March Reflection

1. Reading books

I finished five books -two in English and three in Japanese. I struggled a little bit towards the end of the month but still managed to keep up with my monthly goal. The last book on parenting was really good -lots of examples shared by other parents and full of practical tips that I can apply right away.

Books I read:

2. Creating my personal website

I have been lazy writing posts in English here as I have started writing on note.com. I feel great writing something in Japanese, though. I might need to re-think of the personal website.

3. Start preparation for our brewing business

I was going to read Doughnut Economics but that didn’t happen.

We finally contacted the Hidaka-mura yakuba and have set up a video chat with Kondo-san.

Since I finished teaching, I have lot more time during working time. I am planning to learn about sustainability and business on Future Learn during this Spring/Summer.

4. Own less

We are still waiting for the next charity collection. It’s frustrating to see those big plastic bags sitting in the kitchen all the time!

My bike is cleaned and ready to go to a new owner!

Discovering ’note'

I have been enjoying reading posts by Kai (the guy in Hidaka-mura on the kyoryokuta scheme) on note.com, through which I came to know about the platform.

I’ve only read some posts but my impression so far is that writers on note seem to be more keen on sharing their experiences, thoughts and ideas with people with similar interests, compared to those on blogs (though they are certainly people who are using the note as a new blog platform). It seems to me that note users are eager to learn by outputting their knowledge in their own words.

On top of that, I found that there are many writers in the topic of craft beer. Those include who want to record their tasting notes, to write about the industry in general, and/or to be a brewer like Kai. Looking at those posts, I feel it might be a good platform for us to do networking with those craft-beer people.

For now, though, I’ll just explore the platform more and find people that I like to follow.

February Reflection

1. Reading books

This month I managed to finish five books -two in English and three in Japanese. It took a while to finish Attenborough (2020) because I looked up almost all vocabulary that I wasn’t sure of. I haven’t read a book in English this way for a while, but can confirm that it is not so good for me as I easily loose motivations to keep reading, while from time to time I felt good when I could confirm meanings of words. So here is a note for me.. intensive reading is only for a very short reading such as news articles and a chapter of a book, not for an entire book!

I also remembered that I have a Kindle with which I can download e-books from Amazon UK. With this device, it will be much easier to look up words.

Books I read:

2. Creating my personal website

I have written only three notes this month, mainly because 1) I took so long to finish Attenborough (2020) and 2) I was a little addicted to YouTube for the first half of February. In March, I aim to write at least one note per week to reflect my activities. It seems like Monday morning is the best time for me.

3. Start preparation for our brewing business

I haven’t done much in this area, though I learnt about the Doughnut Economics of which framework might be good guidelines for our business planning. I aim to read about it in a book during March.

I assume there aren’t many things I could do in this area at the moment, so perhaps I should more focus on managing and de-cluttering our house.

4. Own less

I have just missed the charity collection service this morning so there are still bags of clothes and shoes. They must go during March!

Now that the weather is much warmer, I shall clean my bike and see if it’s sell-able.

January Reflection

Here is my first monthly reflection of 2021. The purpose of this entry is to remind myself of the new year resolutions, reflect on and evaluate my actions towards the resolutions, and act better in the next month.

1. Reading books

My goal is to read five books monthly (total 60 books). This month I read seven books -two in English and five in Japanese. So far so good.There are a few that I didn’t finish, which include a book that I bought by accident on Amazon jp. The total cost is 5,724 yen. They are all e-books.

Books I read:

Books I bought but didn’t read:

Books I am reading:

2. Creating my personal website

I have written one or two entries weekly and they are reading notes, documentary notes and cooking notes. Writing reading and documentary notes is good as it gives purpose and concentration when I read articles and watch documentary films. Cooking notes are also useful to record adjusted recipes, though they would be nicer with photos.

3. Start preparation for our brewing business

I spoke to Takeshi at the beginning of January and received some advice which is recorded in my website. It is certain that I would need a basic set of book-keeping knowledge and skills so I started reading about it, though I also feel it is not urgent. The book by ふくしままさゆき and his YouTube tutorials are really good. Perhaps I shall study one or two chapters a month.

I read about Triple Bottom Lines (TBL) which I think will be a useful reference when we start our business.

I learnt that there may be a possibility that the Village Office hires me through the scheme as well. In that case, I will need a driving license, too. It seems the entire cost to get a driving license is slightly cheaper here (it would cost approx. £2,000 in Japan at the current rate), so it may not be a bad idea.

I also gathered some information about the new guy with the scheme. I quite like his writing on note. He is quite into environmental issues, too.

4. Own less

Several bags of clothes from our bed room has been donated to charities. We also sorted out documents and now the big, heavy cabinet is empty! I shall tidy up the kitchen and see if I could reduce the amount of small items such as tupperwares.

While reading アフリカの奇跡 by Yoshiyuki Sato, I came across with the term Triple Bottom Line (TBL). It was briefly explained in the book and I found it interesting, so I decided to do a little research on it.

The term was coined by John Elkington, who is often described as “Godfather of Sustainability,” in 1994. The TBL is an accounting framework that measures performance in business in three dimensions: finance (profits), social (people) and environmental (planet). The TBL dimensions are often called the three Ps.

There is no universally accepted method for calculating the three dimensions of the TBL (some advocate a monetary unit, other suggest an index). Collecting applicable data for calculation is also challenging.

While measuring the three Ps is challenging, the concept in return leaves a flexibility for those who have the stomach to use the concept to gauge sustainability as they can apply the concept according to their specific needs and priorities. Particularly, the flexibility allows local projects and communities to encourage economic development growth in a sustainable manner.

I am intrigued to learn more how small businesses and small communities may apply the TBL framework. Also, books by John Elkington, some of which are available in the UoE library, seem interesting.

Reference:

Slaper, Timothy F, & Hall, Tanya J. (2011). The triple bottom line: What is it and how does it work? Indiana Business Review, 86(1), 4.

I read a picture book called えんとつ町のプペル (The Poupelle of Chimney Town) by Akihiro Nishino. What an inspiring story..

The book is not cheap. In fact, it costs more than 2,000 yen and that is very expensive for a picture book. However, the story is available for free in Japanese and English for anyone who can access the internet (https://poupelle.com/book.php). Nishino’s decision on this is really bold, considering the fact that it took four years to finish up the book involving more than 30 artists (you will notice the high quality of the graphics as soon as you see its front cover). Here is my rough translation of a segment of his interview regarding this marketing strategy:

If a picture book author sells more then 5,000 copies of their book, it is regarded as a real hit. But I wondered why picture books don’t sell as much as other books, so I asked myself, who buys picture books? Mostly, mothers. Then I asked, how do they decide which picture books to buy? Then I thought, well, they are too busy to browse books in book stores.. their budgets are probably limited, too, and they may be afraid of accidentally buying books that are not good.. perhaps they buy books that they had read as a kid themselves because they know the stories are good? This is way I decided to release the book for free on the internet. I want people to read my book and judge if it is worth buying before buying it.

That itself is very impressive, but the story is also inspiring and heart-warming. It gives someone the push they need when they feel like nobody but themselves believe they can achieve their dream.

I definitely would love to read this to Islay in the future.

Here is a summary of Step 1-5 in Part 1 of ホントにゼロからの簿記3級.

★Key points

最初に覚えるべき5つの概念、そしてその覚え方：『資産＝負債＋純資産、そしてあとは費用と収益』

★簿記単語帳　Glossary of bookkeeping

We had a chat with the Kuroses and Takeshi kindly gave some practical advice on where to start in our journey to our own brewery. He said there are briefly two aspects to consider when starting a business: procedural and strategical.

1. Procedural aspect

• Check out the village office (村役場) to see what kind of support they can provide e.g. grants.
• Check out the local chamber of commerce (商工会議所). They often hold seminars for members and give practical advice on how to write a business plan.
• If you will need financial supports, consider Japan Finance Cooperation (日本政策金融公庫) and Shinkin Bank (信用金庫) who offer lower interest rates for startups than local banks.

• For a small business that is based in a small community, there is probably no need of an ‘ambitious’ business plan. Rather, you may want to learn about basics of marketing. There are many free tools available on the internet that help you visualise your business (search for ‘business model campus’). You may also teach yourself basics of accounting. Freee is a free accounting software.

Thoughts:

• I found the Hidaka Village Society of Commerce and Industry.
• Also ask Shunpei about it as I remember he mentioned it several times.
• As for grants, financial supports and accounting skills, ask my mum. For accounting, it may be a good idea to buy a book or two on Kindle.

New Year Resolution 2021

1. Reading books

In December 2020, I was able to finish eight books on Kindle and Libby just because I had more time and energy for myself, and I think I finally started becoming fond of reading books. I am proud of this accomplishment as I have always had admiration for those who read a lot. Looking back, keeping a book journal definitely encouraged me to keep reading. I am also realising how important it is to output in my own words what I have gained from the books -it enhances my deeper thinking, memory improvement, and the network in my knowledge. So, to make reading as a habit, I aim to read 60 books (five per month) this year.

2. Creating my personal website

Along with my reading journal, I decided to take notes of ordinary activities and of other input sources such documentaries and news articles on my personal website. It will not be a blog but a purely personal journal for my own benefits so that I can organise my knowledge and thoughts. I will write them in English so that I can improve my English.

3. Start preparation for our brewing business

Here is my role for our future plan to move to Japan by 2022 April -gathering more information about establishing our own brewery/taproom as well as learning about starting a small business. To start with, it may be a good idea to speak to Takeshi and get some advice on where to start. It would be wonderful if we can work out a rough roadmap.

4. Own less

One of the books I read in December 2020, The More of Less by Joshua Becker, inspired me to have less stuff to promote the things I most value in my life. We already decluttered our bed room mostly and since it felt absolutely great, I shall keep decluttering stuff we own. Particularly, small items such as jewelry, craft stuff and kitchen utensils and appliance. I should definitely remove my bike before the end of 2021!