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Now Accepting Volunteers for 2026!

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 recommended (applications are accepted year-round)
Application deadline: One month before your desired start date

For details and how to apply: Please see the link below.

Volunteer – Asian Rural Institute

Across the Sky, To Each of Our Places: Graduate Departure

With hearts full of memories,we saw the graduates off at the airport.
Days spent laughing, learning, praying, and working together.
As the time to say goodbye drew near,words could not express the emotions that quietly overflowed.
The day before departure, one graduate said:
“It’s okay. We’re all under the same sky.”
Though countries and distances separate us,
we remain connected under the same sky.
Graduates returning to their respective places.
May the encounters and learning nurtured here continue to illuminate your paths ahead.
See you again someday.

Last Community Event of 2025: Snow Viewing

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 in the nearby community center to eat delicious Adobo, prepared by Sarah, a now graduate, from the Philippines.

In the afternoon we split up in groups for various adventures, such as exploring the mysteries of the nine-tailed fox and a murderous stone, learning about the history of the Main Onsen Shrine, soaking our feet in the soothing and rich Onsen water and visiting the traditional Shikanoyu Hot Spring.

All in all it was a very successful day as proven by the quiet and sleepy ride back to our campus.

We were blessed to celebrate the commencement service!

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!

The grand finale of nine months training: The final presentation day

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 community, he gained a deeper understanding of both its beauty and its struggles.

Riverbanks littered with garbage. People of the community losing their spirits. These heartbreaking challenges remain, motivating him in his work as a teacher to establish an Eco-awareness program, conduct garbage sorting and cleanup activities around the campus, and rebuild the community spirit by teaching the values of peace and mutual assistance.

Tomorrow, December 13, ARI will host the 2025 commencement service.
We would be honored if you could join us in celebrating the participants’ new beginnings and cheering them on in their future endeavors.
More information: https://ari.ac.jp/en/commencement-service-2025/

Lectures from ARI graduates Part 2

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 school. Meanwhile, their income is often insufficient.
Acivo emphasized the need for ingenuity in how to effectively invest small amounts, such as turning available 500 yen or 1,000 yen into 3,000 or 4,000 yen.
During the class she shared the methods and practices that she has been using in her home community: leveraging her personal connections for bartering rice and corn, providing her homemade Bokashi fertilizer in exchange for labor, and adding value to readily available food items by selling organic vegetable-based lunch boxes and sweets. Many participants were particularly interested in her method of baking cakes using a firewood stove—even without equipment like an oven—which is especially useful in rural areas. She even conducted a baking practice session for those who wanted.

Acivo graduated from ARI over 25 years ago and also served as a staff member for many years at ARI.
She stated that the most important thing to become a good leader is to become a good follower.
“Even with just one skill you learned at ARI, you must never give up because you failed a few times. My husband, who is also an ARI graduate, teaches people how to make Bokashi and other things over video calls. And yet, they can learn and practice it. Participants who have come to ARI in Japan and have the opportunity to learn on site should all the more never give up.”
Her words, spoken precisely because she is a graduate, are powerful and profoundly convincing.

The ARI Christmas and Winter Donation Campaign Begins!

Thanks to all your support, 27 participants successfully completed the Rural Leaders Training Program 2025! They are now ready to take on the world as new rural leaders contributing to their communities.
Individuals and organizations working in rural communities in so-called developing countries often lack the financial resources for travelling to Japan and participating in this training program. Without your generous assistance, their training could not have been achieved. We would like to express our deepest gratitude once again to everyone who provided support for this year’s program.

Participants who have completed the training are, in a sense, a Christmas gift from ARI to rural communities in the remote corners of the world.
What they will bring back to their communities is not money or material goods. Alongside the practical skills and experience cultivated through hard work, they gained the flexibility, the spirit of acknowledging, respecting mutual weaknesses and differences, through the overcoming of culture shocks  and reflecting on themselves and their communities.
For example, one of this year’s participants came from Myanmar, which is currently in the midst of a civil war. She shared her intention to spread organic agriculture, rooted in the ARI concept that “what you need is around you,” and to encourage people to achieve things through their own power, not just relying on external aid.
We aspire to improve people’s lives by nurturing grassroots human resources who work in areas where international assistance is often difficult to access, thereby empowering 1,000 people behind each leader.

As we wish for peace this Christmas, could you entrust us with your hopes for the next generation of leaders?
Please note that donations to ARI are eligible for tax deductions. For details, please visit the special page: https://ari.ac.jp/en/donate/winter2025

Furthermore, during this campaign period, we will be sharing daily messages on our Instagram and Facebook stories under the title, “What Gift of Hope do you want to bring back to your community?” featuring the aspirations of the 27 participants.
And we are also planning to hold a “Friends Day” event on January 17th, intended to allow our supporters to gain a deeper understanding of ARI’s activities and atmosphere and to foster interaction. Please look forward to it!

The 12 Days Traveling from Tokyo to Kyushu: Western Japan Study Tour 2025 Vol. 5

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 also said that she is honored to share these experiences with people who are community leaders. We hope that it was impactful for participants, too.

After this, participants had time to tour the museum and learn more deeply from the exhibits. Some panels in the permanent exhibit were renewed and there was a new exhibit of items donated in 2023. They are on display from October of this year till February 2026. Within it were stories of how people kept these items to remember their family members and now felt it was time to donate them to the peace memorial museum so their memory will continue to be honored. Some participants were deeply impacted, not only by the contents of this day, but by all the issues they encountered during the WJST.

Finally, after lunch, participants walked around the peace park led by one of our staff, Takashi, visiting various sites of importance. The hypocenter of the bomb, the dome, the bridge, etc. At each location, they offered a prayer for the many people who lost their lives during the war and especially the atomic bombing. They ended the day at the cenotaph. Our collective hope is for peace everywhere in the world, where the evils of war are not repeated.

 On the 21st, they set off on their return journey. Despite encountering trouble along the way when one of their buses had a problem, everyone arrived safely back to ARI late on the night of the 22nd.
We extend our heartfelt gratitude to each one of you who supported this trip in various ways and prayed for them from near and far. Thank you so much!