Category Archives: Japan

Japan Footpath Association is ten

Posted on 18/02/2020 by campaignerkate

I made a video to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the Japan Footpath Association. Continue reading →

Posted in Access, campaigns, Japan, Obstructed path, Open Spaces Society, Public paths, Ramblers, Walkers Are Welcome Towns, walking | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

Japan welcomes walkers

Posted on 23/12/2018 by campaignerkate

Friends from the Japan Footpath Association and Walkers Are Welcome visited the Chilterns to talk about paths and promoting walking Continue reading →

Posted in Access, Japan, Public paths, Ramblers, Turville, Walkers Are Welcome Towns, walking | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

A humane, welcoming landscape

Posted on 20/10/2017 by campaignerkate

The contributions of our Japanese guests to the Walkers Are Welcome tenth-anniversary get-together were outstanding. Takashi Oda, interpreter and tour guide, spoke about Hebden Bridge in Calderdale seen with a foreigner’s eyes.  Hebden Bridge was the first Walkers Are Welcome … Continue reading →

Posted in Access, Japan, Walkers Are Welcome Towns, walking | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Walkers Are Welcome goes international

Posted on 07/02/2015 by campaignerkate

I have learnt the joy of walking the footpaths.  Through walking you realise the beauty and abundance of nature.  I would like to spread the culture of walking in Japan. So said Ms Ruriko Izawa, member of the planning committee … Continue reading →

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A new inclosure-movement?

Posted on 31/10/2013 by campaignerkate

A century and a half ago we thought the inclosures were coming to an end—about the time that the Open Spaces Society was formed. Indeed, I said as much in Japan to an international audience on commons, and commiserated with … Continue reading →

Posted in Access, Defra, green spaces, Japan, National parks, open spaces, planning | Tagged , , , | 6 Comments

Global commons and their communities

Posted on 28/07/2013 by campaignerkate

What is the role of community-based organisations (CBOs) in protecting and managing commons, and how do they relate to non-governmental organisations (NGOs)?  At the recent conference of the International Association for the Study of the Commons in Japan, I chaired … Continue reading →

Posted in common land, International Association for the Study of the Commons, Japan | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Kikigaki: making history now

Posted on 22/06/2013 by campaignerkate

Kikigaki is Japanese for ‘listening and writing’.  At the conference of the International Association for the Study of the Commons at Kitafuji there was a display of posters with stories of people who lived and worked locally on the slopes … Continue reading →

Posted in common land, Japan, Woods and forests | Tagged | 6 Comments

Random reflections on life in Japan

Posted on 19/06/2013 by campaignerkate

Japan is a friendly, polite country; it feels safe.  In Fujiyoshida few people spoke English, but they made a great effort to understand and be understood. The menus, which would otherwise have been unintelligible, were much helped by illustrations.  Outside some … Continue reading →

Posted in Japan | 2 Comments

The boundary between heaven and earth

Posted on 14/06/2013 by campaignerkate

The fifth station on Mount Fuji (Tenchinosakai) is said to be ‘the boundary between heaven and earth’.  It’s a shame that it has been so abused.  This is where the vehicular road ends, and the site is dominated by a … Continue reading →

Posted in Access, common land, Japan, walking | Tagged | 1 Comment

Lin’s legacy

Posted on 07/06/2013 by campaignerkate

On 5 June, on behalf of the Open Spaces Society I received the international Elinor Ostrom Award for the society’s work on commons.  This was at the 14th global conference of the International Association for the Study of the Commons … Continue reading →

Posted in common land, Elinor Ostrom, Foundation for Common land, International Association for the Study of the Commons, Japan, Open Spaces Society | Tagged , , | 1 Comment