My tutor from University of Edinburgh traveled to Japan a few weeks back and I was fortunate to join him on a week-long tour of art, space and nature goodness. We went from the hills of Yamaguchi and Akiyoshida, to Aichi University of the Arts … Continue readingEdinburgh/Aichi: Art and Nature Japan Tour
In a rush, I got on the wrong train and happily rode an hour and ten minutes in the opposite direction of where I was supposed to be going. Fortunately, my schedule was a bit flexible, and even more fortunately, it was a most beautiful … Continue readingA Mountain Rail Tour in the Wrong Direction
It is absolutely absurd to think of what our food goes through before it gets put into our stomachs… the first thing, the most important thing for a farmer, is to make healthy plants and healthy people. … Continue readingThe Maddening Simplicity of Good Food
In Kyoto tonight and it’s been a long few weeks of filming and travel for The Final Straw with little internet time so this next post will come in two installments! Last week, I was able to spend a great few days on farms outside … Continue readingJapanese CSA Pioneers, and a Farming Trio
In our second visit to Kawaguchi’s home farm — the first was in May of this year — we enjoyed tea and a more informal chat than on our previous visit. Lately, Kawaguchi-san has spent his mornings working on finishing a book, and although he has … Continue readingYoshikazu Kawaguchi’s Natural Farm
News update for the Final Straw documentary: Since returning from farms in Japan and Korea, I’ve been searching more for Japanese-style natural farms on the West coast of the U.S. — they have been very hard to find/contact — and just this week a very … Continue readingNatural Agriculture in Santa Cruz
When my dear friend Kyoko heard the words from my mouth that I loved Tonkatsu, she knew exactly where to take me after work. If you have a hankering for Tonkatsu (Japanese fried pork cutlet), most restaurants in Tokyo will serve up a fine plate … Continue readingThree Generations of Pork Cutlet Chefs
This week we filmed in Osaka, Nara, and Fukuoka, and each day was full of fresh local food. In Nara, our amazing Japanese interpreter and I spent an extended weekend withYoshikazu Kawaguchi, a natural farmer who runs a free monthly farming class, including free practice … Continue readingWeek in Western Japan
We had our first meeting with a Japanese natural farmer today, and it was an amazing one. Yoshikazu Kawaguchi has written several books and is a “natural farming” icon in Japan. Today, he invited us to his home near Nara, Japan, where we talked over … Continue readingYoshikazu Kawaguchi – Day 1
The past few days have been a whirlwind of activity, mostly centered around planning out this trip to Korea and Japan for the Final Straw project, but other highlights were: Lunch meeting with San Jose Director of Transportation, Hans Larsen (article coming to sociecity shortly, … Continue readingFinal Straw: The Future of Food Begins
I noticed a bunch of cherry blossoms while in San Francisco last weekend, seems a few months early for spring yet, but I guess that Hanami (Japanese flower viewing, often accompanied by large amounts of alcohol) is upon us already! The photo below was taken … Continue readingEarly Cherry Blossoms
This is part of the bigger Project Transport Me study of transportation mechanisms. Exploring some new ways of juxtaposing transportation lately… this one compares aerial views of the areas outside major train stations with illustrated overlays of people, buildings, and vehicles from the opposite frame. … Continue readingTransport Me | Satellite