Utsunomiya
Utsunomiya which is located about 60 miles north-northeast of Tokyo is the capital and the most populous city of Tochigi Prefecture which is in the northern part of the Kanto Plain. In 2007, the city had an estimated population of 505,381. The Greater Utsunomiya area had a population of approximately one million.
The city was founded in 1896, and is home to a Canon Optical manufacturing plant, a Japan Tobacco plant, Honda automobile design centers, and various other industrial centers localted in the Kiyohara Industrial Park in the east part of the city.
The bullet train connects with Utsunomiya from Tokyo in one hour so sometimes people commute to Tokyo via that train. Bell Mall is located near central Utsunomiya and is one of the largest malls in the North Kanto Region, which is what the plains around Tokyo are called. Utsunomiya is most well known within Japan for it Chinese style gyoza dumplings.
A Different Kind of Spring Festival
Dear Praying Friends, We pray you are enjoying the warmth of this season, as well as the warmth of Jesus in your hearts, rejoicing in His salvation and provision in everything. Our city celebrated the... [more]
Almost Spring in Utsunomiya
Our personnel in Utsunomiya were looking forward to spring until snow blanketed their city and much of the rest of Japan this past Tuesday. Now on Saturday it’s again starting to look like spring... [more]
The “Darumas” are out!!
There were 2 festival days in Utsunomiya in January where the merchants came out selling their “daruma”s for the new year. The Japanese believe these darumas bring good fortune and success... [more]
Come to Me
In Matthew 11:28 Jesus said, “… “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.” (NLT) Sometimes when I look out my window and see people walking, bicycling,... [more]
Reflecting on Christmas in Utsunomiya
Do they know? What do they think when they see the lights and trees, when they hear the carols? From Thanksgiving on, our city was decorated with beautiful lights and a huge live Christmas tree, yet... [more]
Happy New Year from Utsunomiya
We thought we would be welcoming the New Year quietly in the warmth of our apartment. But we decided to venture out in the freezing cold to see if anything was happening in our city. It surprised us... [more]
Each one needs to hear!!
In November, the brother of my wife, Gail, was visiting from Hawaii. It was his first visit to Japan. I was curious what his biggest impression of Japan was. He said over and over that he was shocked... [more]
The best way???
The other day as I was praying about how to share God’s love with many Japanese I had an idea. I thought, I could go to the train station here in Utsunomiya early in the morning as hundreds (Utsunomiya... [more]
Not a carp!!!
Utsunomiya is a beautiful city. Some days we go out and walk through our city and pray for the people to be saved. Recently as we were walking along the river that runs through our city and we noticed... [more]
Harvest Time
The other day we were driving through the countryside outside the city and noticed that the farmers have begun to harvest their rice. After the harvesting comes the burning of the chaff left in the rice... [more]
