10 Ways to Make Friends Who Care About Sustainability in Japan
Are you an eco-conscious person feeling lonely in Tokyo? It's true that finding friends who have similar values as yours could be very difficult. Even for outgoing people like me, the likelihood of encountering other eco-warriors by chance is astronomically low. This means we need to take action to meet new people, not only waiting for someone to appear in front of us like a movie.
But how?
Let’s walk through this post to learn how to make good friends in Japan, especially in Tokyo. I hope it helps!
1. Attend environmental NGO/NPO events
I would say this is the easiest way to meet like-minded people. When I joined a climate protesters march in 2019, I saw thousands of passionate warriors there✊ It seemed the swarm consisted of only 20% to 30% of local, Japanese people so you may want to join NPO events if you want more Japanese friends.
FYI, lots of Japanese NPOs are dealing with domestic problems while NGOs are more international. When I search for nature-conscious NGO/NPO, I use these keywords:
里山（artificial forest, forest very close to the towns）
森林保全（forest conservation）
海岸清掃（beach clean）
気候変動（climate change）
温暖化（global warming）
湖（lake）
野生（wild）
保護（protection）
環境（environment）
ボランティア（volunteering）
If you are worried about the language barrier, I think NGO events have more English speakers. Let me introduce 3 environmental NGOs:
FoE Japan
They are a worldwide environmental NGO which often organizes hiking events in and around Tokyo. You can meet new people just by joining their events. Don't forget to buy leisure insurance yourself. It's usually cheap.
Greenpeace
They are another big environmental NGO. It seems they sometimes hold events in Tokyo.
350
This NGO also plans many events, either online or offline.
2. Join local eco-friendly events
Besides NGOs and NPOs, lots of local earth-friendly people also throw nice events. Those people often use Facebook to advertise. If you are looking for fun activities that are organized by Gen-Z folks, I think searching on Instagram is better for you. Here are some events that I have joined:
Taking a dump in the wild workshop 🌳💩🌳 (We just learned from slides!!)
NVC(non-violent communication) lessons
Easy hiking
Local marché
That toilet workshop🚽 was actually AMAZING. More than 10 adults attended and learned about "the beauty of taking a dump". Interestingly, there are lots of benefits when we do not use modern toilets. If we go back to this more natural approach, we will not need to buy bleach, we can save a lot of water, and we will no longer need to fight about the "forgot to up the seat" problem.
Not only that, organic toilet paper, (I mean leaves are) 100% biodegradable! It was the most resourceful event I have ever been to. If you are interested in a passionate teacher, Izawa san, here's the link for you💩💛
NVC lessons gave me enough time to mingle with other people and it empowered me to speak out that I am a vegan and environmentalist. However, some people there asked me to build their website in exchange for a glass of juice. You know what? It usually costs at least 100,000 yen to build a website!
When you encounter people who say "We're friends, work for me for free!", remember this song, some of them want to use you!
3. Join vegan-friendly restaurants' events
Lots of environmental and health-conscious restaurants love to plan fun events from cooking lessons to morning yoga classes. I have joined these events in the past:
Japanese vegan cooking lessons
Ainu embroidery workshop
Recycling station
Ainu embroidery was quite interesting. Each Ainu pattern has meaning and you can make a bigger design by combining several patterns.
In Sapporo and the Chitose airport, you may see lots of Ainu embroideries and statues as if saying "We care about Ainu people". Don't trust propaganda. Ainu people's lives have been getting easier, especially in choosing schools and occupations, but showcases and a new Ainu museum were prepared before the last Tokyo Olympics to show to foreigners.
If you are interested in learning Ainu culture with classmates, check this culture center's website but the centers are in Hokkaido:
The cooking lesson was also amazing. At first, I thought the attendance fee was a bit pricey for me but the teacher gave people a wonderful Shojin-ryori lesson! Learning from Mari san the Buddhist monk's wife was really joyful. I loved her philosophy that she does not waste food, even vegetable skin and kombu after making dashi stock.
I lost photos of her lesson so I pasted her shojin cookbook link instead🙏
There are many events happening all over Japan. Here are some examples that I have found before:
Vegan lunch meeting
Morning Yoga
Beach Yoga
Clothing swapping
Book swapping
子ども食堂(free or cheap meals for kids in poverty)
Movie night
In Tokyo, I love Alishan's events. You may already know their name. They have been importing organic foods for a long time so a bunch of healthy supermarkets stock their products. Their HQ is in the lovely rural area of western Saitama but it takes time if you are living in central Tokyo.
However! I have happy news for you. Alishan has opened a 2nd restaurant near Yoyogi Park that has accommodation! They sometimes hold events also. I hope someday I will experience a meet-cute and stay in their lovely room for the honeymoon. (I'm a vegan, so, instead of calling a future partner ‘Honey’, I should better call my man ‘Maple’ or ‘Agave’, right?)
If you live in the Kansai area, I know there are some nice vegan cafes that organize events sometimes:
Auwa at Maiko, Kobe
They sometimes have yoga lessons and so on. The location is definitely the best in Japan. I loved working on my PC from this seaside cafe. The drinks, food, and atmosphere were really good. This area is famous for its beautiful sunsets so you can enjoy walking when going home.
Mandaracha at Kyoto
There's a piano in their cafe so it seems they sometimes have mini concerts. Their tea was not cheap for me but the taste was AMAZING!! I definitely want to visit this vegan Japanese tea cafe again. Shop assistants kindly helped me choose from their proud teas! People there are so nice so the atmosphere was pretty good. Highly recommend.
4. Go to Exhibitions
Whether you are interested in business or not, exhibitions are actually quite entertaining! Sometimes the entrance fee can cost a bit but usually, you are able to get a discounted ticket if you apply from the internet in advance.
I have visited
Plant-based Expo
Eco-products Expo
Fermented food Expo
Yoga Expo
The pros are you can get free food samples, you may be able to have a chance to talk to people at the workshops, and it is fun to see advanced technologies. Also, it's easy to find business partners who could potentially be your future friends.
On the other hand, loads of Exhibitors are passionately greenwashing there.
Furthermore, at an expo, I experienced racial discrimination. It is important to remember that some exhibitors come from various places, so there can be cultural misunderstandings.
Big-scale exhibitions are usually held at:
5. Go for volunteering like trash picking
What we need is enough time to chat with other people when joining activities. We cannot really judge if that person deserves enough to be our friend in a couple of minutes, right?
If you agree, you may love volunteering! I think these apps are helpful when finding trash-picking gatherings:
If you know any welcoming groups in Tokyo or Kanagawa, please let me know. I would love to join them! 🗑️😀
6. Become a helper for organic farms!
Some people around me experienced wwoofing before and they said farming was really fun! For those who have never heard of WWOOF, they are a worldwide organization that helps organic farmers by matching with volunteers. Those volunteers are called wwoofer and they help farms instead of free accommodation and food.
Helpers can stay at the accommodation for a couple of days to several months, so I think it's not difficult to make a strong bond with other people.
If you want to search for farming opportunities for volunteers outside of wwoof, you can search like:
オーガニック ボランティア
オーガニック 農園 ボランティア
オーガニック 畑 ボランティア
オーガニック 農業 ボランティア
有機農業 ボランティア
無農薬 ボランティア
8. Rent a community garden🌱
These spaces attract individuals who appreciate the value of urban green living. When you consider renting one, you need to carefully find a true organic garden. Please note that some farms use pesticides following JAS rules.
Be careful if you rent land from people who don't understand your policy. When I was growing organic veggies, the landlord sprayed defoliant saying "Picking grass is a lot of work so I sprayed FOR YOU".
9. Public classes at Universities and culture centers
There are many public classes, events, and academic lectures that may satisfy your curious brain. There are many interesting programs at universities, cultural centers, and science centers.
It can be a bit difficult to make friends if you take a 1-day class. I think taking a long-term course is better when building good friendships.
Meiji university
Hokkaido university
環境科学国際センター (CESS)
When students ask questions, especially at the scientific ones, they may say this funny phrase:
素人質問で恐縮ですが
shiro-to shitsmon de kyo-syuku desga
This means "Sorry for asking such a beginner-level question but you know I am not professional like you". But the true meaning is "Hey, answer my question if you can, baby!" 😈
Haha. Well, lectures are mostly held in Japanese. If you are thinking of learning Japanese to enjoy local life more, I think using italki is a great idea. It is an online tutoring website that has more than 1000 Japanese tutors.
Here is the promotional code for you DDe0dC. You can win $5 back after purchasing $20!
10. Join us "Tokyo Greening"!
Someone wrote that you only have 4,000 weeks in your lifetime. If you have spent thousands of those weeks feeling misunderstood simply because you care about the environment, sustainability, and veganism, then we are the place for you.
If you want to fill your calendar with fun plans and make new friends who have similar values as you, please join our meetup group, Tokyo Greening!
Hope to see you soon at the event!
-Misa
*The copyright of all the photos except shared links belongs to me.