Spring 1986 RAIN Page 7 my letters were passed around from person to person and group to group. Several of the people became key contacts for my journey, including Masako Nishiyama, Aki Okabe, and Shin Yoshida. We spent dozens of hours together visiting groups, learning, speculating, and of course making sure I got on trains headed in the right direction. The goals for my trip were fairly general. I wanted to find out about the Japanese equivalent of nonprofit organizations, grassroots Japan, or as Donald Clark refers to it, the “Other Japan.” I also wanted to see how these groups were using computers. And finally, I was interested in the balance of trade issue. What was it now? That we got Toyotas and VCRs and they got com flakes and Kentucky Fried Chicken. I wondered if there was room for trade between regions; exchanges between small businesses and indigenous craftspeople. Of course, the trip had many surprises. A Rainy Day in Yokahoma Kanagawa Prefecture, a “state” with the population of California, has a reputation as one of the more progressive governments in Japan. Yokohama, a city of 3 million, is the seat of prefectural government, and the largest port in Japan. It has faced much exposure to outside influences. There is even a large cemetaiy dedicated for foreigners. Kanagawa contains many well-to-do suburbs, and as a consequence has a better local tax base then other prefectures. The strong local tax base allows Kanagawa to exercise strong local initiative. My visit to Kanagawa has been arranged by a faithful RAIN reader, Yukata Sasaki. Curiously, although he sets up the arrangements for this day and mzJces several other important connections for me while I am in Japan, we never actually meet. In Yokohama, Masako and I meet up with Sasaki's assistant, Kenichi Suzuki. The three of us wind our way down streets doing our best to converse while not damaging others with our umbrellas—the sidewalks and streets are a sea of hoisted umbrellas. On the way there I begin to think maybe I've underestimated this event. I piece together that we are on our way to meet several (how many I am wondering?) government officials at a banquet room in a Chinese restaurant By the time we arrive at the restaurant I am wishing I had dressed up. I'm sure of it when we arrive in the banquet room and no less than six government officials rise to meet me, handing out business cards. One man, Toku Morita with the Institute for Overall Local Autonomy Studies, leads the conversation since he is the best speaker of English. He has worked with city government in Baltimore, and stayed a length of time at the now defunct California Office of Appropriate Technology. Everyone around the table knows RAIN. Since we have only six subscribers in Japan, I wonder how it gets around. The one person in this group who is an actual subscriber isn't even here. We talk about one of Kanagawa's housing development projects designed to use appropriate technology and energy conserving building and landscaping methods. As one official points out, the project has been inspired by articles in RAIN. We talk about Kanagawa's programs to increase citizen's access to public information. Kanagawa has enacted what amounts to the first freedom of information act for a prefecture in Japan. The programs were established by the Act Concerning Public Access to Public Records of the Bodies of Kanagawa Prefecture. One program is the operation of a Prefectural Government Information Center and Regional Prefectural Information Comers. Each of the centers can provide access to many government records catalogued in the “Information Presentation Index.” They hope to eventually provide access to the information using the Captian videotex system. After lunch, Masako and I are led through the rainy streets of Yokohama by Kenichi Suzuki, up a long hill, past the cemetary for foreigners to a bluff overlooking Yokohama Bay, where so many important historical events for Japan have transpired. We then walk several blocks to a coffee shop, steeped in tradition. The atmosphere emanates loves confirmed, political deals, and metaphysical wonderings. Over dark coffee and a light desert we talk about networking. There is a conference, scheduled for several days after I leave Japan, described as a networking event for grassroots organizations. Interest in social networking is hardly new to Japan, but the interest has grown to much greater dimensions in recent years. Many organizations are trying harder to work together, and see networking as an important strategy for getting there. A Kafka Mystery in the Shadow of Mt. Fuji After Masako and I say farewell to Keichi Suzuki we dash off to meet with Kunihiko Okada, a friend of Masako's. Okada's business card simply says, in English, “Metamorphosis.” I ask Okada if his group's name has been inspired by the Kafka novel about the man who wakes up as an insect. It comes as a surprise to him. He knows Kafka but has never neard of the story. Okada attempts to explain the work of Metamorphosis. Mostly he talks about his own personal transformations. After an hour I'm not much closer to understanding the nature of Metamorphosis. I also realize that if the group were in the United States I wouldn't understand it any better. Naming a group Metamoiphosis precludes easy interpretation. Even though it is late we decide to take the trip to Metamorphosis headquarters. The town we are headed for is Odwara at the foot of Mt. Fuji, at the gateway to the very wonderful Izu Penninsula. As we leave Tokyo the sky gets darker and the stations smaller, until two hours later we arrive at the Odwara train station. We go to the apartment of a friend of Okada's, Masato The Other Japan
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