Hello reader, thanks for being here! I’m Kana and this is the Sunday edition of Tending Gardens, which you can read about here.
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Last Sunday I wasn’t able to make time to write. I was feeling a bit low since it felt like I was disappointing myself and others (less than a month into this project). But it was heart-warming to have several people reach out and ask if everything was okay. A friend reminded me ‘it’s human’.
Hearing from you also reminded me that there are real people on the other side of this writing. Thank you for extending understanding in the busier moments of life.
the INOW program: a passion project in the making
This past Sunday we started a video project for the INOW program. I haven’t written in detail but INOW is the reason I’m here. It’s the reason I decided to move to Kamikatsu.
We (a small team of 3 women) created an educational tourism program called INOW. INOW or イノウ (pronounced ee-nou) means ‘let’s go home’ in the local Awa-ben dialect. The program is a homestay program that welcomes guests to Kamikatsu.
Kamikatsu is known for being the first Zero Waste Village in Japan and that reputation draws interest from guests from Japan and all around the world. But as a tourist, it’s hard to understand how zero waste is implemented and it’s nearly impossible to make connections with the community. INOW bridges this gap and invites people to find a home, integrating and being alongside locals, in Kamikatsu. INOW’s purpose is to encourage participants to explore, reflect, and, through experiences, learn about zero waste, sustainability, and doing things with your own hands.
INOW, for me, is an entrepreneurial endeavour and passion project. I’ve always wanted to start something—create something from nothing and work through the challenges of navigating growth.
Creating INOW gave me this unique opportunity to combine things I really care about including education, sustainability, community development, and tourism.
It’s obviously a turbulent time for the tourism industry and we’ve also had to stop accepting guests for the past months, but in the meantime, we’ve been working on developing INOW (from preparing teaching material, updating the promotional content, and reworking our programs).
Which brings me back to last Sunday and what I’ve been up to this entire week. We’ve been working on a video for INOW to showcase our project (to the world!). The hope of this video is that it will help others see what life in Kamikatsu is like.
highlighting local voices in our video
We spent the entire week with Jon & Andre, two professional videographers based in Japan who agreed to film and produce our video. It was such an incredible experience to be alongside them as they worked magic with their gear and walked us through the videomaking process.
It was shocking how much equipment they hauled around. It was wonderful to be behind-the-scenes and observe all the effort and props that are hidden from the camera. The two of them danced with their cameras and the light to find angles that made every scene feel intimate. The whole week passed by in a blur of laughter and heartwarming conversations with them and the locals.
The only hiccup was a drone incident. Early one morning, we were standing on the edge of the cliff peering at a river and a valley of mountains. In the distance, the drone was gliding through the sky and all of a sudden it started to hover for a couple of seconds before making a rapid descent into the forest below it. It was terrifying to observe and feel helpless to the drone’s eventual demise. Thankfully we found the drone after hours and hours of rummaging through leaves and bushes. I vividly recall the piece scream in the forest that said, “I FOUND THE DRONE!” It was perched on a treetop and it was truly a nearly impossible find—a drone in a forest is akin to a needle in a haystack.
Interviews with the locals gave insight into each person’s philosophy about their chosen lifestyle, work, and craft. As stunning as the drone footage is, it was the interviews that make this video so special.
We drew up questions around happiness, time, zero waste, and Japanese concepts like やり甲斐 ‘yarigai’ (purpose). Here are some of the questions we asked:
上勝で生まれ育ったあなたが、地元で深く感動するのは何か。As someone born and raised in Kamikatsu, what inspires you about your home town?
仕事でやりがいを感じる時はどんな時ですか? In your work, where do you feel a sense of happiness or purpose?
次の世代に知ってもらいたい重要な教訓は何ですか? What are the important lessons you want to pass onto the next generation?
ゼロ・ウェイストに取り組んだことで、上勝町にどのような効果があったと思いますか?How has Zero Waste impacted Kamiaktsu?
The same question can result in so many varying answers. It’s a reminder that people are drawn to and inspired by different things and those things shape their purpose and work. I would love to share some of the answers and deep-dive into each of the people we interviewed in the coming weeks.
Stay tuned for the INOW video releasing at the end of this month!
Thank you for being here with me this week. It means a lot to know that my writing is connecting us. Leave a comment to help me guide me into future musings!
Take care,
Kana
I’d love for you to think of me as your penpal—sharing a note from a tiny village in Japan. With Tending Gardens, I want to bring you a small joy in the form of a newsletter. If you like it and want more like it in your inbox, consider subscribing.
In less than a month, your newsletter has become the piece that I wait for the entire week. Thank you so much for taking the time to share with the rest of the world, and we can't wait to see how INOW unfolds. By the way, how did Kamikatsu become a Zero-waste village? Was it a from the people for the people kind of move or was it introduced by the government? So curious to find out maybe in the video project!
Thank you for sharing your vulnerability! Don't worry if you miss a week or two -- we, your humble readers, are happy to get insights into a slice of your life whenever you're inspired to share them! And don't let your inner saboteur get you down! Even if we don't like or leave comments, it's always a great joy to see a Tending Gardens entry in my inbox!