Makiko Abe

Thank you so much for supporting the Asian Rural Institute throughout this year! For our final post of the year, we have two special updates for you. 🎥 End-of-Year Update (1) New Reels on Instagram and Facebook! We have posted a special compilation of the daily Stories we shared throughout December. This video brings together all the smiles of our 2025 graduates as they share “the gift of hope they want to take back to their communities.” Please don’t miss it on our reel! 💻 End-of-Year Update (2) Christmas & … Read more

On December 24, the online news site Catholic Japan News published an article titled “A Community that Cultivates the Soil and Shares the Table: Asian Rural Institute – Training Servant Leaders for Rural Communities.” The piece warmly and carefully portrays the daily life of participants nearing graduation, their classes, and the final presentations at ARI, accompanied by photographs. It is written in a way that is accessible even to readers learning about ARI for the first time.We would like to express our heartfelt gratitude to the journalist who created such a wonderful … Read more

After the graduates had left, the now smaller ARI community held its traditional Christmas celebration. “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men in His favor!”Luke 2:14

On Tuesday, December 16, an interview with Osamu Arakawa, Director of ARI, and Debora, a graduate from Indonesia who now serves as a volunteer, was published in the morning edition of Shimotsuke Shimbun. The article appeared as the seventh and final installment of the series “Forms of Peace: Tochigi 80 Years After the War – Lingering Scars, Inherited Pain.” We deeply appreciate that the newspaper chose to focus not only on Japanese perspectives but also on the voices of people from countries once invaded by Japan, and that they selected ARI in … Read more

By God’s grace, 27 participants successfully completed the Rural Leaders Training Program in 2025.We extend our heartfelt gratitude to each and every one of you who supported the nine-month training program in various ways!

Over the past few days, ARI hosted the Class of 2025’s final presentations. Each of the 27 participants told their learning experiences at ARI, and what they seek to accomplish when they return home. Overcoming nervousness, each stood before all their classmates, staff, volunteers, and supporters. With carefully designed posters, they confidently addressed the audience, presenting the challenges facing their communities and their concrete plans to address them. One participant began his presentation by saying, “Before coming to Japan, I thought I knew about my community,” but by leaving his … Read more

This year’s training program is now coming to an end. Last week, Acivo (Class of 2000), a graduate from Nagaland, India, conducted classes for participants. The lecture content was highly practical and based on her own experiences. For instance, she discussed income generation. In fact, many graduates often face this challenge to generate income immediately after graduation. Living in villages in developing countries, where ties with family and relatives are strong, they always bear responsibilities and the associated expenses, such as supporting their families and sending siblings and children to … Read more

From Dec 1st – Jan 31st

Participants, who had traveled by bus from Minamata to Hiroshima (The final training location of this trip) for the entire day, visited the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum the following day, November 20. They first heard from legacy successor Ms. Sachiko Hiraoka. She shared about her aunt Sadae Sasaoka’s experience of the atomic bomb. She was 13 and happened to be at home when the bomb dropped 3.5 kms away. She shared the horrors her aunt saw, of the pain of losing family members, and the hopelessness of war. Ms. Hiraoka … Read more

When you hear the word “coaching,” what image comes to mind?At ARI, which emphasizes leadership training, we value not only equipping leaders from various countries with the skills to coach others, but also helping them recognize and enhance their own inherent abilities as leaders.Ms. Morikawa, who has been involved with ARI since 2012 following the earthquake and has provided annual training for ARI staff ever since, is a personification of inclusiveness. There is much to learn simply from her atmosphere alone.We hope this class, which connects with previous learning on … Read more