2026.8.18. [Second Goal Achieved — Toward a Final Goal of ¥5,000,000]

We would like to express our heartfelt thanks for everyone's warm support.

We reached our original goal of ¥1,000,000 for the Western Japan Study Tour's travel costs on the very first day, and in just 12 days, we also achieved our Second Goal of ¥2,200,000, covering accommodation, meals, and program costs. Thank you so much.

Through this support, we have once again realized just how many people resonate not only with the Western Japan Study Tour itself, but with the kind of society and learning that Asian Rural Institute strives for.

Both after the campaign launched and after we reached our goals, more and more supporters — including our support-funding partners — have been sharing their own words about Asian Rural Institute through their voices and messages of encouragement, day by day. This is creating new opportunities to introduce ARI's work to people who haven't encountered it before.

And so, as the final challenge of this campaign, we have decided to set

a Final Goal of ¥5,000,000.

By reaching ¥2,200,000, we have secured the funds needed to carry out the Western Japan Study Tour itself.

At the same time, welcoming rural community leaders from around the world to Asian Rural Institute and supporting their nine months of learning and life here requires a great deal of support every year.

For reference, the cost of supporting 25 participants through nine months of learning is approximately ¥50,000,000 per year.

[Cost per participant: approximately ¥2,000,000]

Practicum & tuition: ¥1,040,000 / Dormitory & health insurance: ¥330,000 / Food: ¥270,000 / Travel: ¥360,000

This Final Goal of ¥5,000,000 is not being set because there is a shortfall in funding for the Western Japan Study Tour itself. Rather, it is our last challenge — an opportunity made possible by support that exceeded our expectations — to help even more people learn about what Asian Rural Institute shares, and to further widen the circle of support.

Precisely because the world today is shaken by division and conflict, we want to nurture leaders who can live kindly with their neighbors.

And we hope that supporting Asian Rural Institute can become, for you, one way to help change the world.

A Final Goal of ¥5,000,000 — this is the last target of this campaign.

We would be so grateful for your continued support.

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2026.8.1. "What We Want to Achieve with This Project"

Since its founding in 1973, Asian Rural Institute (ARI) has been a training school where "rural community leaders" from Asia, Africa, Latin America, and other regions gather to build leadership skills.

Guided by the principle that "cultivating local leaders is essential for rural self-reliance," we invite next-generation leaders working in grassroots NGOs—tackling challenges like hunger, poverty, discrimination, climate change, conflict, and gender inequality—to our campus in Nasushiobara City, Tochigi Prefecture. Through a community lifestyle centered around agriculture, we train them to drive problem-solving and sustainable development.

As the culmination of their nine-month training program (April to December), ARI has conducted the "West Japan Study Tour" every November.

Over 12 days, Participants travel 3,000 km round-trip in a minibus, visiting locations such as Minamata, Hiroshima, and Osaka to learn about "the history of pain and rebirth." This experience offers an invaluable learning opportunity where Participants realize, "This is happening in my country too," prompting them to recognize the negative side effects of development and reflect deeply on sustainable development and their role as leaders.

However, this year, our anticipated grant application was not selected. Combined with recent inflation, rising prices, and the weak yen, we find ourselves needing your help more than ever.

In a world shaken by division and conflict, we want to nurture "leaders who live compassionately with their neighbors." To safeguard this learning opportunity for these 22 rural community leaders, please lend us your support.

Who is your neighbor?

Conflict, discrimination, social division... the world we live in is filled with pain and groaning. How can we cultivate the kindness needed to notice and stand beside someone who is overlooked in our daily lives?

ARI Participants are leaders who will eventually support the lives and livelihoods of hundreds or even thousands of people back home. For them to step beyond the challenges of their own countries and deeply confront Japan's reality and history—that is the purpose of the West Japan Study Tour: a journey to learn what it truly means to "live compassionately with our neighbors."

West Japan Study Tour — Facing Japan's "Pain and Rebirth" Across 3,000 km

This is not merely a sightseeing trip across Japan. Participants visit sites where people have suffered pain throughout Japanese history and have fought to rise again. It is an opportunity to meet people who strive to stand by their neighbors, to see with their own eyes, to dialogue, and to experience things firsthand.

[Machida | Theological Seminary for the Rural Mission] Keeping the small light of rural communities burning

A visit to ARI's origin. Experiencing with all five senses the educational vision born from post-war atonement and prayers for "coexistence."

[Hamamatsu | Seirei Social Welfare Corporation] Standing by those with illness and pain

Through its history museum and exchanges with Seirei Christopher Junior and Senior High School, Participants learn about Tamotsu Hasegawa—founder of Seirei and a pioneer of Japanese healthcare and social welfare—his philosophy, and the organization's wide-ranging community contributions.

[Iga | Aino Gakuen Agricultural High School] Learning agriculture and nurturing life

Exchanging with students from Japan's only private organic agricultural high school. Sharing sustainable farming techniques that protect natural cycles and support communities.

[Osaka | NPO Kamagasaki Support Center, Kansai Okinawa Bunko, Korea NGO Center, etc.] Carrying the history of marginalized communities

Confronting human rights issues and the history of discrimination with honesty, learning the wisdom needed for people of diverse backgrounds to live together. (Cooperation: Osaka YMCA)

[Minamata | Karatachi, Minamata Disease Museum, Kibou/Mirai/Minamata, etc.] Fighting against pollution and environmental damage

Listening directly to the voices of Minamata disease victims, engraving in their hearts a strong resolve and environmental ethic: "No lives should be sacrificed in the shadow of economic growth."

[Hiroshima | Peace Memorial Museum, Peace Memorial Park, etc.] Passing down the scars of war

Listening to the words of atomic bomb survivors (Hibakusha storytellers), learning the tragedy of war and the preciousness of peace, and renewing their vows as leaders of peace.

"This is happening in my country."

Participants returning from the West Japan Study Tour often say:

"Even though I was looking at Japan, it felt like I was looking at my own country."

People fighting pollution,

people carrying histories of discrimination,

people passing down the scars of war.

Though their countries and social contexts differ, the suffering people endure shares deep commonalities. That is why their learning in Japan connects directly to their work after returning home.

After graduation, tilling fields with local people, raising youth, supporting women's independence, and building peace—this is how ARI-trained rural community leaders "live compassionately with their neighbors."

Change Myself. Change the World.

The lessons gained from this tour never end with just a single Participant.

• Learning transforms the individual,
• The transformed individual transforms their local community,
• And together, they transform the world for the next generation.

Knowledge is passed from person to person, eventually becoming the power to transform entire communities.

Creating a world where we "live compassionately with our neighbors."

Change myself. Change the world.

Please join this circle of change.

Why Support Is Needed Now

This year, a regular grant for the West Japan Study Tour was suddenly unavailable. Combined with rising inflation, the weak yen, and increasing costs for travel and lodging, we need your help more than ever.

Even so, we want to provide our Participants with this invaluable opportunity for connection and transformation. Your support will make a meaningful difference.

Your Donation Shapes the Future of Global Communities

You are not just supporting a 12-day journey for 22 Participants from 13 countries. You are supporting the future of the hundreds and thousands of community members those Participants will touch upon returning home.

• One leader learning can spark the transformation of a village.
• One village changing leads to a world that gradually transforms with kindness.

"Living compassionately with our neighbors" also means entrusting hope to the lives of people far away.

Please help us pass this learning on to the future.

We humbly ask for your warm support.

From all of us at the Asian Rural Institute (ARI)

Tax Benefits (For Japanese Taxpayers)

Asian Rural Institute is certified as a "Designated Public Benefit Organization" (Tokutei Koueki Zoushin Houjin). Donations to this project qualify for tax deductions in Japan.

• For Individuals: Up to approximately 50% of your donation can be returned via tax refund (income and resident tax deductions) by filing a tax return.
• For Corporations: Donations can be entered as expenses under a special deduction category separate from general donations, providing a tax reduction effect of up to approximately 30%.

*A "Donation Receipt" will be mailed to all supporters at a later date.