the beer was bottled ! some of prematurely consumed . another brew put down to ferment .

two proud fathers ... 

gently mopping the brows of baby bottles

alan chang the man with the golden hands . acupuncture , massage , reiki , kind words and great energy .
alan was really happy to spread his capable abilities amongst the local area ... 'kokoro clinic' ( clinic of the heart ) was operating free of charge to locals in and around kamaishi for 2 weeks during his visit to japan this october . he helped me a lot . thanks alan .

he really is always beaming like this ! ( and he means it too )

employing the local children once again . piles of untapped potential here , we will have them turning a profit in no time ( cue evil laugh ) ...

mimi preparing the boards

' mounds of love and attention '

mantra

see , there he goes beaming again .

... thinking about the longer term goals of the kamaishi cafe cosmos .

SUSTAINABILITY is the most important goal
waste management

greywater to garden

compost toilet

compost system

alternative electricity

hydroelectric power generator

wind turbine

biodiesel electricity generator

solar electricity

greenhouse … seedling production . rare plants . job opportunities ( + greenhouse heating to koya ? )
rainwater harvesting
solar water heater
woodstore



PEOPLE , CULTURE , CELEBRATION are the key
cafe
local produce market for distribution , and local communication
edible playground
stage / decks / pergola for entertaining and performing
picnic area
classroom / workshop / education

art + music

crafts

food

self sufficiency

pottery
etc etc ...

MEIBUTSU PRODUCTION 

( meibutsu - in japanese means 'brilliant treasure' it refers to those renowned local products in an area that make the area famous . nearly every local area in japan its own meibutsu

this list is the starting point of a discussion of how to revive local economy , create jobs , and local pride with meibutsu .


for example

 the local persimon . cosmos has many of these trees .

being picked here by the fine fellow ei-chan

 they are smoked in a smokehouse to remove the natural astringency

 to become super delicious dessert fantasy objects of great repute

we are trying them out in our first test brew - cloudy wheat beer . its gonna be mighty I reckon.

some other meibutsu ideas for cosmos ...
the new oven !bread + pizza + baking… bread oven / grains and flours . dried fruit and nuts . yeasts .
beer … brewery / mugi / malting process / hops
ok , ok , we want pizza and beer . its all out in the open now .
and perhaps
pottery … kiln / local clay / workshop facilities . 
beer mugs !!!
once the important things like pizza and beer are clear , we are thinking of ...


herbs / fresh and dry … herb garden and solar dryer  / packing and storage . medicinals .
dried fruit … new fruit tree varieties?  ? / solar dryer / packing and storage
berries … varieties? / location ? / ice , jam etc / packing and storage
nuts … viarieties ?  / packing and storage
ferments … tobasco , yuzukosho , phils pizza sauce  / packing and storage
sansai … propagate wild food plants in the local mountains
... any other suggestions ?

the sign at right says ' super optimism ' in japanese

we have begun designing a playgound for the middle of the cosmos maze .

the current ideas are to make the maze permanent , include lots of edible fruit and berries , make some big fallen tree animals to play on and a structure of some sort , that may double as a local produce market on some days ( the permaculture ethic of all elements having more than one function always in mind ) here is a link to a working document about this playground project  . 

yoshiro makes a compost toilet based on the 'humanure handbook'

using local waste products . these are 'kanbatsu-zai' - the trees deemed unsuitable for milling and cut down to allow the other trees to achieve full potential . the trees are japanese cedar , a beautiful wood very common in japanese building

luckily we have yoshiro the human bulldozer

and mighty mike

and the hardworking local ladies .

putting in the foundations for the composting system . 

what a team !

nearly finsihed . the system will compost all the toilet contents and cafe waste . thats why it is so substantial ( huge ! ) . basically the left and right hand bays are used alternately - when one is full the other gets used , giving the first one time to compost thoroughly . the centre bay , with the roof is used to store carbon ( in our case straw and sawdust ) to soak up the nitrogen rich wastes . good compost is a ratio of 30parts carbon to 1 part nitrogen .

more details can be found about this system here  'humanure handbook'

more about composting details from the permaculture master Geoff .. compost

 witness the thing in action for the first time . 20 litres of the finest humanure . fresh out og the humans

accurately documented .

phil has been building a real proper authentic 8 ton bread oven . its nearly finished !

he refers to the inspiration of the late Alan Scott often . this is his bible 'the bread builders' .

phil the oven builder has been burning small fires in the oven every morning and night to allow it to dry before the first real firing .

phil plugs the leak before the chimney goes in

note the attention to detail here . the crows foor handle that doubles as a door stand , the 'oya-ishi' centre stone ( from the car park ) , the steel pot beneath for catching the coals raked out after firing ( so we can sit around it toasty warm eating beer and drinking pizza ) . try not to note the incredibly badly ( hurredly ? ) stacked wood , offcuts from the local mill . we will do better next time .

 

otoo-san blessed the oven , the the firing ceremony commences

 

he blessed the beer fermenter also . bless him !

 jumpei the fine baker of mighty edible scuptures arrives ! this is his ' cosmos bread '

and here jumpei teaches the locals the mystical art of rolling buns with the dough not sticking to your hands in the process ...

 suzuki-san doing a couple of fine pizzas  . soy sauce anfd blue chees !!! delicious !!!

 alan the healer having a go with enthusiastic support from the band

this is an old upside down photo of the baking floor and the plywood dome template at back . it was interesting seeing this thing come together .

we had a childrens workshop that morning

otoosan made a maze for children in the flowers . we were wondering what he was doing fossicking about in the cosmos field all morning

david and michael ( of namaiki ) were painting doors and panels for the new compost toilet with local children