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Rev. Dr. Toshihiro Takami

Rev. Dr. Toshihiro Takami,
Founder of ARI

The main founding member of ARI exemplified a life of service that still guides us today.  

Through Poverty and War

Toshihiro Takami’s youth was marked by hardship and war. Born on September 30, 1926 in Japanese-controlled Manchuria, his family moved to its Japanese homeland amidst poverty. To educate him beyond grammar school, his  parents apprenticed Takami to a Zen monastery in Kyoto. At the age of eighteen, just months before the end of World War II, he enlisted in the Japanese navy and briefly attended radar school. Hard times followed as he fended for himself and his family in post-war Japan, mostly as a manual laborer. 

Christian Study in the US

In 1951, Takami found work as a cook for a Christian missionary. He began studying Christianity. Soon he was baptized. A youth organization in the United States then sponsored him to attend Doane College in Nebraska. By 1960 he had earned his bachelor’s degree, graduated from Yale Divinity School, and become an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ in Japan.

Back in Japan, for ten years Takami taught practical theology and directed the Southeast Asia Christian Rural Leaders’ course at the Theological Seminary for Rural Mission in Tokyo; work that led to an eye-opening field assignment in Bangladesh and the founding of the Asian Rural Institute.

With the people of Bangladesh

As a Christian pastor assigned to a disaster relief project in Bangladesh, Takami witnessed the desperate struggle for survival that followed the murdering floods of 1970. Discerning a dearth of capable and committed local leaders, he was determined to establish an institute dedicated to providing rural leaders training and skills to increase their capacity to serve their people.  In 1973, “in response to God’s calling,” he says, “we moved to found the Asian Rural Institute,” or ARI.

アジア学院開校式

Building ARI

Takami designed the institute’s curriculum around intensive, small-scale, organic farming, and animal husbandry, linking these activities to building a vibrant community. All participants, including staff, engage daily in dirty-hands chores. All take their turns preparing food for the group’s common meals. “Sharing food is sharing life,” is one of Takami’s most well known phrases. ARI participants also share in decision making. The difficult process of achieving consensus among a group of strong-minded, quick-to-action people, Takami believes, helps ARI’s rural leaders become more effective change-makers in their poor communities.

A Rich Spiritual and Human Legacy

Takami resigned as ARI director in 1990 but continued to serve for many more years as a teacher and board member.  He dedicated the whole of his life for the following years to ARI and to the training of grassroots local leaders.  “To me,” he said, “the local level is the highest level.”

Takami passed away on September 9, 2019, after long years of living with a severe nerve disease. He left behind a rich legacy of spiritual wisdom and profound impact on many people’s lives around the globe. His spirit, based in both Christian and Buddhist values, continues to guide and enrich ARI.

Recognition and Awards

Rev. Dr. Takami’s achievements for peace
and human development have been recognized
on a national and international level.

1988
The Shimotsuke Prefectural Citizen Prize

1994
The Yoshikawa Eiji Prize

1996
The Ramon Magsaysay Award for
Peace and International Understanding

2012
The William Sloane Coffin Award for Peace and Justice
from Yale Divinity School, Connecticut

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Koinonia Dinning Hall

This is where the community gathers to share meals and fellowship together. More than just a dining hall, it also serves as a venue for events, meetings, and learning activities. Koinonia is a Greek word meaning “fellowship” or “sharing.”

Kitchen

At peak times, meals are prepared for as many as 100 people at once. Students, staff, and volunteers all take part in cooking and meal preparation. The kitchen is not only a place for preparing food but also a space for learning, serving others, and building relationships within the community.

Classroom and Library

Participants attend classes in these classrooms throughout the training program. The library contains a wide range of English and Japanese books, audiovisual materials, and magazines covering agriculture, social issues, community development, and many other fields of study.

Men's Dormitory & Guest House

Participants and volunteers live in separate dormitories for men and women. The dormitory includes shared lounges, kitchens, showers, and laundry facilities. Wi-Fi is not available.

Poultry House

The poultry facilities include free-range chicken coops and a brooding house. More than 400 chickens are raised, producing over 80,000 eggs and approximately one ton of chicken meat each year.

Pig Pen

Participants learn a variety of pig farming techniques through hands-on practice. Both deep-litter and concrete-floor systems are used, and manure is recycled into biogas and fertilizer.

Goat House

Goat milk (over 200 liters annually) and meat are used for food, while manure is used as fertilizer. During the day, the goats roam freely in the pasture.

Forest

The forests surrounding the campus are managed through selective thinning for firewood and charcoal production. Leaves and other organic materials are collected for use in agriculture.

Fields

On 2.5 hectares of farmland, approximately 100 varieties of vegetables and crops are grown without chemical fertilizers or pesticides. The entire community helps manage the fields as part of its commitment to learning and self-sufficiency.

Rice Paddies

Rice is cultivated in paddies both on and off campus. Various organic rice-growing methods are studied and practiced, including weed control and fertilization using ducks.

Workshop

The workshop is a space for repair and recycling activities. It contains machinery, welding equipment, woodworking tools, and a variety of materials.

Feed Mixing Room

Livestock feed is produced here using both manual and mechanical methods. Continuous efforts are made to improve feed quality and sustainability.

Administration Building

The first floor houses the reception area and administrative offices, while the second floor contains staff offices and the Director’s office. The Farm Shop (Agricultural Training Room) is located adjacent to the building.

ARI Shop

The shop offers ARI-grown produce, processed foods, books, and handicrafts from the home countries of ARI graduates.

Farm Shop (Agricultural Training Room)

The facility serves as the hub of agricultural activities at ARI. It includes classrooms, storage for tools and farming materials, and facilities for drying and storing crops.

Oikos Chapel

Originally a 100-year-old traditional farmhouse, the chapel has been renovated into a place of worship. Daily morning gatherings are held here, along with meditation, dialogue sessions, gospel choir practice, and other community activities. Oikos is a Greek word meaning “home.”

Manna House (Food Processing Room)

This facility is used for producing and storing processed foods such as cookies and jam. The ground floor also contains a poultry processing facility.

Fish Ponds

Fish are raised for both food and agricultural purposes.

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