After ten days at Konohana Family, I feel refreshed and rejuvenated. Located at the foot of Mt. Fuji, this community of almost 80 members is completely food self-sufficient; so one of the things I enjoyed during my stay was wonderful fresh, organic vegetarian meals made with love by the kitchen staff. But more important to me than the food was the hospitality: I was welcomed by the entire community with smiles all around, and treated with care and generosity throughout my stay. As I watched the daily activities of members of Konohana Family, I noticed that everyone seemed happy and content. The children are strong, healthy, happy and positively engaged in the world; and the adults seem to enjoy every activity they undertake, even the most mundane. And no matter how busy they were, everyone I met was willing to take the time to share their life story with me. The energy of the place is contagious, and I am grateful that I caught some of it!
Currently I’m studying my Phd in physics in USA. During this summer (May 2014), I stayed in Konohana family as an “helper” to study how to create an eco-village.
Konohama family is an amazing place! It has totally opposite values compared with the current mainstream. Life here is full of love and wisdom. Love here is beyond race, religion, and nationality. People here neither favor nor suppress any particular religion or school. What they value is that people should learn how to love each other. They show people that if all human beings choose collaboration instead of competition, and devotion instead of egoism, All human beings can truly live happily together.
お茶会などの日本文化も体験
In a word, lifestyle here is the best in my knowledge and is progressing towards an even higher level. Many people who got serious physical or mental diseases that showed little improvement after conventional medical care came here can magically recovered merely after a normal stay of several months. More amazingly, people here even spread their love to plants: they care plants just like caring a baby! In addition, according to my many touches with the creator of this community, he is absolutely not rigorous or rude, instead, he is humorous, and peaceful almost all the time.
To many awesome things here that beyond my words. According to my knowledge, most of the journalists only stayed here for less than one day before they wrote the reports. However, the fact is that such a profound community can hardly be understood within one day and by purely talking to people here. So, I suggest that any journalist or individual who want to know the truth regarding this community should, like me, stay here for at least one week as a helper to experience the details here before writing a pice of article that seems superficial and distorted by pressures from “social reality” and personal desires.