Tokyo - Prospect Research Presentation

So some of you are probably wondering "Why weren't Joe and Lindsay sight-seeing more?!" Actually, this was a working trip for both of us! Joe had his dental conference and I was doing some prospect research.



At the beginning of March, I received a message from a Japanese colleague of mine - Ayumi. She studied fundraising/philanthropy at Indiana University and had an internship at the United Way of Central Indiana while I was still working there. She spent nine months in the US, then returned with all of her new knowledge to Tokyo.



She works for a Japanese non profit that helps create non profit legislation. (If you want to know more about her organization, type http://www.npoweb.jp/ into Google Search. Then you can see the website link, but click on "Translate this page"!) She asked me to write an article about Prospect Research from my perspective. I did that, but when I asked if we might meet in Tokyo, she asked if I would give a presentation on Prospect Research.



Well, some things I just can't say no to. So, here's the flyer for my presentation! I'm not quite sure what it says, other than 'Lindsay Platt', the date and that it cost 2000 yen to hear me! Her office was located in the ASK building in Shinjuku. Joe was nice enough to come with me this day, so he's the official photographer.

Their offices were on the 9th floor.

Here we are in the conference room. It was a small crowd, but a very interested one! Most of the attendees spoke or understand some level of English. Ayumi did translate everything however!

When we first got to the conference room and were setting up, as usual, I knocked something over! In the states, there is so much room and people (or rather, me) tend to use their hands to speak. Joe thought this was very funny and decided to take numerous pictures of my hand gestures.

There's Ayumi, translating for me.

It was a lot of fun to talk about fundraising and prospect research again. The Japanese were a very kind audience. I didn't realize that non profits are a fairly new addition to the Japanese -- they have only been around for about 25 years. They asked interesting and insightful questions and shared some funny stories. My favorite was a woman who approached me afterwards; she liked that I used to require a "research request" form from staff at UWCI. She said she is always asked for information and projects (as she was in charge of the database) and it was hard for her to actually do her job! I hope she is able to come up with some sort of request form!

I'm not sure when my article will be published on the website (they are still translating it into Japanese), but I'll let you know when it is!

Go Butler!

Even though we're far away, we're still cheering you on Butler Bulldogs! Hard to believe the last time we were on campus was last May (2009).

Tokyo - Cityrama Tour

Back to Tokyo! On Wednesday, Joe and I took a "Cityrama" morning bus tour of Tokyo. This was actually a wonderful way to see a few different things in Tokyo. Our tour guide, Mina, was very helpful! She had great information about Japan and was very candid with our little tour of about 20. We had four major stops - Meiji Shrine (Shinto), Imperial Palace Gardens, Asakusa Shrine (Buddhist) and Ginza.

The first stop of the morning was Meiji Shrine. Meiji Shrine is a Shinto shrine, within the city of Tokyo. In Mina's description, Shinos are concerned about this life; whereas the Buddhists are concerned with enlightenment and the afterlife. Very candidly, she shared that the Japanese visit the Shinto shrine on happy occasions, Buddhist shrines on sad occasions and Santa Claus on Christmas. (She said that 80% of the Japanese consider themselves Shinto, 60% consider themselves Buddhist and 2%Christian. Interesting religious identity!)

Anyways, when you first enter Meiji Shrine, there are a number of wine & sake barrels. Hopefully you can read this descriptive sign:

The shrine is guarded by three or four torii (gates).

This was the last one - you can see through the gate the shrine.

Outside the shrine, there is a little "purification" hut.

Mina shared the ritual of cleansing......

...which Joe and I both did.

Inside the shrine

Here is the main part of Meiji shrine. It was so peaceful, serene and green inside this shrine.

You can purchase (if you are Shinto) a "votive tablet" for your particular prayer. Mina said that most of the prayers are about school -- passing a test, getting into university, etc.

Lots and lots of offerings!

Looking back at the courtyard of the shrine.

Most Japanese visit the shrine on New Year's and make their offering (usually coins). Sometimes there are so many people, you can't make it to the main part of the shrine. So the Japanese throw their coins at the front of the shrine -- there are some serious coin holes here!

The next stop was the Imperial Palace Gardens - which you might recall, we were already there. That was ok, this was only a 20 minute stop! I did learn a few new things:

On the guardhouses, we learned what these symbols meant: The one that is there multiple times - three curvy lines surrounded by dots? That is a "no-fire" symbol. Many buildings inside the palace grounds have burnt, due to accidental fires. The other, single symbol is the symbol of the Edo.

The cherry blossom tree continued to bloom!

Joe actually snuck off the tour for a moment to get a photo of the actual palace. We somehow missed it the other day!

The next stop was Asakusa Temple (Buddhist). This was worlds different from Meiji. Here was the entrance to the temple.

Instead of rinsing with water, Buddhists do something with this smoke (I can't recall!)

Outside of the temple there was a beautiful little garden.

Interestingly enough, on the other side of the temple, there was a large shopping area -- Japanese gifts, toys and food!

The last stop on the tour was Ginza -- the large shopping district. Don't get too excited, it was mostly high-end shops, like Prada and Coach. I wandered around for a little bit, but it was pretty rainy!

Sony headquarters

April Fool's!

We'll take a short break from the Tokyo trip to share a funny April Fool's story! I haven't been "April Fooled" in quite awhile, but two of my students had a great one yesterday!

I have a number of students that are siblings -- this particular set has a brother who takes piano lessons and a daughter who takes violin lessons with me. Yesterday, they rang the door bell and I opened the door to see the whole family out there (as usual). I did think it was unusual that the boy was holding the violin case -- but who knows, maybe he was being nice!

As they all step inside, the boy says, "We have news for you!". Oh really? "I want to take violin lessons and my sister wants to take piano lessons!"

Of course, I look to the mom. She seems pretty cool with that. So, I figure, I'm still keeping the students and they are nice kids, so what if they want to switch. But of course I have to ask, "How come you want to switch?"

April Fool's!

I must say, for being about 7 and 9 years old, they played it really cool! No giggles or funny smiles. I was had!