JaneStorm HOPE Activator Community

06/09/2026

🇯🇵 Japan Lesson #2: Respect
Throughout our 18 days in Japan, I kept noticing the same thing…Respect.

Not because people talked about it.

Because you could see it.

People waiting patiently for trains.

Quiet public spaces.

Clean streets despite very few trash cans.

A sense of consideration for others that is just part of everyday life.

It made me think about how much our small actions matter.

How we show up.
How we treat one another.
How we contribute to the experience of those around us.

And it gave me HOPE.

A little more respect.
A little more patience.
A little more consideration.

Small actions. Big impact.

JaneStorm~HOPE Activator 💜🇯🇵

Look Up, Look Around, Look Ahead

06/01/2026

Kochi Castle, Kochi Japan 🇯🇵

05/30/2026

🇯🇵 Kagoshima, Kyushu, Japan — Off the Beaten Path

Brian had one goal for Kagoshima: get buried in sand.

Years ago, he did a sand bath with friends in Japan and couldn’t stop talking about it. So when I found a Get Your Guide excursion that included one, we knew we had to go.

He’d done it before with Doug, our friend Paul, and Paul’s son Julian in another part of Japan and wanted to do it again—with me.

Which is kind of funny because anyone who knows Brian knows he hates sand at the beach! 😂

I found an excursion through , and from the moment we met our guide and driver, it felt special. We were welcomed with thoughtful gifts, treated like old friends, and spent the day exploring a side of Japan we never would have found on our own.

Then came the main event…

We were literally buried in naturally heated volcanic sand. You can only stay in for about 10 minutes, but somehow those 10 minutes were both relaxing and memorable. We don’t have photos of ourselves in the sand, but trust me—we did it!

The day continued with a traditional tea ceremony, beautiful green tea fields, a local shrine, and one of the most memorable lunches of our trip.

We were the only non-Japanese tourists in the restaurant (which happened more than a few times on this trip!).

Our lunch featured flowing somen noodles. The noodles traveled through cold running water around our table, and we had to catch them with chopsticks before they floated by. It was fun, delicious, and completely unlike anything we’ve ever experienced.

The day ended at the Peace Memorial Park.

Walking through beautiful grounds while reflecting on the atrocities of war was a powerful reminder of both humanity’s capacity for destruction and its capacity for healing.

My HOPE is always for peace. 💜

Sometimes the best travel memories happen when you step off the beaten path. Thanks Nao and IKu for an amazing get your guide day in Kagoshima. The gifts you gave us will be cherished forever!

05/26/2026

05/22/2026

The “Sake Wall” in Niigata—is at the Ponshukan tasting rooms inside the Niigata Train Station —it is a massive tasting experience featuring nearly 100 varieties of locally brewed sake.

05/20/2026

The morning was fishy. 🛳️🇯🇵🎣

05/20/2026

Scenes from on

05/19/2026

3 top things stood out to me in Tokyo:

1. It’s quiet/ even when it’s busy - it’s quiet! Well, except at the baseball game.
2. It’s orderly. You wait in line to get on the trains and there is no cutting or pushing.
3. This was big- the palette of the people is black, blue, grey, white and beige.

05/15/2026

A wonderful day spent with friends in

01/26/2026

Sunday afternoons at are good for the soul.