Sustainable Travel Japan

So many great insights here from a daytrip to Miyoshi, Hiroshima Japan to watch the craftspeople build a traditional Japanese Cormorant Fishing boat

Visitors and new residents to Japan are often surprised to see so many wonderfully cute and bizarre characters in Japan and the characterization of everything from safety announcements to tourism promotion.

Dr.Debra Occhi has been studying the Japan world of characters for many years and shares some of her insights on the historical connections as well as how these characters function in business as well as for the benefit of society.

First of our 30-min Short-Takes series episode for 2026

In this episode JJ & Tove give their predictions for Sustainable Japan 2026: Food Diversity - Zero-Waste - CleanTech - GenderEquity - Apps - Minka - Traditional Rural Japan Travel - Japan EV's - Innovation - Entrepreneurs - Biodiversity

=Tove's top 5=

1) TooGoodToGo Food Waste/Loss App Launches in Japan / https://www.toogoodtogo.com/ja

2) Multi-lateral Thinking to Sustainability - like the IKEA 2050 Project / https://www.ikea.com/jp/en/this-is-ikea/community-engagement/life-at-home-2050-pub2ef982b0/

3) UpScrolled App - More Sustainable Social Media / https://upscrolled.com/en/faq/

4) Women-Positive Events on the Rise - IchigoBloom / Joconne / Rocklit https://www.rocklit.com/ https://luma.com/8jcxj6ef

5) Biodiversity-Forward BIODIVERSIFY https://biodiversify.com/

=JJ's top 5=

1) Japan EV's 2026 - HONDA - Mazda - Suzuki - Nissan - Toyota all have exciting cars in JAPAN

2) Sustainable Travel Innovation - The Japan Travel Awards 2026 - event 2/12/2026 / https://japantravelawards.com/en/home

3) Traditional Japanese MINKA houses, craftspeople, rural living, sustainable travel - Minka Summit event 4/24-26/2026 / https://kominkajapan.online/events/

4) CleanTech Innovation - Smart Energy - Green Entrepreneurs - Events in Tokyo-Chiba-Osaka https://www.wsew.jp/hub/en-gb.html

5) PlantBased Vegan Vegetarian Forward Eateries - VeganOsaka delivers https://www.veganosaka.com/en / Japan Times article on plantbased vegan rise japan https://www.japantimes.co.jp/environment/2025/01/29/sustainability/veganism-rise-japan-climate/

--------------- JJWalsh's Inbound Ambassador Website: https://inboundambassador.com/

Douglas Brooks had a roommate from Hiroshima at University and when he first visited Japan as a backpacker he got bored of the typical sightseeing, but fascinated by wooden traditional Japanese boats he found his way into an apprenticeship. This has led to 9 apprentices with traditional wooden boatbuilders in Japan - often as their only and last apprentice before they retire.

https://www.douglasbrooksboatbuilding.com/

Rachel Nicholson shares insights on her work with Hiroshima Kagura performances - she translates the story subtitles to English and hosts the live shows every wednesday night in Hiroshima city.

LINKS https://www.rccbc.co.jp/event/kagura/en/

This is the website for the Wednesday Night Kagura performances (that start on 4/1) https://www.hiroshima-kagura.jp/en/

This is the big “what is Kagura” for Hiroshima website Notes from Rachel about Hiroshima Kagura: As for favorite performances, here are some videos my top 3:

1. Ox-Baby - Ushi-gozen (Asahi-ga-Oka Kagura Troupe)
2. Lady Takiyasha (Kaminakachōshi Kagura Troupe)
3. Maple Leaf-Viewing Party (Miyanoki Kagura Troupe)

Welcome to a new year of Seek-Sustainable-Japan - here are some dreams and thoughts as we start the year as best we can- hope it's a good one for all of us!

Feel free to drop comments or questions to me somewhere & I will give you a shoutout in the next episode!

LINKS: #seeksustainablejapan on YouTube #inboundambassador on IG & FB #jjwalsh on BlueSky

Our top picks of Sustainable Japan for 2025 - enjoy!

Did we miss your faves? Please let us know and we will give you a shoutout in the next episode!

LINKS: #seeksustainablejapan on YouTube #inboundambassador on IG & FB #jjwalsh on BlueSky

Wonderful discussion here with educator, author, architect & artist Azby Brown where he shares his deep insights into the beauty and meaningful design of traditional buildings and art where you can see the I WAS HERE mark of the human who crafted it. There is a warning here from Azby Brown about our fast shift to destroy these handcrafted things of value (like MINKA) in the rush to embrace technology and AI - this will not make us happy and will DESKILL and UNSKILL us.

LINKS

Azby Brown https://azbybrown.com/about/

Sustainable Japan Topics for November in 30-min chat with JJ & Tove - two sustainability focused consultants / educators based in two different areas of Japan

Monthly chat about sustainability trends, innovation, events and issues for Japan & beyond with JJWalsh & Tove Kinooka / Topics & Updates - November 2025

LINKS

• The Conduit - Climate and Conflict https://www.theconduit.com/programme/...
• The Burning Question: Climate & Conflict   
•  • The Burning Question: Climate and Conflict  
• Talk with traditional-Japanese design expert author-architecht Azby Brown about how Humans connect to human-made things   
•  • Hand Crafted Design Appeal of Traditional ...  
• Blacksmith in Fukuyama:  
•  / akitakazuyoshi  
• Deep Travel Experience with Alex Kerr in Kagawa via ONESTORY  
•  / onestorytraveller  
• LinkedIn Univ Exeter COP30 Summary https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/exeter...
• Home- Work Village https://homeworkvillage.com/

Kominka Japan has set the date for the annual Hanase Village Minka celebration in Rural Kyoto for the weekend of April 24,25,26 2026 - save the date!

Tickets are now on sale and you can get a discount if you buy before the end of 2025

https://kominkajapan.online/events/

LINKS:

My talk with Paul & Kim Fredale about their stunning home and garden renovation: https://youtube.com/live/yjVcsFL09sU

Buy your MINKA SUMMIT 2026 tickets, dinner tickets, lunch tickets.. on Peatix:

https://minka-summit-2026.peatix.com/

Some Highlights of the event to be announced in the show:

· Speaker Presentations

· Minka and Machiya Tours!

· Hands-On Workshop Demonstrations!

· Minka Mall!

· Friday Night Meet-and-Greet

· Saturday Night Dinner & Keynote Speech

About Stuart Galbraith from KominkaJapan website

Stuart Galbraith IV is a film historian who has lived in his 1810 minka in the mountains north of Kyoto since 2016 with his wife, Yukiyo, and daughter, Sadie. He is the author of seven books, including The Emperor and the Wolf – The Lives and Films of Akira Kurosawa and Toshiro Mifune and Japanese Cinema and a co-writer of Academy Award-winner Steven Okazaki’s documentary Mifune – The Last Samurai (2015). A former archivist for Warner Bros. and MGM, Galbraith writes reviews for the website The Digital Bits and frequently does audio commentaries and produces short documentaries for DVD, Blu-ray, and 4K releases, including such films as Kurosawa’s Rashomon, Sanjuro, and Dersu Uzala, Kinji Fukasaku’s Battles without Honor and Humanity, Martin Scorsese’s Silence, and Joshua Logan’s Sayonara. His most recent credit is an audio commentary for the Powell & Pressburger classic A Matter of Life and Death. He also wrote and produced the documentary short, The Minka of Gaijin Alley (2019).