Seek Sustainable Japan

Alex Kang loves cycling and motobiking in Japan and coaches for triathlon as well as does cycle tours in the Shimanami-kaido route from Hiroshima to Ehime on Shikoku island. In this talk coach Alex joins us from the US where he is based half of the year but talks of his love for Japan 2-wheel travel as well as shares about his new business renovation along the main shopping street in Onomichi - the main launching point for cycling the shimanami-kaido route. Looking forward to going to see him there this year!https://www.coachkang.com/

I have been thinking a lot about data centers and in this podcast catch us up on the situation with datacenter planning and pushback in Japan, some more sustainable models for a datacenter in Akita, and a discussion of the questions we all should be asking more in government leadership, the media and our communities about whether we really need so many data-centers in Japan now?!MEDIUM article: Does Japan Need Data Centers?

In 2022, I met Shelley Clarke at Minka Summit and talked with her here on Seek Sustainable Japan - here we catch up on the last 4 years of renovations and projects she has done as well as insights from her work with sustainable fisheries for the UN. #sustainable #business #travel #stay #japan #shizuoka #educator #expert #entrepreneur #communitybuilder LINKS Sasuichi Restoration project: https://www.sasuichi.org/Sasama Consulting: https://sasamaconsulting.com/Book Shelley's cottage on AirBnb: https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/39117472...Move in Ready 8 Bedroom house and garden with garage for under $100,000 in Shelley's neighborhood: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Ib67...Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood watch- search for updated information in Japan and wherever you are of what seafood and fish to eat and what to avoid: https://www.seafoodwatch.org/ ‪@MontereyBayAquarium‬Shark Docs interview with Dr.Shelley Clarke about the need for more shark protection and regulation for more accountability in the fishing industry where IUU (illegal, unregulated, unreported) happens too easily around the world ‪@SharkDocs‬ • Beyond All the Sharks: Shark Fishing & Tra...

Ryonohara founder Lee talks here about design choices when renovating the traditional Japanese MINKA houses in rural Wakayama Japan. Also shares insights on running a successful AirBnb stays alongside retreats that connect guests to local craftspeople. Lee is also reviving tea farms and doing sustainable farming with goats and chickens. @Ryunohara https://www.ryunohara.com/about

Hrishita of Hachidori-Denryoku's international team joins us to introduce the great work of this renewable energy sourcing co. in Japan. How to include international residents to learn about the service and sign up to source renewable energy even if renting or do not have a sunny roof. How everyone & anyone can still be a proactive part of Japan's clean energy transition. Hachidori Denryoku (also has English page) https://bit.ly/45uYT2q#sustainable #energy #japan #renewableenergy #hachidoridenryoku ⁨@hachidori-denryoku⁩

Joy's recently back from Hawaii and inspired for sustainable travel and business strategies that also apply back to Japan. Tove has some Tokyo innovation and topics such as shorts okay for Cool Biz? / Regenerative Vertical Indoor Farm in Tokyo / Biodegradable plastics being used in Japan vs Hawaii / Sompo Japan insurance / EV electric car subsidy up to 1.3Million yen payback for all Japanese makers HONDA - TOYOTA - NISSAN - MITSUBISHI - MAZDA - SUBARU #madeinjapan Sustainable Short-Takes is a monthly chat between two friends on either side of Japan who both work in sustainability. Talks each month about sustainability trends, innovation, events and issues for Japan & beyond with JJWalsh & Tove Kinooka - 2 sustainability-focused insiders, educators & consultants working in Hiroshima & Tokyo Topics & Updates - July 2026 Tove Kinooka Global Perspectives KK Enteleco Consulting https://www.globalperspectives.biz/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/enteleco https://www.linkedin.com/in/tove-kinooka JJWalsh - InboundAmbassador co. sustainable tourism & business consulting & development / sustainable tour training & guiding / moderator-speaker-host of Seek Sustainable Japan https://www.linkedin.com/in/jjwalsh-inbound-ambassador/ https'//www.inboundambassador.com

Farmer Thomas Kloepfer has been working this stunning hillside farmland for 15 years and finding the years of no-till farming paying off with healthy soil integrated with farm animals. Pitchfork Farms is on Mukaishima island, Onomichi area in Hiroshima, Japan. Book your own private farm tour with Thomas- it works well as a part of your Shimanami-Kaido cycle ride along the coast starting from Onomichi: https://www.pitchforkfarms.jp/

University of Melbourne Architecht-Educator Athanasios Tsakonas talks about the design of dark-tourism, A-bomb survivor trees of reconciliation & WW2 memorial sites in Hiroshima, Yokohama and Australia. LINKS LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/athanasios-tsakonas-85490438/ Green Legacy Hiroshima: https://gethiroshima.com/features/green-legacy/ Yokohama commonwealth war cemetery https://www.cwgc.org/visit-us/find-cemeteries-memorials/cemetery-details/49433/yokohama-war-cemetery/ Podcast with Tsakonas on the Eucalyptus of the Yokohama Memorial https://www.shrine.org.au/eucalypts-hodogaya-podcast Tan & Tsakonas architectural office in Singapore: https://www.archify.com/sg/tan-tsakonas-architects

Great topics in today's chat: renewable energy, sustainable life & business solutions, fabulous plantbased food, wonderful hotels in London, Hiroshima & Fukuoka putting people & planet forward, Ideas from London to promote EV's & ultra-low emissions #talkshow #cleanenergy #lowemissions #london #hiroshima #fukuoka #onomichi #heatwave #greathotels #japan #uk Topics & Updates - June 2026 Tove Kinooka Global Perspectives KK / Enteleco Consulting https://www.globalperspectives.biz/ / https://www.linkedin.com/company/enteleco https://www.linkedin.com/in/tove-kinooka JJWalsh - InboundAmbassador co. - sustainable tourism & business consulting & development / sustainable tour training & guiding / moderator-speaker-host of Seek Sustainable Japan https://www.linkedin.com/in/jjwalsh-inbound-ambassador/ https'//www.inboundambassador.com

Kristina Minami is better known as SUGA-LENIN on Instagram where she had hundreds of thousands of loyal followers who enjoy her deep insights on rural Japan travel. Exciting to see that Kristina is now leveraging her experience to develop tours and guides for some of her favorite trips off-the-beaten track in the Japanese countryside.https://inner-japan.com/

As a long-time fan of Anime and Manga, Jay Allen has been diving into Japanese history and culture for many years even before coming as a software engineer & technical writer turned journalist. Jay has been the publisher and chief writer of the popular site Unseen-Japan since 2018 and living in Tokyo, Japan full-time since 2024 writing and guiding tours for Tokyo's nightlife and lesser-known capitol city gems. In this talk, Jay Allen has great insights about social issues, travel, history and culture as well as current news events and key issues worth discussing for a better informed international community. Looking forward to talking with Jay and learning more of the backstory and philosophy of his work and projects as well as their guided tours. https://unseen-japan.com/author/unseenjapanpress/ @UnseenJapanCustom Tokyo Tours: https://unseen-japan.com/unseen-japan-tours/ Articles by Jay Allen on UnseenJapan: https://unseen-japan.com/author/unseenjapanpress/ Safety Pin Self-Defense of Groping on Tokyo Trains: https://unseen-japan.com/tokyo-chikan-campaign-self-defense/

Adrienne and Zealous Wiley are US based Palm Springs designers who fell in love with traditional Japanese houses and are living their dream by purchasing and beautifully renovating a 100-year-old machiya (traditional townhouse) in Kyoto, Japan. This live chat with Adrienne and Zealous gives us insights on their design decisions and steps of renovation as what led them to take on this new lifestyle.Their journey buying and fixing up a Japanese house started with @shumatsuopost and his team of experts for finding houses and getting the paperwork done. Zealous made this beautiful website of their renovation journey: https://higashiyama-machiya.com/YouTube & Instagram: @psiminkyoto Machiya Journal on Substack: https://psiminkyoto.substack.com/

Podcast inspired from recent Japan news connected to sustainable Japan - my Latest MEDIUM article

This talk is a lightly edited version of a talk I did with my dad Jay Jarman 5-years ago on Seek Sustainable Japan. Still so many wonderful insights here on living a life and running a business with a focus on helping kids in need. Dad has now officially retired but as the founder of such a wonderful organization he is still very much a part of their fabulous work.LINKS https://www.commongrace.org/ http://www.malamamentors.org/

Tove & Joy join again this month to give updates on events, businesses, products and projects focused on a better, more sustainable Japan

Rick Grehan is the founder of sustainable business imageMILL - a business based in Tokyo focused on regenerative branding for a changing world. Looking forward to catching up with Rick on his latest regenerative projects in Japan - taking over a silk and tea farm and renovating traditional Japanese KOMINKA old houses. LINKS Crowdfunding: https://camp-fire.jp/projects/932524/viewWebsite: https://www.imagemill.jp/ YouTube: / @imagemill Facebook: / millsatolabo Instagram: / millsatolabo

Azby Brown is a regular on Seek Sustainable Japan sharing his love of traditional and modern Japanese house designs - always an insightful conversation.https://azbybrown.com/about/

Chuck Kayser has been taking over abandoned farmland in rural Kyoto and Shiga Japan to create vegetable farms and do community workshops to raise awareness of the why and how of organic, natural farming and self-sufficiency. #sustainable #living #organic #farming #japan Chuck Kayser Website for Midori Farm Kyoto https://www.midorifarmkyoto.com/Watch all the talks with Organic Farmers in Japan on this Seek Sustainable Japan YouTube Playlist here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLcyYXjRuE20GajKYIPFOfVexBBeLTXFHk&si=yhnTqYaHBc9uN8J_

As a part of this year's MINKA SUMMIT event at the end of April 2026, we had the wonderful opportunity to tour keynote speaker Jeff Berglund's fabulous riverside MACHIYA in Kyoto along the famous KAMO river.Jeff shared so many fascinating stories of design, history and culture.Jeff's Website: http://www.jeff-kyoto.com/See the images from the house tour by watching the video version of this tour on YouTube: https://youtu.be/EXRVcgVcfEc?si=oLq_KdOFkl46A2w6#renovation #traditional #japanesehouse #machiya #minka #kominka #minkasummit #housetour #kyoto

Chuck Kayser shares his insights from trial and errors of organic farming in the Kyoto and Shiga area of Japan to an audience of Minka traditional house and rural living enthusiasts from across Japan and even some from abroad.Chuck Kayser at Midori Farmhttps://www.midorifarmkyoto.com/

Professor Iain Davey who teaches Sustainable Development strategies in a Kyoto University and who over the last 30 years has been renovating old houses, taking over abandoned farmland, converting his car to run on waste oil and so many other wonderful strategies to reduce his environmental impact. This also saves him money and most importantly helps him live his life in the way he wants to, closer to his community and nature.#minkasummit #sustainable #strategy #japan #sustainaleliving

Originally from London, UK- Emily Smith has been living in rural Nara with her partner and enjoying the slow life, building a lovely homebase with collaborations in the community while she documents the 72 microseasons and goes foraging in the forest with her 2 rescue dogs. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji_1hilqG9YLINKS https://www.instagram.com/down2forage/ https://www.youtube.com/@down2forage NHK feature of Emily and her partner Felix in 2025 - WHERE WE CALL HOME https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/shows/2087146/

Tiffany Rossdale is a long-time international resident who has worked in the entertainment industry but is now more involved with social impact projects and businesses in Japan. In this talk, we explore some of Tiffany's latest projects talking about LGBTQ+ issues with universities and for WeExist film events, suggest being accepted by her professional name by LINKEDIN, helping to support homeless in Tokyo, make more inclusive travel for LGBTQ+ travelers in Japan and insights from her podcast BREAKFAST WITH TIFFANY. / tiffanyrossdale / tiffanyrossdaleofficial

The 2026 Minka Summit in Hanase village, Kyoto - a community gathering of people from across Japan who love traditional Japanese houses, rural living, renovations, traditional crafts and cultural preservation. Join us for a day or for the entire 3 days - looking forward to seeing you there! https://kominkajapan.online/events/

Shiitake Creative Ally Hongo joins Seek Sustainable Japan to share insights on the 2026 winners, behind the scenes stories and a new published book focused on better, more sustainable, accessible and inclusive travel in Japan. Shiitake Creative Website @shiitakecreative https://shiitakecreative.jp/ Japan Travel Awards Website @japantravelawards https://japantravelawards.com/

Swastika & Trishit have been working with locals in Futaba Fukushima - a coastal area devastation by the 2010 earthquake, tsunami and radiation disaster that forced evacuation of the area. Now 16 years later, telling the stories of disaster and survival with visitors is a positive way to help rebuild the community.Visiting the Fukushima area is a deeply-impactful experience- you can book your tour on FUKUSHIMA SEASIDE TOURS https://fukushimaseaside.travel/ Trishit Banerjee on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/trishitbanerjee/Swastika Harsh Jajoo on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/swastikajajoo777/ NHK feature of their work in Fukushima https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/shows/2087155/#sustainable #tourism #travel #japan #fukushima #disaster #community #rebuilding #revival #resilience

Hana Shiraishi is editor-in-chief of DeepJapan - an online magazine sharing stories written by long-time Japan insiders to share interesting perspectives on local people, culture and travel across Japan. In this talk, Hana shares insights from working at a convenience store for her first job as well as many other wonderful stories of travel, inclusion and international community in her work with Deep-Japan. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hana-shiraishi-73092415a/ Deep Japan website: https://deepjapan.org/

How can a traditional Japanese inn survive for many generations? CEO Chizuka Tachibana is following in the footsteps of her family's legacy to run Ryokan Ohana in Fukuoka. As a descendent of feudal lords, Tachibana-san maintains, and continues to elevate an impressive family business legacy. Tachibana-san did a huge renovation of the buildings in 2025 and won the Grand Prize for the Japan Travel Awards in 2026 for her dedication to excellent, inclusive and accessible hospitality and service. Vegan-Vegetarian and international customer welcoming, they have a very sustainable Japanese business philosophy in hopes of being successful for their staff, locals as well as customers beyond the next 100 years & far into the future. https://ohana.co.jp/en/ Japan Travel Awards 2026 Winners https://japantravelawards.com/en/winners/2026 - JOIN the Ryokan Ohana Crowdfunding Effort to preserve their beautiful pine trees https://readyfor.jp/projects/ohana1910/announcements/421132

Author Hiroko Yoda joins us to share insights from her latest book "Eight Million Ways to Happiness - Wisdom for Inspiration and Healing from the Heart of Japan'. It is a deeply personal journey of spiritual understanding, training and research into how Shinto, Buddhism, Shugendo and the many many Gods of Japan interplay in her thought processes as she grew up in Japan as well as gained more Japan life insights while living, working & traveling abroad. Hiroko Yoda Links- Newsletter: https://blog.hirokoyoda.com/ Instagram: @hi_yoda_1 Bluesky: @hirokoyoda.bsky.social Hiroko will participate in three Writers’ Festivals in Australia (Melbourne, Margaret River and Sydney) in May, 2026. Here are some links to tickets available for my talks. More coming soon, and I will announce it later on SNS. "Hiroko Yoda 'Eight Million Ways to Happiness’ : How meaning, purpose and gratitude are woven into Japanese culture" https://www.swf.org.au/program/festival-2026/hiroko-yoda-eight-million-ways-to-happiness/ Matt Alt and I will have a talk together too! : “The Japan Effect: How Japanese culture influences the rest of the world.” https://www.swf.org.au/program/festival-2026/the-japan-effect #seeksustainablejapan #talkshow #podcast #author #book #japan #japaneseculture #spirituality #culture #japanesetraditions #hirokoyoda #interview LINKS https://www.hirokoyoda.com/ https://blog.hirokoyoda.com/p/eight-million-ways-to-happiness

Sustainable travel, business and innovation on our radar as sustainability focused consultants in Japan - Tove Kinooka & JJWalsh

You Sakaguchi (You-Sakana) has been living and promoting the SETOUCHI area of Japan as a blogger, designer, photographer and content creator. Ryoko Ihara is the head of branding at GoField co and often works in collaboration with You on projects. We will talk about some of their work, philosophy and sustainable travel highlights for the Setouchi (Kagawa/Tokushima/Okayama) area of Japan. You Sakaguchi | YouSakana https://www.instagram.com/yousakana.design/ https://yousakana.jp/

This month FEBRUARY we talk about some of our favorite low-waste, plastic-free products in Japan, the high-technology of trees & other great sustainable business & travel events, talks, innovation and inspiration Tove Kinooka - sustainable business consultant based in Yokohama, Japan *Tokyo area*JJWalsh - sustainable business & travel consultant based in Hiroshima, Japan *Setouchi area*

Creating a textbook that engages with university students in Japan is a challenge but a Professor at Okayama university, John Rucynski has found a winning formula for writing a textbook with stories of successful international professionals working in Japan. https://deepjapan.org/john-rucynski/https://cengagejapan.com/elt/ListeningVideo/page/?no=1412662013bfq7a

CEO Paul Christie of Walk Japan started as a guide for tourists many years ago and has led the Walk Japan company toward a more sustainable business path where needs of locals and visitors are more in balance. He has also helped revive a small village in rural Japan with organic farming, community building, bringing in new residents and using tourism income to help fund projects.https://walkjapan.com/

I visited the traditional boatbuilding workshop of craftsman Tenkyou Hirofumi who was working with Douglas Brooks and filmmaker Chikara Motomura on a project this year in Miyoshi *Hiroshima* Japan - great to hear the sounds of traditional carpentry as we talk about the value of preserving these traditions.

Visitors and new residents to Japan are often surprised to see so many wonderfully cute and bizarre characters in Japan and the characterization of everything from safety announcements to tourism promotion. Dr.Debra Occhi has been studying the Japan world of characters for many years and shares some of her insights on the historical connections as well as how these characters function in business as well as for the benefit of society.

First of our 30-min Short-Takes series for 2026In this episode JJ & Tove give their predictions for Sustainable Japan 2026: Food Diversity - Zero-Waste - CleanTech - GenderEquity - Apps - Minka - Traditional Rural Japan Travel - Japan EV's - Innovation - Entrepreneurs - Biodiversity =Tove's top 5= 1) TooGoodToGo Food Waste/Loss App Launches in Japan / https://www.toogoodtogo.com/ja 2) Multi-lateral Thinking to Sustainability - like the IKEA 2050 Project / https://www.ikea.com/jp/en/this-is-ikea/community-engagement/life-at-home-2050-pub2ef982b0/ 3) UpScrolled App - More Sustainable Social Media / https://upscrolled.com/en/faq/ 4) Women-Positive Events on the Rise - IchigoBloom / Joconne / Rocklit https://www.rocklit.com/ https://luma.com/8jcxj6ef 5) Biodiversity-Forward BIODIVERSIFY https://biodiversify.com/ =JJ's top 5= 1) Japan EV's 2026 - HONDA - Mazda - Suzuki - Nissan - Toyota all have exciting cars in JAPAN 2) Sustainable Travel Innovation - The Japan Travel Awards 2026 - event 2/12/2026 / https://japantravelawards.com/en/home 3) Traditional Japanese MINKA houses, craftspeople, rural living, sustainable travel - Minka Summit event 4/24-26/2026 / https://kominkajapan.online/events/ 4) CleanTech Innovation - Smart Energy - Green Entrepreneurs - Events in Tokyo-Chiba-Osaka https://www.wsew.jp/hub/en-gb.html 5) PlantBased Vegan Vegetarian Forward Eateries - VeganOsaka delivers https://www.veganosaka.com/en / Japan Times article on plantbased vegan rise japan https://www.japantimes.co.jp/environment/2025/01/29/sustainability/veganism-rise-japan-climate/ --------------- JJWalsh's Inbound Ambassador Website: https://inboundambassador.com/

Douglas Brooks joins the show again this month to talk about his 10th apprenticeship with a traditional Japanese boatbuilder in Hiroshima as well as other projects in 2026. His backstory is that he had a roommate from Hiroshima at University and when he first visited Japan as a backpacker he got bored of the typical sightseeing, but fascinated by wooden traditional Japanese boats he found his way into an apprenticeship. This has led to 9 apprentices with traditional wooden boatbuilders in Japan - often as their only and last apprentice before they retire. https://www.douglasbrooksboatbuilding.com/

Rachel Nicholson shares insights on her work with Hiroshima Kagura performances - she translates the story subtitles to English and hosts the live shows every wednesday night in Hiroshima city. LINKS https://www.rccbc.co.jp/event/kagura/en/ This is the website for the Wednesday Night Kagura performances (that start on 4/1) https://www.hiroshima-kagura.jp/en/ This is the big “what is Kagura” for Hiroshima website Notes from Rachel about Hiroshima Kagura: As for favorite performances, here are some videos my top 3: Ox-Baby - Ushi-gozen (Asahi-ga-Oka Kagura Troupe)Lady Takiyasha (Kaminakachōshi Kagura Troupe)Maple Leaf-Viewing Party (Miyanoki Kagura Troupe)

Welcome to a new year of Seek-Sustainable-Japan - here are some dreams and thoughts as we start the year as best we can- hope it's a good one for all of us! Feel free to drop comments or questions to me somewhere & I will give you a shoutout in the next episode!LINKS: #seeksustainablejapan on YouTube #inboundambassador on IG & FB #jjwalsh on BlueSky

Our top picks of Sustainable Japan for 2025 - enjoy!Did we miss your faves? Please let us know and we will give you a shoutout in the next episode!LINKS: #seeksustainablejapan on YouTube #inboundambassador on IG & FB #jjwalsh on BlueSky

Wonderful discussion here with educator, author, architect & artist Azby Brown where he shares his deep insights into the beauty and meaningful design of traditional buildings and art where you can see the I WAS HERE mark of the human who crafted it. There is a warning here from Azby Brown about our fast shift to destroy these handcrafted things of value (like MINKA) in the rush to embrace technology and AI - this will not make us happy and will DESKILL and UNSKILL us.LINKSAzby Brown https://azbybrown.com/about/

What are the latest sustainable japan topics on our radar for November?Monthly chat about sustainability trends, innovation, events and issues for Japan & beyond with JJWalsh & Tove Kinooka / Topics & Updates - November 2025LINKSThe Conduit - Climate and Conflict https://www.theconduit.com/programme/... The Burning Question: Climate & Conflict    • The Burning Question: Climate and Conflict   Talk with traditional-Japanese design expert author-architecht Azby Brown about how Humans connect to human-made things    • Hand Crafted Design Appeal of Traditional ...  Blacksmith in Fukuyama:   / akitakazuyoshi  Deep Travel Experience with Alex Kerr in Kagawa via ONESTORY   / onestorytraveller  LinkedIn Univ Exeter COP30 Summary https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/exeter...Home- Work Village https://homeworkvillage.com/

Kominka Japan has set the date for the annual Hanase Village Minka celebration in Rural Kyoto for the weekend of April 24,25,26 2026 - save the date! Tickets are now on sale and you can get a discount if you buy before the end of 2025https://kominkajapan.online/events/LINKS:My talk with Paul & Kim Fredale about their stunning home and garden renovation: https://youtube.com/live/yjVcsFL09sUBuy your MINKA SUMMIT 2026 tickets, dinner tickets, lunch tickets.. on Peatix: https://minka-summit-2026.peatix.com/Some Highlights of the event to be announced in the show: · Speaker Presentations· Minka and Machiya Tours!· Hands-On Workshop Demonstrations!· Minka Mall!· Friday Night Meet-and-Greet· Saturday Night Dinner & Keynote SpeechAbout Stuart Galbraith from KominkaJapan websiteStuart Galbraith IV is a film historian who has lived in his 1810 minka in the mountains north of Kyoto since 2016 with his wife, Yukiyo, and daughter, Sadie. He is the author of seven books, including The Emperor and the Wolf – The Lives and Films of Akira Kurosawa and Toshiro Mifune and Japanese Cinema and a co-writer of Academy Award-winner Steven Okazaki’s documentary Mifune – The Last Samurai (2015). A former archivist for Warner Bros. and MGM, Galbraith writes reviews for the website The Digital Bits and frequently does audio commentaries and produces short documentaries for DVD, Blu-ray, and 4K releases, including such films as Kurosawa’s Rashomon, Sanjuro, and Dersu Uzala, Kinji Fukasaku’s Battles without Honor and Humanity, Martin Scorsese’s Silence, and Joshua Logan’s Sayonara. His most recent credit is an audio commentary for the Powell & Pressburger classic A Matter of Life and Death. He also wrote and produced the documentary short, The Minka of Gaijin Alley (2019).

Inspiring talk from Azby Brown at MinkaCon2025 about how the beauty of hand-crafted things in traditional houses is what we as human beings respond to and NEED to have connection to in our homes and lives. Azby Brown is a respected MINKA MASTER, educator, author, researcher, advocate and advisor based in Japan for many years. https://azbybrown.com/about/ Watch the video here to see the images he shows and talks about on Seek Sustainable Japan YouTube https://youtu.be/02XeH-FnOZg?si=Vb6UMOoHUkm6YwQZ

Monthly 30-min news and topics catch up

CEO Toru Muramatsu talks of the great work of Chiiori Alliance and is an inspiring designer and manager who has done great work alongside Alex Kerr to develop beautiful, high-value stays for both international and Japanese guests by renovating old traditional Japanese homes into guest houses.Chiiori Alliancehttps://www.chiiori-alliance.jp/

Kyle Holzhueter is a master plasterer in Japan and founder of Kamimomi Permaculture center in Okayama joins Seek Sustainable Japan once again to talk about their upcoming Living Earth Lab - a 7 day workshop experience in natural living and sustainable life skills- with Phil Cashman of Awa Farm and other Tokyo area permaculture projects. Kyle Holzhueter & Phil Cashman are both long-time Japan based permaculture masters who are running a workshop in Okayama focused on Sustainable Living called LIVING EARTH LAB. Phil is passionate about urban farming - growing your own food even in small spaces, compost toilets and founded Awa Permaculture Farm in Chiba. Phil's Awa Permaculture farm community page on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064494287906Kyle: https://pamimomi.com/Kyle Holzhueter on the Seek Sustainable Japan talkshow-podcast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bh9VhKmd2_Uhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2cJPZa1bc8More about Phil: https://therongolianstar.com/2013/06/29/for-permaculture-in-japan-visit-permaculture-awa-farm-dojo/