Page 18 RAIN Spring 1986 A Sampling of Japanese Grassroots Organizations Compiled by Shin Yoshida and Steve Johnson Kino-Shi-Juku 2664 Oiagoa, Sasima-Cho, Ibaraki-Ken, Japan 306-05 (Kino means to return to agricultural occupation; Shi means to aspire; Juko is a kind of training/learning space) Kino-Shi-Juku was started nine years ago by three families. The families wanted to demonstrate and practice an alternative to agricultural methods they felt were bad for the health and damaging to the land. The motive for starting the organization was also personal, as one of the founders explains, “I was disgusted with the taste of Japanese vegetables upon my return from Vietnam. I wanted to eat more tasteful vegetables and I wanted other people to share them with me. The group is growing rice and many kinds of vegetables, and raising chickens on a small five-acre farm. These products are shipped by their own truck to 240 member families. They also run an educational program that between 70 and 80 young people attend each year to learn more about organic, pesticide-free farming. Blbal Consumers' Association c/o City Hall, Nishi 3, Ninami 1, Bibai-Shi, Hokkaido, Japan 072 Bibai is a town with a population of 20,000, located in the central part of the island of Hokkaido. Out of the many consumers' associations throughout Japan, the Bibai association is probably the most active and most effective one. It has a membership of about 650 people. Some of the groups slogans are “think globally, eat locally,” or “think next generation, act now,” and “eating safely (without additives) is loving.” Rather than fight against large food companies or the local shops, it tries to be in harmony with them by buying only safe food. As the leader of the association says, “it is not very wise to fight head on against local' producers and shop owners as we both live together in this small town.” Recently, the group published a leaflet in English called “We Entrust our Feelings to Onigiri, our Messenger.” Onigiri is a rice ball. The leaflet describes how anyone can prepare the single onigiri anywhere in the world, helping to end world hunger. Omusubi-Nagaya—Handicapped People at Work 1284-10 Hishihira-Itazawa, Komoro-Shi, Nagano-Ken, Japan 384 (Omusubi means rice ball; Nagaya is a row of houses) Handicapped people in Japan are often placed in isolated homes, “hidden” from the larger society. A person who lived in such a home for the handicapped decided five years ago to create a place where handicapped people can live productively and in harmony with so-called ordinary people. Omusubi-Nagaya is located at a factory with living quarters. At present they produce miso, tofu, bread, and jams. They have a small vegetable field, and a health food shop in the town of Komoro. They also occasionally run a class on miso-making and a summer workshop for handicapped people to work and live with other handicapped people. Press Alternative Central-Meguro 102, Mita 2-7-10, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 153, Japan, 03-719-4847, The Source: BDP240 The Press Alternative is a spinoff of the Information Center for Public Citizens, founded by Katsuko Nomura. It aims to reconsider lifestyles and value systems to examine the tendencies that lead to the single-minded pursuit of profit and efficiency, and the forces that generate excessive consumption and waste. The group publishes an excellent journal, The Japan Citizen Now, which covers a wide range of consumer, environmental, health, agricultural, and other public interest issues. Suscription costs $25/year for airmail. They are interested in exchanging their publication for others. The group is also using a computer to create a database of Japanese grassroots groups, and uses The Source to communicate with groups in the USA. Minamata-Seikatsu-Gakko 42 Fukurosakaguchi, Minamata-Shi, Kumamto-Ken, Japan 876 (Minamata, a site of a mercury poisoning; ’ Seikatsu, to live; Gakko, school) Minamata became famous 30 years ago as the result of a large mercury poisioning incident. Many people went to help these people affected by the Minamata disease since the accident, and in 1982 a school was started to help people understand the problem, to learn about the disease, and to help the affected people through a handicraft and farming program. The school receives about 20 people at a time who live together for about one year. Alternative Spaces: Gurin-Piisu 9-13 Tate-Machi, Sendai-Shi, Tokyo, Japan 980 Hobitto-Mura 3-15-3 Nishiogi-Minami, Suginami-Ku, Tokyo, Japan 167 Hlto-Hito-Sha 3-1-21 Tsuboi, Kumamoto-Shi 860 Gurin-Piisu in Sendai, Hobitto-Mura in Tokyo, and Hito-Hito-Sha in Kumamoto are all places for people to meet and learn, putting Ivan Illich's “Deschooling Society” into practice. Gurin Piisu can be translated as green peace; Hobitto-Mura derives its name from the Hobbits in the Tolkien trilogy; and Hito-Hito-Sha means literally PersonThe Other Japan
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