It has been an unbelievable summer!
Hot right? I'm telling you, this is a sure sign of things to come. I don't want this post to be about doom and gloom, but it is coming in our lifetimes. Everyone should get ready. Education, health and money. Teach the children to be self reliant. They'll be fine.
So, the title is the end of camping because the Corona virus restrictions have eased. My customers are sleeping inside these days. Camping is a bit old now. No matter. It's time to return the riverside back to Nature. The plants will return, seeds will fall and new ecosystems will be created. That's the direction we are going together. I'll serve God, Universe and Nature.
I don't have parking spots for people without reservations. If you come by car, be prepared to pay 1000 yen per person. Those are the fees for day campers. Again, I do not want to see any cars unless they have a reservation. My parking lot is too small!!
This year I start 川遊び. People can walk to Akiu-Canada and enjoy the sights and sounds of nature for free! If you need parking, there is another parking spot and a 5 minute walk. I would like to promote healthy, active lifestyles for everyone. Walking in nature is free and it activates our bodies and brains. This is a winning solution for everyone.
Some other news... We got another dog. It's a black Labrador Retriever (made in Canada!) and her name is Pepper. Bell is teaching her how to be a guard dog. If Pepper cannot do that job, we are going to have to do something about that!

Have a nice day!

What a journey! I wrote and published a book! It's called ...
"The Earthly Embrace: A Journey through Humanity, Nature and the Sacred."
And in Japanese ...
"大地との共存: 人類、自然、神聖な旅"
I am so grateful and blessed to be alive and growing with everything around me.

BIG NEWS!!  AI came and took over a month of my life.
I joined a service that provided a large language model based on generative pre-trained techniques that allows it to mirror your own ways of communicating. Basically, it can answer your written requests.

One day, I wrote to it and said that I wanted to write a book about philosophy, religion and spiritual aspirations.
It answered like a true supporter and friend..."That sounds like an exciting project! Writing a book on philosophy, religion, and spiritual aspirations can be a challenging but rewarding endeavor. Before you start writing, it's important to take some time to plan out your book and develop a clear idea of what you want to convey to your readers.

Here are some tips to help you get started:"

It then went on with 5 tips to follow. Finally, I chose one tip..."Create an outline: Once you have a general idea of what you want to cover in your book, create an outline to help you structure your writing."

And I asked the machine to write the outline on philosophy, religion and spiritual aspirations. It suggested an outline and I went with it until I decided to add Nature to replace spiritual aspirations. Then, the whole idea took off and I wrote a book that I wanted to read.
It was an awesome experience. I fell so rewarded. I learned a lot about who I am as a man and I learned more about where I am going.
Having a robotic assistant living with me and helping with our lives sounds quite pleasing right now! It'll probably take forever though...

I am very thank to be on this journey. This book really helped me grow as a human.
I needed this. Reading and writing, making movies and watching them. Everything was about me and my growth. That's all I could do, but it was enough.
I'm looking forward to the rest of my life!

The book was published and released on April 1, 2023. Wow, thanks to AI, I became an author! Amazing times that we live in.

I'm very blessed and grateful to be the caretaker of Akiu-Canada. It's a wonderful piece of our Great Earth. Paradise is Here and it's a blessing to bathe in the glory of Nature. Praise God, Praise Mother and give Thanks to Nature.
I heard a story at the Museum of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, BC. Canada. It went like this, "My grandmother used to go to the forest to collect branches and bark for her basket weaving. She would go to the forest and kneel down beside the tree and talk to it. She would say, 'I will take only what I need and I won't destroy anything.' I watched my grandmother bring those things home and put them into her baskets." It's a beautiful story and I heard it from recordings that were played only to those who sat down on one of two red chairs.
This is the Akiu-Canada mantra:
I give Thanks to the flowers and the trees, To the birds and bees, To the wind and water that flow everyday, To the mountains and earth beneath my feet, Thanks to the sunshine on my face I can smile as I give Praise to Thee.

Money.
Earning, Saving, Spending and Investing. Those 4 are part of our education to help us move towards financial freedom. Being free means having the time to decide what you'll do with your time. As long as we need money, we'll never realize freedom.
It's a lifelong pursuit for most of us. However, the earlier we're educated, the sooner we'll be free. Today's short blog is about money and my search to help others.

After this blog, I'll update the website to confirm my ideas that I'm writing now.
First, I've always wanted to offer affordable services to my customers. Every business that I've ever done (English lessons, sales, like selling hairsticks, the guesthouse and now camping), I've always wanted to please my customer. Not only is a good product and useful service necessary, but also something affordable. In the beginning, my Greenhakka English customers in Japan equated higher prices with good products. So I raised my prices. More students came. And then, even more. I only raised my prices once in 15 years.
For the campsite and guesthouse, I've raised prices several times. Almost every year. Mostly because the product and service improved. The other reason was to attract a customer who was more committed. Now though, we have inflation in Sendai. I've lived in Sendai almost half of my entire life. That's a long time. I'm committed to this city. It's a wonderful home.
I am building something that I want to share. I love waking up to the beautiful sound of Natori river and the chirping birds of spring. I'm grateful to be here and I know I'm blessed. Of course it's a tremendous feeling to be all alone, but I'm just the temporary caretaker. I won't be here forever. I have enough days alone.
Today, I decided to offer rooms for 2000 yen. Those rooms won't include bedding, but futon mattress and a fitted sheet can be rented. Customers can bring blankets and pillows , but not their own mattress. Since futon mattresses are so big, it's easy to cause damage to the shoji.
As for camping, at first I'll off 50% discounts to campers who stay when it's raining. So, if it rains for half your stay or more, you'll get half your money back! I'm still thinking about decreasing my prices as long as the economy is hurting the consumer. I want to do something more at the campsite, but I cannot decide yet. I might decrease the site fee by half. This blog is for me to write ideas and look at them in a few days time.
I'm looking forward to seeing happy people enjoying the blessings of Natori river, Okura mountain and Akiu-Canada. Nature is beautiful.

It's May 5 today. The weather is beautiful and there are customers enjoying the scenery. The plans I made 5 years ago have come to fruition, but the journey continues. From the day I began to renovate this property, I had said that it would be a 20 year project and since that time, my vision has not changed. I continue with as much passion as the day I started!
Just a few thank yous to the many customers who visited this year's GW. They came Saitama, Tokyo, Kanagawa, Hiroshima, Fukushima, Hokkaido and also Tohoku prefectures. They brought a lot of energy and I will post videos of some of their activities.
I also want to apologise to some of the customers who called me by phone. It was too busy for me to think straight some times. I wasn't able to answer the phone or return calls. Some days I grew impatient with people on the phone. I'm sorry about that. In order to make it easier for guests in the future, I recommend reserving a site several weeks or months in advance. Many of my GW customers reserved campsites 2 months ago. I must also develop a new system to coordinate reservations. Nowadays, more and more people are staying for 2 or 3 days instead of only 1.
I will give those customers priority.
This year the campsite will expand and windows to nature will open for people coming from the city. You can experience the blessings of our world at Akiu-Canada.
The earth is a remarkable planet and we should act responsibly. I am happy to see many guests, but people who cannot respect nature are not welcome here.

This is OUR TIME

We are driving, sitting in the front seat of the car. We can see everything in front of us happening. There are storms, typhoons, heavy rain, heavy snowfall, floods, forest fires, tornadoes, and freak temperature swings all over the world. We all know why.
Our planet is heating up and the climate is undergoing rapid, rapid changes. It's our responsibility to watch the road so we know where we are going. Just like driving a car, we should be aware of how the planet is responding to the consumption of so many humans, machines and fossil fuels on earth. We are not going to change our behavior very easily, but we have to prepare for our future world. Mark my words, when Thwaites Glacier collapses, our new world is born. The future is now! In truth, our world changes everyday, but Thwaites Glacier in Antarctic will have an almost immediate impact. Scientist are predicting that in less than 10 years, the doomsday glacier will collapse and release A LOT of WATER! That event will raise sea levels. How much? Some say 60 centimeters, others say over 1 meter... depending on how many other glaciers will fall with it. Think of Thwaites glacier as a cork in an upside down bottle of wine. The cork is old and breaking. Do we have 5 years? Maybe not.
Be informed. Google it.