Help Wanted

Fall is here. The colors are changing just short of 1,000 meters. the air is crisp, and despite finally putting the stove away a month ago, it is time to get it out again.

The wall nuts, and chestnuts, and acorns and mukago (Dioscorea) are waiting for us to gather them, and that is just what we will do today now that the typhoon has passed and we have a sunny day. Its really nice to be on paternity leave, and be able to focus on getting ready for winter (and our daughter, of course!), cleaning the house, finishing up the last minute farming chores, and planning for next years One Life Japan activities.

With Tomoe being busy with the baby, I think that instead of doing so many all-inclusive family trips, which take up a lot of her time, we will try to make a longer one-month Outward Bound style "rough" trip where young people can study and use Japanese as they ride around Japan camping and crashing wherever there is a hot bath nearby (parks, cemeteries, shrines, etc.)

If anyone reading this is a relatively fit multi-lingual (English / Japanese) that can swing two months in the summer next year, and would like a job as assistant guide or Japanese teacher, please let me know. Dates and salary are not yet calculated. The trip will most likely be four to six weeks, and we will need you to spend about two weeks preparing and going over the course and details.

I will make a more "formal" job opening announcement once I have had some time to really figure out what is needed, but I just thought I would throw it out there.

These photos are from our last customers of the year, and it couldn't have been a better group. It was just two (father and son) which made it really easy, and they totally lived up to my expectations of Australians (although the father is actually originally from England). These are the first customers to actually be excited about staying in the shrine by our house despite having a warm futon waiting for them indoors. A great way to end the year for me.