Dateline: Saniku Gakuin College in Ōtaki, Chiba, Japan; September 20, 2012--When one plants an apple tree, it is with the greatest anticipation of someday being able to gather fruit from its now unpromising branches. You tend it like a child, pouring your all into its maturing. You realize it will take at least two years, often more, before your labors are rewarded. Thus it is with the schools Uchee Pines conducts in conjunction with Nihon Kensei Kyokai here in Japan.

The schools (we start a new one every year) ideally take two years, summers inclusive, to complete. For three summers the classes meet for a one week intensive before heading home with a year's worth of homework. Two retired college professors teach the anatomy and physiology section. Though elderly, they are as capable as any young professor. In one trip to Japan, we will hold at least one session for all three summer Phases. 

Our most recent dedication (graduation) took place at Saniku Gaukin. Five students had completed their studies, received their certificates, and returned to their homes to continue working. You might wonder how they can continue their work since normally at graduation people are only just beginning. No so here. From the first year the students are required to put into practice the things they have learned and to bring back the following year evidence they have indeed been working. Special forms are given to each student which they in turn give to those to whom they minister. Whether it be a massage, a counseling session, or a public lecture, we want them evaluated by an outsider.

As you can see from the photo, it is not your typical photo of graduates. No caps and gowns but a garland of gray around the temples, if not covering the entire pate. This class included a successful businessman, an osteopath, a widowed pensioner, a city councilwoman, and the wife of a major university professor. It is exceedingly hard to interest the young people in this work because is carries little prestige (for now), promises a paupers remuneration (down here), and basically demands that the practitioners also be the practicers of the lifestyle we teach. Most people today feel as though this is too great a restriction. One need only view the documentary Forks Over Knives by T. Colin Campbell, Ph.D. and Caldwell B. Esselstyn, Jr., M.D., to understand that a healthy lifestyle is  an imperative, not an option.

This year we also conducted our first seminar for cancer patients with the purpose of focusing on the element of faith as an integral part of the healing process. Using the remarkable work of Drs. Daniel J. Benor and Randolph C. Byrd as a springboard, we sought to instill within the women (they were all women) a confidence in a Supreme Being who loves them infinitely. Two were in stage 4 which makes such a seminar all the more vital.

A number of years ago the college here in Chiba paced me on their teaching staff in anticipation of becoming a four year college. One of majors at the college is nursing and they wanted the students to have an opportunity to learn something about hydrotherapy and the scientific validation of simple remedies. Last year was the first class I was able to teach. This year ten students elected to take this three day very intensive course. Seven hours of teaching and practice a day for three long days. When and where the information will find expression is not up to us; circumstances will sooner or later dictate the change to using readily available natural remedies. As I lay in bed a few nights ago and felt two waves of earthquakes rock my room like it was driving over railroad tracks, I felt a sense of urgency for this work here in Japan. Japan is a tough field to work.

But there is an island of hope in this sea called Japan; fruit is maturing. This week two of our graduates assisted the nursing course. One had just been dedicated on Monday. The load lifted from our shoulders (my translator and me) was tremendous. But even greater, to see our graduates going right to work is so heartening. It is time for Japan to carry its burden and some willing and capable hands have been strengthened for the work through this simple Lifestyle Educator course.

Dateline: Saniku Gakuin College in Ōtaki, Chiba, Japan; September 20, 2012--A hot bath! Now, that’s about the last thing one would want in Japan at this time of the year. Upon my arrival at Narita International four weeks ago, it felt as if I had arrived back in Alabama on the most gnarly day of an insufferable summer. As the weary passengers shuffled and wrestled their carry-ons up the cool aisles after a 13 hour flight from New York, we hit a hot wall of pure humidity. Japan had become one seamless onsen from Kagoshima to Aomori and I was dressed for 38,000 feet. And now a hot bath?

No, I am not taking the hot bath. I have been called many things, masochist not being one of them. It is practice time and my only male student is cooking (practicing a hydrotherapy treatment) a volunteer up here in Chiba prefecture at Saniku Gakuin, a college formerly known as Japanese Missionary College. A few years ago, in order to build their staff as they transitioned to four year level, I was added to the teaching staff. The idea was to introduce 4th year nursing students to what once was a cornerstone of the nursing experience; hydrotherapy and other simple remedies. It is all well and good to have all the modern medical conveniences at your beck and call, but what happens when the pharmacy is closed or non-existent? What happens when you find yourself far from the smell of isopropanol and betadine? It would seem prudent to at least be familiar with the rudiments of the physiology of water and its amazing salutary affects upon the body. 

The goal in this practice is to raise the student’s temperature to around 40 degrees celsius (104^oF) without causing cardiac arrest, projectile vomiting or unconsciousness. Having never experienced any of these exceedingly rare consequences in my years of practicing this type of therapy, I am more intent in the proper procedures, the sense of the patient’s needs and the treatment’s requirements.

The volunteer is a young man I met last year. He is a theology student although be has no intention of becoming a pastor. He graduated from university with a degree in architecture. But that did not seem to fulfill him so he went in to retail sales and was very successful for ten years. But something was still missing. He came to this stark realization one day while waiting for a train. As it approached the station, he felt compelled to throw himself over the tracks. In Japan, this happens at least once a week. He knew he was in trouble. He felt compelled to go to a church. Finding one, he sought out the pastor who just happened to be on the grounds. He told the pastor of his dissatisfaction and his earlier compulsion to end his life. Right then and there the pastor told him of the great hope a Christian has, of a Burden-Bearer and a Friend at all times. When he finished, this young man asked to be baptized. The wise pastor knew that would not be wise so he began Bible studies with the restless young man. He was later baptized and decided to come to Saniku to pursue theology, not as a profession but rather to gain a deeper understanding of this Power that saved his life. And now he was approaching 104^o. 

It has been a very busy schedule since arriving in Japan. Needless to say, with eleven time zone changes, jet lag is always waiting to pounce on me a couple days after arriving. It is strange that it waits two or three days, lulling me into a mistaken sense that I have grown immune to its overwhelming weight. So, having arrived on a Thursday afternoon, I had a pretty good Friday and Sabbath. Then Sunday, the day our seminar for cancer patients began at a large Woman’s Cultural Center, jet-lag squished me like a bug. I am not immune. Moretocome.