Kozmoz Japan Headquarters

Thru the hard work of all the staff and volunteers we have moved our Japan headquarters to Fushimi ward in south Kyoto. Centered in the most famous sake brewing district in Japan, it is rich in history surrounded by quiet wonderful suburban scenery.

The new center has 4 floors, the bottom of which will be a community coffee shop and of course the kitchen will be providing meals for the homeless, the second floor is for our English school which provides finances for social activities, the 3rd floor is for events and offices will be on the 4th floor. Kozmoz International is committed to Japan and will endeavor to provide more enhanced services to less fortunate there.

In all of the celebration, lets not forget that this is just one step on the continuing course of providing a safety net and support for the ever expanding share of people that are falling thru the cracks of society. We still need volunteers to teach English, help with office work, drivers for picking up and delivering donations, volunteers to help make meals, volunteers to pass out flyers and help canvass preparing for events etc. Can we make a difference? Obama said it, YES WE CAN!

Joey Wyatt sharing Christmas

Christmas is special to me. The world is full of people that think it is just another day but it does not have to be. For those of us that think it is special, it can be even more special to share it with someone that has never had ‘Christmas’ before. This year we made a point to search out less knows places where people are suffering. One of those places is Fuse Station in the east part of Osaka. Far from the major parks that are most associated with homeless and poverty that receive attention often, the impoverished of Fuse go essentially unnoticed. This year our staff brought Christmas to approximately 50 homeless men and some families from the area on Dec. 21st. Each person received christmas presents of warm clothes and a special treat as well as a roast chicken Christmas dinner. Tears were shared by recipients and staff alike at the surprise Christmas dinner. What a wonderful world it would be if everyone had a hot Christmas meal and the feeling that someone cared. Lets work on that.

Making Memorys

We deliver a variety of donated and purchased products to institutions and support agencies. Recently, we received quite a few turkeys through Second Harvest Japan. Whole turkeys are not the most common thing for Japanese to cook or eat and most of the turkeys were cut up and used for soups and other dishes. But our super nutritionist at Momoyama Gakuen in Kyoto wanted to do something special with them. She decided to have some birthday parties and cooked them whole and even stuffed them like I do for thanksgiving. We truly appreciate the nutritionists that work hard to be creative and flexible in using the various and often unusual foodstuffs that are donated. Helping people is not just about providing food, but emotional support and making special memories as well. And just before Christmas…Good work nutruitionist Nakazawa!

Nisa making Super Komoz Bentos

We were back making sure those falling through the cracks in Osaka were taken care of on Nov. 16th. We teamed up with local Doctors, Nurses, Dentists and Legal professionals to provide no cost service to the low income community. With aprox. 16 percent poverty and being among the most expensive places to live on the planet makes for no shortage of those lacking proper shelter and nutrition let alone being able to meet their health and legal needs. All those that came for assistance received a super kozmoz bento. Thanks to all that participated.

Once again this year, Kozmoz will be working with many local groups to provide a day of Free Health Checks and Legal advice to impoverished families and individuals. Suprising, Kyoto and neigboring Shiga prefecture is an area of great need. There are a tremendous number of second generation Japanese that return to these areas from abroad and Shiga has the highest number on births to a couple with at least one non-japanese parent in the nation. Often these individuals struggle with language and other difficulties that make raising a family a challenge.

Several Doctors, Nurses, Health care professionals as well as Lawyers and Legal professionals will be joining to offer their services at no cost for the day. Kozmoz thanks all the participating groups and of course our volunteers that will be providing a meal to each recepient. Poverty is not systemic, it something that can be eradicated in our lifetimes. Thomas Malthus and many after predicted that our society would destroy itself from a lack of resources many times over the last 200 years. Yet the march of technology has not only staved off that catastrophe, a growing awareness of social responsibility and technological advancements has prospered the world far beyond what Malthus envisioned. People are the source of those ideas and advancements, and providing for our children without predjudice is the best investment we can make for our future.