News

Since our last year-end update received so many “Likes,” we decided to add a special alternative version! 🎥 Year-End Update (1): “Gift of Hope” Reel + This Year’s ARI Song! We have uploaded a new version of the “Gift of Hope to Bring Back to the Community” Reel to Instagram and Facebook, now featuring a special soundtrack. The song is “Monene,” an African Gospel song that became the “Song of the Year” for ARI. The participants sang it during their Study Trip and at the commencemnet ceremony to share with … Read more

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

Want to take a break from your daily work or studies for a while?Thinking about how you want to live your life?Want to encounter things you’ve never experienced before? Volunteering at ARI is a perfect opportunity for you! Why not take part in our work while living an agriculture-centered life in a multicultural community? There are many ways to get involved, including farm work, cooking, office work, and more! Duration: 2 months to 1 year (preference given to those who can stay 9 months or longer)Start period: Late March is … Read more

Graduate Departure 2025.12.16-17.

Last week’s community event brought us up to the Nasu mountains, where we enjoyed snow-viewing. For many of our participants, it is the first time to experience snow and being in such cold temperatures – the second the less pleasant one. All community members enjoyed playing in the snow, building snow-people and some snowball fights. In the view of the white environment suddenly the joy of playing like a child gets reawakened in everyone. This was rewarded with hot chocolate and the great view. To warm ourselves up we gathered … 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