Seek Sustainable Japan

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...

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...

First of our 30-min Short-Takes series for 2026 In 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-l...

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...

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 Hi...

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 tec...

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 2025 LINKS The Conduit - Climate and Conflict https://www.theconduit.com/programme/... The Burning Question: Climate & Conflict     • The ...

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 2025 https://kominkajapan.online/events/ LINKS: My talk with Paul & Kim Fredale about their stunning home and garden renovation: https://youtube.com/live/yjVcsFL09sU...

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 s...

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 Alliance https://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 b...

Lauren and Andrea are Minka Preservation Society founders and talk here about what we can look forward to at the MINKA CON event coming up in November 2025 https://www.minkasociety.com/

This month sustainability focused, Japan based consultants, educators and entrepreneurs Tove Kinooka and JJWalsh discuss Sustainable Japan Day event and awards featured by the Japan Times  ⁨@thejapantimes⁩  - One Young World - Sustainability in the Himalaya mountains with Carole Fuchs - Tech for Impact event in Tokyo October - Global Perspectives workshops and INTRApreneurship training p...

UK actor and playwright Michael Mears joins Seek Sustainable Japan to share insights about his latest play called THE MISTAKE - a two person performance telling stories connected to the nuclear bombings of Hiroshima 80 years ago. https://michaelmears.org/ Arcola theatre about THE MISTAKE: A powerful reflection on the decisions that changed the course of history and the human cost that followed. In...

Welcome Vegan-Friendly London Vegan LUNA Burger Hiroshima Nagasaki 80th Noto Recovery Trip BCCJ Wajima Lacquerware Recovery Alex Kerr talks Wajima in Hidden Japan book Benton Homestead Rural Entrepreneurs Write Public Response about Manager Visa Changes GTN Working with Foreign Residents as positive opportunity not risk Circular System Tokyo includes Worm Composting Fukuoka Clean Energy & Drin...

Grateful this year to have had the rare opportunity to attend both the Hiroshima 80th and Nagasaki 80th commemoration events this year - may these two cities be the last places on earth to experience such horror, suffering and devastation from a nuclear weapon attack. Read post on MEDIUM #nonukes #hiroshima #nagasaki #japan #hiroshima80 #nagasaki80 #nomorehiroshima #nomorenagasaki #nomorehibakusha...

August 6, 2025 is the 80th anniversary of the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima city. The first part is a pre-recorded walk-thru of the most meaningful monuments that I introduce on guided tours and the 2nd part is clips from the August 6th livestreaming video from around the A-bomb dome on August 6th. #peacenow #nonukes #hiroshima80 #peace #hiroshimajapan #hiroshima #japan Watch the video of this podc...

July Short-Takes 30 minutes of sustainable japan & beyond highlights with two sustainability focused women entrepreneurs based in Japan, JJWalsh and Tove Kinooka

Sustainable travel definitely includes plantbased dining, but independent vegan travelers struggle with Japan travel as there are fewer options and sometimes hard work to research and explain what you need. World Vegan Travel does the research and tour plan for vegan travelers around the world and has great insights on Japan travel. Brighde Reed is co-founder of World Vegan Travel Company and a pl...

After cataract surgery, can my eyes be reused? / Reading glasses LIONS club donation ‪@lionsclubs‬ / New Japan BioPlastic Tech discovery that dissolves in seawater ‪@Reuters‬ / Fujisawa Beach Clean event with SEGO / Popular keep-cool tech waste ‪@theGuardian‬ / Tokyo pride parade & LGBTQ+ issues in Japan / MrBeast viral generosity success on YouTube ‪@BeastPhilanthropy‬ / Daikin Air-Conditione...

With more than 406 million subscribers, Jimmy Donaldson- better known as Mr. Beast- has become the most successful YouTuber by doing outrageous acts of generosity.  The fact that Mr. Beast’s strategy of using video revenue, sponsorship and collaboration to fund lifechanging projects around the world is an inspiration to any of us trying to go above and beyond the status quo to do-good for oth...