Our Sponsors

We have been very fortunate to have had Yayoi's brother Tsutomu-san agree to act as our sponsor for our application to live in Japan temporarily. Both Tsutomu-san and his wife Atsuko-san have been very good to us and supportive of us. Atsuko-san has always made us very welcome in their home in Ome and has continually fed us much too well. Whenever we leave we feel as though we need to go on a restricted diet.
More than a year ago Tsutomu-san was awarded a prestigious award by the Emperor of Japan for his many years of work in animal nutrition as a professor and university president. On October 28, 2012 his son Naoki drove four of us to Yamanashi-ken to stay overnight at a farm in the shadow of Fuji-san. We were accommodated in "minshuku" style rooms and had a wonderful dinner and breakfast prepared by the staff.
Click on link to see photographs on Picasa.
On the trip here we saw the
Fujigoko fall colours in the Fujigoko (five lake) area, but were unable to see Fuji-san due to foggy atmospheric conditions. But the next morning the sun was peeking over the overwhelming presence of a mountain that seemed to be able to fall over on us. Fresh snow had fallen overnight on the highest elevations of this volcanic mountain enhancing its beauty.
We spent some time touring the farm with its "ushi" cows, "hitsuji" sheep, "uma" horses and a pack of "inu" beagle dogs in an enclosure. With the exception of the latter the animals were chosen to live at this altitude due to their ability to subsist on grass.
Tsutomu-san was instrumental in creating this farm and as the founder still has a lot of respect from the employees and academic staff here. At the "hatake" farm picnic of October 27, 2012 Tsutomu-san was surprised to learn that one of the women here was the niece of the man who donated the land near Fuji-san to the university for its use as a training farm.

Click on link to see photographs on Picasa.

University Farm and Mount Fuji