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
Participants visited Hidamari Farm, a local organic farm and experiential learning NGO.
Hidamari Farm grows just enough produce to support the 100 members of its CSA (teikei) group, ensuring their soil will be usable for generations.
Chickens live free-range without stress, eating weeds and pests under the fruit trees, and lay their eggs at a sustainable rate.
Through connecting with students across Japan, the farm provides a first chance for many urban youth to touch soil and experience nature.
Managed by a 2013 graduate (2014 GI), Yohei Hamanaka, he shared the importance of cultivating agriculture within the context of community relationships, and his way of engaging with nature. He demonstrated a method of making a living through protecting the earth and soil upon which we all live.
Tomoko Arakawa, Managing Director of the Asian Rural Institute, appeared on a Japanese radio program, the TBS Radio “Nobuhiko Shima – Jinsei Hyakkei”.
🎙 Broadcast Schedule
You can also listen on Radiko for 7 days after the broadcast when you are in Japan: https://radiko.jp/r_seasons/10002464
📻 Program URL: https://www.tbsradio.jp/articles/98893/
Tomoko spoke about international cooperation, rural leader training, and the journey of the Asian Rural Institute.
We hope you’ll tune in!
“Peace from Food” Donation Campaign
Starting Friday, August 1, 2025!
▶ Campaign website: ari.ac.jp/donate/peace2025
From August 1, the Asian Rural Institute is running the “Peace from Food” Donation Campaign.
Throughout the month of August, we are sharing voices from our community members and supporters on Instagram and Facebook Stories, centered around the theme “What does food mean to you?”
All past stories can also be viewed on our Instagram Highlights.
Once a week, as a special feature, we will also share messages from supporters of ARI.
Week 2: DUARI (Doshisha University Asian Rural Institute), Kyoto
This week, we share a “Food is …” message from Ryosuke Taniguchi, a member of DUARI at Doshisha University.
We also invite you to explore other “Food is …” messages shared by other DUARI members.
“Food is … Choice”
What I eat.
Where I eat.
With whom I eat.
The choices I make each day shape who I am today.
What is DUARI?
DUARI is a project under the International Residential Study Group, a student group at Doshisha University in Kyoto.
With the motto “Living together with ARI – take & give,” DUARI engages in various activities such as public outreach for ARI, sending volunteer teams twice a year in spring and summer, and organizing gatherings in Kyoto to learn more about ARI.
At ARI, a midterm presentation was held over three days by our participants.
The theme was: “What is the biggest learning in ARI?”
Now five months into the program, participants shared what they have learned through farming, community living, classroom lectures, and hands-on experiences.
Each presentation reflected not only the knowledge and skills they have acquired, but also the interpersonal challenges, cultural encounters, and personal growth they have experienced along the way.
Their backgrounds and life experiences deeply influenced the content of their presentations, offering a rich diversity of perspectives and values.
It was a truly meaningful time for everyone involved, including us as listeners, as we also gained new insights through their reflections.
As the program enters its second half, we look forward to seeing how each participant will continue to grow and apply their learnings in their home communities and beyond.
Return of the Forest
When Veny and Kengo’s time at ARI came to an end in 2012, they had no plans to make a food forest in the tropics of North Sumatra, Indonesia—Veny’s hometown. Both of them are ARI graduates (2005 and 2012), having met when Veny was a training assistant in 2012. Kengo, originally from Japan, had never been to Indonesia before, and the term ‘food forest’ was likewise new to both of them. At ARI, Kengo learned the basics of organic farming and was especially attracted to permaculture, with its principles of a keeping a healthy ecosystem, and farming without destroying nature. However, applying this knowledge in a new country and climate he was unfamiliar with posed a huge challenge. Kengo and Veny married in Japan, soon after ARI training, and then settled in Indonesia. It was there they began to learn more intensely about the concept of a food forest.
In 2015, Veny and Kengo bought their first bit of land, but they didn’t start the food forest at that time. Instead, they planned to grow coffee, in order to make a living. They used what they learned at ARI by planting nitrogen fixing trees to make their soil more hospitable. One year later, Kengo felt there was something wrong with his post-ARI plan. He looked out over his land and saw only coffee beans, nothing else. The image of having only one crop made him realize that he needed to expand the farm—this is where the story of their food forest truly begins.
What started as a personal project just to survive is now over halfway complete—Veny and Kengo are over 50% self-sufficient. They never buy their vegetables from the market. Instead, they harvest what they need from their forest and sell the rest. They grow all kinds of fruits too—guava, jackfruit, avocado, mulberry and many more. Even though the forest has been growing for 10 years, not everything has matured yet, and Veny and Kengo remind us that a project like this takes time and a tremendous amount of patience.
Now, after more than ten years of developing their food forest, they are proud to be able to show off their hard work to the community. Their neighbors grow their own rice and some vegetables, but their fields are not self-sustaining. They still need to go to the market for basic food staples. Veny and Kengo encourage others to become self-sustaining by giving tours of their own food forest. Last year, they received a grant from AFARI, allowing them to invite 50 local farmers in North Sumatra to visit their food forest and teach them how to begin their own projects. Now they are not the only ones in their community growing a food forest—many of these farmers have since embarked on their own journey of becoming self-sufficient.
The advice they give to others is simple but powerful: be patient. Results take time, and people may doubt you at first. But stay hopeful. When asked about their interpretation of the theme of Peace from Food, Kengo insisted that the peace reflected in this phrase begins with one’s own respect for earth’s resources, and that with a “peaceful relationship with nature, we can start to build a system for long-lasting abundance.” Veny was quick to add her own two cents, that this theme is personal to her. By harvesting fruits and vegetables that she grew herself, and then preparing them for the table, she finds a sense of care and connection rooted in nourishing others. She “finds something peaceful in [her] heart.”
Inteviewed & Written by Marielle Randall (Wellesley College Intern)
Click here to read the series of articles
“Peace from Food” from the tables of ARI’s graduates Vol. 1
“Peace from Food” from the tables of ARI’s graduates Vol. 2
“Peace from Food” from the tables of ARI’s graduates Vol. 3
“Peace from Food” from the tables of ARI’s graduates Vol. 4 ← Now, you’re here.
“Peace from Food” from the tables of ARI’s graduates -spin off-
Starting Friday, August 1, 2025!
▶ Campaign website: ari.ac.jp/donate/peace2025
From August 1, the Asian Rural Institute is running the “Peace from Food” Donation Campaign.
Throughout the month of August, we are sharing voices from our community members and supporters on Instagram and Facebook Stories, centered around the theme “What does food mean to you?”
All past stories can also be viewed on our Instagram Highlights.
Once a week, as a special feature, we will also share messages from supporters of ARI.
Our first featured supporter is SCF (Student Christian Fellowship) in Tokyo.
If you have visited our campus before, you may recognize SCF as the organization that operates the Nasu Seminar House and has supported ARI for many years.
This week we share a “Food is …” message from Rev. Noda, SCF’s secretary.
I was once affected by a devastating earthquake and could not eat.
In the winter, I ate a retort-packed hamburger cold—just to stay alive.
When I finally had a warm meal, I found myself in tears without realizing it.
A warm meal gives deep relief to both the body and the heart.
SCF is a student center of the United Church of Christ in Japan, operating the Nasu Seminar House next to ARI. For many years, it has been a close partner walking alongside us.
We work with students to create peace, grounded in the values of:
“Producing food together, sharing it together, understanding one another, forgiving one another, and moving toward true joy and reconciliation.”
ARI puts these values into practice in ways we ourselves cannot.
Through spring and summer camps, Harvest Thanksgiving Celebration, and other occasions, we have sent students to ARI many times, treasuring the experiences of encountering ARI’s mission and walk.
We hope SCF can serve as something like ARI’s Tokyo branch, working together to “create peace with all life.”
On Friday, August 1, participants, volunteers, and staff from the ARI participated in the Yoichi Dance at the Otawara Yoichi Festival. Following last year’s experience, we once again joined local high school students—including those from Otawara High School and Otawara Girls’ High School—wearing yukata. The colorful, international group danced through the shopping streets, warmly cheered on by people along the way. Thanks to the kind guidance of the high school students, who showed us how to dance, our participants were able to enjoy this Japanese cultural experience with confidence. Despite differences in language and nationality, dancing together allowed our hearts to connect—creating a truly special moment. We are deeply grateful to the high school students who danced with us and to the community members who supported us!
From today, August 1 through September 20, Asia Rural Institute (ARI) is launching its summer donation campaign, “Peace from Food.”
“That all people in the world, without exception, may experience the joy of sharing at a rich table” (Toshihiro Takami, Founder of Asia Rural Institute)
ARI believes that those who nurture this kind of food production and community building can bring about true peace.
We sincerely ask for your support.
👉 Special donation site: https://ari.ac.jp/donate/peace2025/en
Watch all our online events again!
Join the ARI life with family and friends!
We're looking for on-campus volunteers
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