

あなたの御言葉は、わたしの道の光、わたしの歩みを照らす灯。

人生において神さまからの声というものに気付くことがある。その声がはっきり聞こえれば聞こえるほどそれが使命であることが分かり、どの困難にも関わらず従わざるをえないときがある。この度、神さまが私を交差結合された東京の格子風景から栃木県の田舎、アジア学院というところへと呼び出した。

アジア学院は共同体生活に基づいたリーダーシップ学校である。そこには、有機農法や自給自足、コミュニティー・ビルディングや平和活動が教えられており、そのユニークなところで私は過去に一年間ボランティア活動をしたことがある。そしてこれからは広報を担当する職員になる。

私は東京の慌ただしい生活には慣れなかった。自分の価値と真反対な場所であり、人間に残酷なこの街、そして自分を憎むべき姿に変えてゆく映画業界での退屈な事務仕事・・・私が何千人の都会人のようにうつ病に陥らなかったのは、心を支えてくれた友人のおかげだと思う。

そういう中で神さまが扉を開いてくれた。そして、日本が戦後最大の危機に晒されてアジア学院の将来も原発問題で不明確になっている今こそ、私がそこにいるべきことをかたく信じている。ベストを尽くすつもりで私は物を整理して金曜日にアジア学院に引っ越してきた。

いろんな意味で目が開かれたから東京で学べたことを感謝する。この国、私たちの世界がこれよりも深刻なチャレンジとたくさん向かい合うに違いない。だけど私は希望でいっぱいです。神さまはともにある。

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.

There are times in life when you hear God’s call so strong and clearly that you can’t do anything else than follow it against all odds. This time, God has called me out of the cross-linked gridscapes of central Tôkyô, to live and work at the Asian Rural Institute, in rural Tochigi prefecture.

The Asian Rural Institute is a community-based leadership school. It teaches sustainable organic farming, self-sufficiency, community and peace building among other things. In this unique and amazing place I had spent a year of volunteering in the past. Now I am becoming a public relations staff member there.

I never got used to the hectic lifestyle of Tôkyô. A city so contrary to my values, so hostile to its people, and my tedious work as an office rat in the movie industry turning me into someone I hated to be… Hadn’t it been for a group of friends there, I might have plunged into urban depression, just as thousands of others.

That’s where God opened this door. And especially now that Japan is going through her biggest crisis since the war and the near future of ARI has become uncertain due to the nuclear power plant crunch I am convinced that this is the place I ought to be now. I wrapped up my stuff and moved to ARI yesterday. I’m willing to give my best.

I am thankful for the things I could learn in Tôkyô. It had opened my eyes in many ways. This country, our world will face more and bigger challenges. But I am filled with hope. God is here.