Former Interns Run Seed Exchanges in Japan

Sat, 27/11/2010 – Jude Fanton
Seed exchanges are taking off in Japan! We recently received news from Ai Kami, one of our former Japanese interns in Saitama. Ai trained with us for a few weeks at the Seed Centre, Byron Bay in 2003 and reports that she, her husband, Kami, and another former intern, Midori, have initiated local seed swaps in five areas of Japan.
Ai wrote on 29th October 2010:
‘We are trying to encourage small areas in Japan to make their own Local Seed Networks. So far we have had meetings in Ishikawa, Hiroshima (Midori organized this one) and Wakayama.
Kami and I are running one in Nagano next month and then in our local area, Saitama.’
IMAGE: Ai with another Japanese intern, Kaori, at the Seed Centre in 2003
IMAGE: Seed Savers organisers of Japan at a seed event in Chiba, October 2009: Kami at left, then Ai, Michel with their baby Hana, Jude, and three other former interns Masami Sakaban, Megumu Ogata and Mariko Hamiguchi at right.
We last saw Ai and Kami in Chiba Prefecture north of Tokyo in October 2009. They have worked for a small-scale seed company since 2003 and are adept at handling and selecting seeds.