000013 (by shinpson)
Autumn foliage in Chusonji temple by shimo_yoshi on Flickr.
(Source: charizardxqueen)
Bending Borders Showcase: Bonds of Friendship >>
In the summer of 2012, students from 40 American high schools took a two-week trip to Japan sponsored by The Laurasian Institution and The Japan Foundation Center for Global Partnership. In the coming weeks, we will be featuring some up-close-and-personal accounts of the Kizuna (Bonds of Friendship) project and hope these stories will inspire others to share their stories.
Kizuna Project
Recently, I traveled to Japan on a trip paid for by the Japanese government. It was a project by the Laurasian institute, called the Kizuna Project. High Schools were picked to send 23 students each to Japan on an all expense-paid trip to Japan. My school was picked, and my Japanese teacher picked 23 students to send to Japan.
Kizuna (絆) means ‘bond’ in Japanese.
I went for two weeks, from July 1 to the 14th, and did a lot of touring around and sightseeing. We also attended many lectures and learned about the 2011 earthquake and tsunami - what it was like during, after, and now; and about disasters in general. We visited two high schools, and Fukushima and affected areas.
It was really an amazing trip. After I got there, I learned that one of the main focuses of the trip is to show that Japan is safe, thriving, and beautiful, and to quash the false rumors about the country.
I am going to use this blog to write and post pictures and share my trip to Japan.
(Source: plethoraofchains)
► あけましておめでとう 2012
Entry by catShred
“Some question why scarce resources should be devoted to saving animals when gas shortages are endemic and human beings have so many needs,” Mark Magnier reports from Miyako, Japan. “Their response: The welfare of animals and people are often integrally linked.”
Photo: A volunteer rescue worker rescued this small brown dog in the debris fields of Natori, Japan. A loose network of groups is working to assist animals stressed by the ordeal and, in some cases, separated from their owners. Credit: Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times
