The Navy Generation Documentary Project

  About the film

About the film

"The Navy Generation Documentary Project is a film in progress about the experience of a group the Japanese refer to as Ōbeikei (“Westerners”), or descendants of the original Bonin Islanders, who live on Chichijima in the Ogasawara/Bonin Islands about 1000 km (625 mi) south of Tokyo or 270 km (169 mi) north of Iwojima, of World War II fame. These latter day descendants of the settlers, sailors, explorers, and shipwrecked men and women from Europe, America, and various islands across the Pacific who, in 1830, settled on what had previously been uninhabited islands claimed by Japan, Great Britain, and the United States bear physical features that attest to their multiethnic lineage. A minority, though, in their homeland since the 1870s when Japanese administrators and immigrant groups began arriving in great numbers, the original Bonin Islanders were pushed ever more to the background and many eventually intermarried with the new arrivals."
More information on this website.

Pedro

Our rooster just learned how to cock-a-doodle- do!! EARLY IN THE MORNING!!! 

home sweet home

Happy days!

Yes, a feeling of peace. 

The moon is coming to its fullest. 

I can feel also that my heart is coming to my fullest. 

The moon gives light at night. 

I feel I can also give light. 

The Island is cold, the days tend to be cloudy and every day is still containing some sort of magic. The crisp nights and the hot teas make it a better winter. Most of our tourists in this season are elderly people. On my last day of work I bumped into some people which homes were in Fukushima but have had to evacuate since the radiation has reached their places. Now, they live in the evacuation homes but the winter is a bit hard on them, so they decided to have 15 degrees more warmth on their bodies and came to the Island. I hope they can get their homes and lives back.

My garden enemy

The rats. 

Yes, they are cute, in fact, they are not rats, they are mice. 

They look sweet and naive but they eat every single attempt of mine to growing something. 

These are my 2 new anti-rat experiments. 

I know that we are all living beings and we will do all we can to survive, therefor it is understandable what the rats have to do in this case. I also want to do the same, and even though it is really unnecessary because I can just go to the supermarket and buy vegetables, how do I really know what that farmer is doing to avoid pests? That farmer might be having to pour chemicals all around his farm! 

I am taking responsibility for the food that my body will take and try to be conscious and grateful for the hard work it takes to grow things and the long time it takes to grow and... the patience you need to adapt to the environment I am surrounded. 

uff... 

And so, I must finish my project because so far, even the chickens were smart enough to get in them!!!

patience.. and knowledge...

18-13

The max temperature according to the weather forecast is 18 and min is 13. That is the record of our coldest day during this winter. I know that others around Tokyo or colder countries are having colder winters, but for a Honduran girl who thought that winters were a myth this is cold.
So, what is it you do when it is cold? Can't go out... well, don't feel like going out and our house is small and cold. I have watched all the movies rated above 6 of 10 and watched many silly tv shows. I have been also drawing for a kids book and enjoying bed.
Looking forward to the most lovely summers!

Wood fired wood oven

If I had a genie in a bottle then I would ask him to get me this wood fired oven.
I have been trying to make the best pizza on a dutch oven but it is hard work and the plastic handles are coming to an end.
It looks elegant and efficient! I want one!

Thank you chicken

For our Christmas dinner we wanted to eat turkey but we really didn't have the money to afford one.

One day our neighbor who is is part of a local NGO doing sustainable living projects called us to join on killing some chickens. A farm near where we live has chickens but the old man who owns it doesn't have the guts to kill them and so he gave us 4. Whoever had the guts to do the whole process of killing it could have them. Mark and I gave it a try. For me it was my second time but the first time I spent most of the time clearing my tears. 

We try not to have meat at home because if we don't know where it comes from and who is doing all the work for us we don't buy it.
So here are some pictures that my neighbor took of me doing it.
I recommend once in your life time to do it, it just makes you realize how greedy we are for wanting to eat such a living being without any consciousness of what kind of life it lived, what it was fed and how it came beautifully packed to your supermarket.
I don't think meat is something to be had everyday in every meal. 

Just in special occasions when you are celebrating some special event or when you have too many chickens that you can't feed anymore. 

Thank you chicken for your contribution, we are very grateful to you. 

Some of the pictures are a bit difficult to see but if you cannot see this or do it you should consider not eating it. For those who can't see blood... don't roll down anymore. 

Wax Poetic

I was doing a bit of research on similar artists of my long time favorite Norah Jones.
I found out she used to play with this funky band.

Check it out!

Black and White

It has been a very strange winter, is what people say around. 

"Last year you could see cracks on my front yard but this year you can see puddles"

(after having a harsh drought this summer)

Every 5 days we are lucky to get a full sunny day.
For a girl like me who loves being at home that is just good news but I do love the sun. 

One of the things I love the most in life is the sun!
It is the first thing I do when I wake up, I look through the shabby windows of our loft and if I can see a blue sky my coffee tastes better, but when it is cloudy it is like my life is black and white. 

There is nothing wrong with black and white though... you start looking at the beauty in shapes and details.

nature

warmth in my skin

On a cold day the warmth of the sun was touching my skin and giving me comfort and peace.
The wind was blowing on my face and my hair was tickling my lips, I used my teeth to scratch them as I noticed the patterns that the wind had made to the sand just in front of me.

The first sun of 2012 in Ogasawara

Happy New Year
Thank you universe and mother earth for year 2011, may 2012 be full of positive and conscious energy.

crazy mushroom

what would happen if you ate one of these?

Tree trunks 2!

The textures and sizes of trunks in the forest are wide in variety.
It is like looking at the range of human faces of the world.