Jacky’s Dream: A Kenyan Graduate’s Story
2026/02/26
EVENTS
About ARI
A Center for Grassroots Leaders
The Asian Rural Institute (ARI), also known as the ‘Asian Rural Leaders Training Center,’ is an international human resource development institution with a 50-year history. We invite ‘grassroots rural leaders’ from Asia, Africa, and the Pacific who are deeply rooted in their communities to join our program. While respecting differences in nationality, religion, ethnicity, and values, we provide practical training aimed at realizing a just and peaceful society.
Enrollment
Rural Leaders Training Program
Each year, we invite approximately 30 community leaders from about 15 countries as participants. To be selected, applicants must belong to an organization or group dedicated to serving marginalized rural communities. We also welcome up to five Japanese participants each year who wish to learn alongside these international participants.
Graduates of ARI
Empower One, Transform All.
Equipped with new knowledge, values, and skills, our graduates work across diverse fields to build peaceful and prosperous lives for all. After their training, graduates from developing nations return to their communities to share and multiply the experiences they gained at ARI.
Our Japanese graduates also thrive in international cooperation, community revitalization, agriculture, education, and social welfare. Though their fields may differ, every graduate is united in working toward the same sustainable future.
Donate and Support
A Mission Sustained by Goodwill
More than 70% of ARI’s activities are funded by generous donations from individuals and groups. These contributions cover all expenses for our grassroots participants—including airfare, tuition, and living costs—making it possible to provide training opportunities to leaders from marginalized regions who otherwise could not afford it.
Volunteer
Engage in Grassroots Peace-building
Contributing to Grassroots Peace: ARI’s mission is also powered by the energy of our many volunteers. Roles are diverse, ranging from office administration and meal preparation to hands-on work in the fields and livestock pens. We welcome a global community of volunteers, including many who join us from the United States, Europe, and beyond.
Open Learning Programs
An Learning Place for Everyone
Our unique international learning community is open to everyone—not just participants and volunteers, but the general public from Japan and abroad. We offer a wide variety of programs that you can easily join with family or friends, including study camps, cultural exchange programs, and hands-on farming experiences.
A Campus for Sustainable Living
ARI is a small school located on a hill, surrounded by forests and farmland. Designed to support a sustainable way of life, it is a place where learning goes beyond the classroom—where people farm, share meals, and live together as a community.
Tap or click the icons to view images and descriptions of each facility.
How to Access
By Train
By Shinkansen (JR Tohoku Shinkansen)
About 20 minutes by taxi/car from JR Nasushiobara Station
By Local Train (JR Tohoku Line)
About 10 minutes by taxi/car or 1 hour on foot from JR Nishinasuno Station
By Car
By Expressway
About 20 minutes by car from Nishinasuno-Shiobara IC on the Tohoku Expressway
By Route 4
Turn at the Nishitoyama intersection onto Rice Line (toward Kurobane)
