This Sunday (December 1st) local conservation group, People Together for Mt. Ogura (PTO) will be holding a hiking and rubbish clearance event on Mount Ogura in Kyoto's Sagano district. This from their website: In the vicinity of Mt. Ogura’s northern flank, especially at Rokucho Pass, we are working to remove large quantities of illegally dumped rubbish that has built up over … [Read more...]
Mount Ogura Rubbish Clearance – A Call for Volunteers
From Stephen Gill of conservation group People Together for Mt. Ogura (PTO): 5月18日（日曜日）：不法投棄撤去作業 18 May (Sun) Rubbish clearance 今回は、保津川や清滝川を見下ろすところに不法投棄されたゴミを片付けます。ボランティアのご参加、よろしくお願いいたします。 We need volunteers to help clear rubbish from oak forest along Rokucho Pass (Ogurayama), Kyoto. The Pass overlooks both Hozu and Kiyotaki … [Read more...]
Cooks4Cooks Charity Party at Tadg’s Sunday 15th December 2013
COOKING UP FUN AND FUNDS IN KYOTO A special Xmas charity party in aid of friends in West Bengal, India All Welcome!!!!!! but please bring baked goods to sell!! Join us on Sunday 15 December 2013 at Tadg’s Irish Restaurant & Bar 1.00 pm ~ 6.00 pm (visit: www.tadgs.com for directions) … [Read more...]
Volunteering in Kameoka
Last weekend I joined Rob Mangold and his IDRO crew on a relief trip to Kameoka, which was hit hard by the last typhoon to sweep through Kansai. After linking up with some regular volunteers at Kameoka's Volunteer Center, we drove out into golden fields where a landslide caused by heavy rain had filled up the drainage ditches. Our job was to dig them out. Here are some pictures … [Read more...]
Flood Relief in Arashiyama
Yesterday, I had planned to spend the day running round Kyoto's most iconic sites, taking immersive 360 degree images with my new Ricoh Theta camera... However, inspired by Tito's flood relief poetry, and Rob Mangold's posts on Facebook I decided to join them and Joel Stewart for a spot of volunteering in Arashiyama. I was encouraged by the community spirit there that inspired … [Read more...]
Ten Year Plan to Reafforest Kyoto’s Mount Ogura Goes Ahead
Good news today! The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ (BTMU) has thrown its weight behind a plan to restore the natural beauty of Kyoto's Ogurayama. The ten-year reafforestation project aims to undo the damage wrought by human neglect and the recent of blight of diseases that are killing off much of the native oaks and pines. Mount Ogura has been famed since Heian times as the … [Read more...]
AN URGENT APPEAL TO SUPPORT GREEN ACTION JAPAN!
Please donate to Green Action here: http://www.greenaction-japan.org/modules/entop2/ From Beyond Nuclear: During the critical first days and months of the Fukushima nuclear catastrophe in Japan, many of us turned immediately to Aileen Mioko Smith (pictured far left with Sachiko Sato and Kaori Izumi) and her organization, Green Action-Japan. Through her depth of … [Read more...]
University Students Help Fukushima Evacuees in Kyoto
This article is by Jason Bartashius and Jessica Caparini. Wearing Santa hats and full of holiday cheer, university students sang Christmas carols and handed out presents to Fukushima evacuee children at a Christmas party in Fushimi. The children’s faces lit up when a Japanese Santa and a Canadian Mrs. Claus began handing out presents. Joining hands with community … [Read more...]
Kizuna From Kyoto: Supporting the Victims of the Tohoku Disaster
Jason Bartashius writes, Tonghwi Soh is no stranger to earthquakes. The Great Hanshin Earthquake destroyed the jewelry store his father worked at. It left him jobless and with no choice but to take another position for a lower salary. Although Soh was only four years old, he vividly remembers the day and the struggles that followed. Six years later Soh and his parents … [Read more...]
TA Project Camp – The Wrap-Up
Here's guest contributor, Sara Ai Coe, with an update on the TA Project's summer camp for Fukushima children. Last time I wrote about the TA Project for Deep Kyoto, I was the outsider looking in. I was so inspired by the passion of the guys involved, that I wanted to write and share this wonderful project. Shortly after, I was invited to join them and it’s been an invitation … [Read more...]
Neconote Flea Market for Tohoku – Sunday October 21st
Neconote are holding their first biannual charity flea market for Tohoku this Sunday (October 21st) in Kyoto city center. Items for sale include second hand books, clothes, handicrafts from Tohoku + there will also be musical performances and a talk by Fresh Currents editor Eric Johnston. This news via Jen L. Teeter, We are still a long way from recovery in Tohoku. At … [Read more...]
Tohoku to Kyoto: Yuko Nishiyama and the Plight of the Fukushima Evacuees
Jason Bartashius writes, On March 18, 2011 Yuko Nishiyama and her three-year old daughter, Mariko, left Fukushima City, 60 km from the Daiichi plant, to live in Tokyo. In June 2011, Yuko her parents and Mariko relocated to Kyoto. In total around 800 Tohoku evacuees have come to Kyoto and about 600 of them are from Fukushima Prefecture. Fukushima evacuees are choosing to come … [Read more...]
Support the TA Project! – Fundraising for the Children of Fukushima!
At the end of last month, Sara Ai Coe contributed a guest article to this site introducing the TA Project. This is a group of young professionals in Osaka attempting to help the children of Fukushima by giving them a chance to play freely in a safe environment. Now they have started their own, very modest fundraising campaign. For a mere $1,500 they plan to invite children from … [Read more...]
Fresh Currents ~ An Investment in Our Shared Energy Future
Just over a year ago, I sat down with the artist Brian Williams, Eric Johnston of the Japan Times and Kyoto Journal's Stewart Wachs to discuss a new project. The nuclear disaster at Fukushima Daiichi being very fresh in our minds, we felt that there was an urgent need for a publication on renewable energies that could show both policy-makers and the public at large that … [Read more...]
