Welcome to Tending Gardens
Hello, I’m Kana. Thank you for being here.
I’d love for you to think of me as your penpal—sharing a note from a small village in Japan. With Tending Gardens, I want to be like a postcard you receive from a friend—the small, but real, joy of a warm hello and accompanying story from everyday life.
Through Tending Gardens, I aim to share glimpses of life in rural Japan and what it’s like to live in Kamikatsu, Japan’s first Zero Waste Village. Here, I’m learning to work with my hands, drawing wisdom from neighbors and locals, and immersing myself in the Japanese language and culture (I’m half Japanese, born and raised in Canada).
In practice, this means some weeks I’ll explore topics like sustainability or climate change tied to Kamikatsu’s zero-waste efforts. Other times, I might write about the simple joys of farming sweet potatoes. Each week unfolds as a discovery!
I find inspiration in nature, philosophy, art, and culture—weaving together insights from daily life to share the lessons I encounter on this journey. Join me!
Featured on in 2022 & 2024 🎈
Tending Gardens launched in January 2021. It was a
What To Read feature in 2022! Read more about that here.
I was featured again in August 2024, this time by guest curator Emiko Davies who writes Notes from Emiko’s Kitchen on Substack. Her writing feels kindred and her latest book, Gohan: Everyday Japanese Cooking is the type of book I can only dream of writing one day.
Why Tending Gardens? 🌱
For me, a garden is not just a place to grow things. Along with the tending of plants, gardens can also be a gathering place for meaningful social interactions, a peaceful hideaway to observe nature’s inner workings, or a place of play and experimentation.
“To forget how to tend the earth and tend the soil is to forget ourselves.” Gandhi
Inboxes can be a terrifying place with everyone demanding your time and attention. I realize that by putting this newsletter out there, I will also take up space in your mailbox. Instead of being a dreaded e-mail, I want to be like a postcard you receive from a friend—the small, but real, joy of a warm hello and accompanying story from everyday life.
I hope you’re not here expecting advice on how to keep your garden alive, as the name Tending Gardens might imply—sadly that’s not my area of expertise (for now!) While there’s nothing quite as joyful as plucking a ripe cherry tomato from the vine or spotting a new leaf sprouting on your houseplant, Tending Gardens is about something broader and deeper: caring for the things that sustain and nurture us.
About me 🌱
I was born and raised in Canada, growing up with Japanese and Hong Kong cultures thanks to my parents’ roots. Now, I’m based in Kamikatsu, a small village in Japan known for its pioneering zero-waste initiatives. Here, I run an educational program called INOW with my partner, and together we share our passion for nature, sustainability, and regenerative practices.
I’m nurturing a genuine desire to write about what feels meaningful to me—stories that are insightful, simple, beautiful, and to explore what it means to be a kinder human being for others and our planet.
Join me!
