Tyler Walkey grew up on Hollywood film sets and now creates beautiful video and photography content for the town of Kito in rural Japan accentuated with music composed by Alrik Fallet. Alrik is originally from Norway but has settled in Kito where he is starting a guesthouse and creating original music like you hear in this episode in the opening and closing, titled Yuzu-Ogon-no-mura

Here we talk about their projects in Kito Tokushima with Kito Design Holdings to promote the local people, rural lifestyle as well as employment, services, products, tourism appeal and natural beauty in the area. Watch the video here.

• Tyler Walkey on YouTube @Awa Drone https://www.youtube.com/c/Awadrone
• Alrik Fallet Website: https://www.alrikmusic.com/
• Kito Design Holdings: https://kito-dh.jp/
• Next Chapter Guesthouse: https://en.nextchapterkito.com/

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Miyajima island in Hiroshima is a magical place, but also one of the most popular tourism destinations in Japan- only 1500 local residents yet over 4 million visitors each year, it's an important place to discuss how to avoid crowds and create policies that give back value from tourism income to preserving the local culture, traditions and environment and quality of life for locals. Watch the video of this talk here.

Discussed some of my favorite places to wander: Mt.Misen hikes and views, Daishoin (SuhGenDo) Buddhist Temple, Itsukushima Floating shrine (and usually the giant Tori gate in front but it is still under scaffolding for a few more years), the 1000 mat pavillion and the 5 story pagoda.

Wish List for Miyajima:

• Transparency for how the tourist-tax benefits local people-planet-profit balance
• Encourage local oyster farmers to go back to using bamboo, wood and rope (instead of plastic and styrofoam) - Hiroshima plastic pollution from the oyster industry is a huge ocean plastic problem for the Seto-naikai area of Hiroshima, Yamaguchi, Okayama but it gets as far as Hawaii's beaches too.
• Maintain building regulations/restrictions on the island to maintain the cultural/traditional aesthetic for tourism appeal, but as an asset for Japanese heritage
• Preserve natural beauty of the sacred island, limiting the use of concrete
• Find ways to stagger crowds on the main shopping street by slowing or limiting entry
• Serve local momiji-manju cakes without the plastic wrapping at least to those who want to eat-in
• Offer more local vegetables, local wood, plastic-free options as goods and services

JJ's Miyajima videos:

• Miyajima BeeKeeper + Bee Farm visit: https://youtu.be/h5rQXtvHD_Q
• Miyajima Natural Farm visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKgicWhAQwg&t=137s
• Live from the top of Mt.Misen: https://youtu.be/uLfgIVah4cs

ShoutOuts:

• GetHiroshima- news + events + local Hiroshima area insights (I cofounded in '99): https://gethiroshima.com/
• Miyajima Tourism official website: https://www.miyajima.or.jp/english/
• Sarasvati Coffee in a Restored old House Shop: https://goo.gl/maps/C1AE9YjUXx5iuPma9
• Setouchi Lovers Website for Daishoin temple details and vegetarian/vegan options: https://setouchilovers.com/
• Azby Brown on Japanese Temple Carpentry: https://youtu.be/YeG45EJHuEY
• Jon Stollenmeyer: https://youtu.be/75ZGcX1ac84 / https://youtu.be/lQBUl0JCaHk
• Barefoot samurai shows amazing traditional Japanese woodworking skills  @Barefoot Samurai 
• Hiroshima design and source of Hyotan repair details in the 1000 mat pavillion:
• Michiaki Nishio: https://youtu.be/yxhXhIP2X9I @240design

#sustainabletravel #miyajima

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Ran Nomura is a busy working mom in Japan who is also a successful zero waste lifestyle influencer on social media IG zerowaste.japan who tells us here how she got started, some of her most popular posts, collaborations and giveaways with sustainable businesses in Japan and abroad, as well as her upcoming collaborative projects.

Ran Nomura on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zerowaste.japan/

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Kamakura is a well-known and well-loved destination to many Japan residents and visitors, here are some tips for how to avoid crowds and seek out more sustainable options might be useful to you on your next trip. It is a very important destination for its heritage, history, traditions and religion- but it is also worth seeking out for its diversity of appeal and hippy, sustainable innovation vibe. Watch the video here.

There is so much to explore and I learn new things on each trip. This is a very simple introduction that I hope will point you in the right direction to dive into researching your next wonderful trip to this special place.

In the video, I mentioned many visitors misunderstanding of the MANJI (Swastika) symbol at the pond that has been used in Buddhism for over 1500 years, but has been misrepresented during WW2 as a symbol of hate. Here is an interesting article about how T.K Nakagaki, a Buddhist monk from Japan started to share information about the symbol's original meaning of good fortune while in the US: https://www.lionsroar.com/226988-2/

T.K Nakagaki's book available on Stone Bridge Press: https://www.stonebridge.com/catalog-2020/The-Buddhist-Swastika-and-Hitler's-Cross

• + Kamakura Mind: Yukiyo Matsuzaki Smith + Marian Kinoshita interview 11/2020
• https://youtu.be/qbHZIPUOQPw
• Kamakura Mind Experiences and Concierge website:
• https://www.kamakuramind.com/
• + Kamakura by the sea: Helen Langford 2/2021
• https://youtu.be/D7IH7zAPIoQ
• Inn by the sea website: https://innbytheseakamakura.com/
• + Ingrid Fernandez of Baby Shaman Herbs interview 7/2020
• https://youtu.be/nCm823ZxNvs
• Baby Shaman Herbs online shop: https://babyshaman.handcrafted.jp/

ShoutOuts:

MyMizu clean, good, drinkable water for water bottle refills in Japan- download the MyMizu app

interview with Robin Lewis cofounder 5/2020

https://youtu.be/sy6pm3AY-gk

MyMizu is also active in Beach CleanUps in the Kamakura area- website: https://www.mymizu.co/

SEGO Initiative NPO founder Alana Bonzi interview 6/2020

https://youtu.be/81jlzgkU8FI

http://www.segoinitiative.org/

Recommended:

Garden House Kamakura - 1st restaurant I visited in Japan to ban plastic straws, have smoke-free outdoor eating spaces in the garden and you can find some of Ingrid's signature handmade soaps and beauty products there. Google Map: https://g.page/gardenhouse-kamakura

Magokoro Organic Dining - along the coast road, sit upstairs at the counter for ocean views. Staff friendly and offered to make almost anything on the menu for vegan or vegetarian diners.

Bonus Audio is reading the latest article on Medium about how we can be thinking about the future of tourism and building it back better than it ever was before, in better balance between people-planet-profits. Travel as an important aspect of economic gains, preservation of local assets and social equity building. Is it a pipe dream?

I share stories of travel, frustrations with the status-quo, inspiration for how to extend policies already in place in Japan and how we can also be better travelers in the future.

Read the article on Medium

https://medium.com/@joyjwalsh/attracting-the-right-kind-of-tourist-ba0a237f800a

Elizabeth and Selena are active stray cat trap-neuter-release "'TNR" advocates in Japan who tell us about their stray cat rescue stories and give tips and resources. Watch the video here on YouTube.

Resources mentioned-

• ARK Japan http://www.arkbark.net/en/
• Heart Tokushima https://www.heart-tokushima.com/
• Interview on Seeking Sustainability Live with Heart Tokushima founder Susan Mercer about rescuing cats and dogs as well as TNR services- https://youtu.be/YpnHkdPuC6c
• Japan Cat Network https://japancatnetwork.org/
• Find Selena Hoy on Twitter @aneles
• Interview with writer Selena Hoy https://youtu.be/rnSp2Qk7aX0
• Find Elizabeth Tasker on Twitter @girlandkat
• Interview with astrophysicist Elizabeth Tasker https://youtu.be/seFUAXZ8GPM

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After 2 years of using a TESLA Model 3 EV Electric Vehicle in Japan- do JJ and Scott still recommend the car? Short Answer Yes & this is an even better time to invest as the costs have come down and charging network is increasing to make it even more value for people looking for a new car. Watch the video here.

Read more on InboundAmbassador:

http://www.inboundambassador.com/zero-waste-permaculture-design-forest-garden-evs-stray-cats/

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Casey Bean is a teacher, podcaster, musician and talented forest-gardener who tells us about recreating the space around his home into a gorgeous, diverse forest-garden. Watch the video of our talk here

Casey's Forest Garden Blog https://thesoybean.wordpress.com/

Casey on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/user/caseybean1978

Listen to Casey's Podcast - The Beanpod Podcast

Casey also co-hosts Ishikawa from Summit to Sea Podcast

#forestgarden #ishikawa #japan

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Chirag Batavia is passionate about Permaculture Design and tells us about some of the key concepts and how they applied to a research project with Jack Bayles Alishan Tengu Cafe and Farm facility in Saitama.

Watch the video of this interview here https://youtu.be/EQo2Ut7EcvA

Chirag originally came to Japan as a JET from the UK in 2013 and was based in Kagawa prefecture, he met his wife in the UK and came back to work in Tokyo in IT. Doing an online course in Permaculture Design with Oregon State University has opened his eyes to new potential for finding a balance between people-planet-profits. I look forward to seeing more innovation as Chirag puts these insights to use.

See other talks about permaculture'

• Kyle in Okayama- https://youtu.be/DpPZo6u-1h4
• Farid in Tottori- https://youtu.be/LulfShcPX1A
• & talk with Jack at Alishan Tengu- https://youtu.be/f3Ae-CYKj_E

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Stephanie J Miller talks here about her career with EDGE Sustainable Buildings and Macro planning to Micro changes in her life as an individual which led to her new book- Zero Waste Living the 80/20 Way. A focus on small changes that make sense in your own life that can a huge impact. https://www.zerowasteindc.com/

The responsibility should not be only on the individual of course, but there are important things we can do to change how companies operate and government policies are made by making better choices.

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