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Where can Fukai Kankei Take You Today?
Click below to learn more about our mission, our programs, and the opporunties we offer.
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About
Why choose Fukai Kankei to start your own "deep relationship" with Japan?
At Fukai Kankei Taiken("Deeply Connected Experiences"), we're driven to get beyond Japan's tourist facade. Leveraging our founder's 3-decade long relationships around Japan, we go deep into the Japanese culture. Rather than checking another tourist landmark off a list, we spend hours cooking together with Japanese friends, walking the streets of tsunami-ravaged Tohoku towns with those that were there that day, or living with a 5th generation Buddhist monk who is a world renowned authority on Rinzai Zen Buddhism.
We deepen the experience further by extensive preparation. The 6 months of weekly language, culture, and history classes before the trip ensure that you're ready to understand what you're experiencing more fully.
How do we "Go Deep?"
Getting Beyond Tatemae to Honne
The concepts of "tatemae" (建前 "what you build in front") and "honne" (本音 "true sound" - what truly resonates for you) - are core parts of historic Japanese culture. "Tatemae" is what one presents to the world - a face that welcomes visitors in, but keeps them at a comfortable distance. You cannot see or hear "honne," but you can come to know it through shared experiences.
Here are a few ways we build shared experiences that go beyond "tatemae."
Seeing the historic roots - understanding what Japan used to be - and still is.
Rather than seeing Japanese history in a book or museum, we find those who have lived it, and share their experiences.
We spend an afternoon with Nomura Reiko-sama, an 86-year old "Ama" diver, and learn about the rapidly disappearing skin divers of Mie Prefecture. The art and lifestyle of harvesting seafood from the ocean floor by hand will be gone in the next few decades, as it's been replaced by mechanized aquaculture.
Living Arts and Culture
Japan has a rich culture of art and performance. There are museums with unparalleled collections of sumi-e and ukiyo-e works there. It would be a great opportunity to visit these collections, and see them. However...
We explore these media by spending a morning with renowned woodblock printer Takenaka Kenji, experiencing the creation of "Ukiyo-e," rather than just seeing it in a museum. Takenaka-san's family has produced a work designated a Japanese National Treasure by the government of Japan.
Experiencing Cultural Context
Japanese "Matsuri" festivals are a wonderful way to experience something essential to Japanese culture - many festivals have happened annually for hundreds of years. Just being present is a wonderful cultural experience, however...
We will be seeing and hearing Taiko drums at the various festivals we will be attending. By the time we get to the festival, we'll know the effort, athleticism, and focused mindset that goes into creating this deeply atmospheric sound, having invested time earlier in the journey learning to play the Taiko ourselves.
