Asahi Shimbun
This is a daily English newspaper that comes out of Tokyo. The paper is geared towards English speaking residents living in Japan. http://www.asahi.com/english/english.html

Daily Yomiuri
A second English speaking online newspaper that is a little more business oriented than Asahi Shimbun but also features articles about sports, arts and culture. http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/index-e.htm

The Foreigner
The Foreigner is an online magazine the features information and articles on pop-culture, history and current events. http://www.theforeigner-japan.com/

Lang Media – Japanese in Japan
This is an excellent site to start brushing up on your Japanese. You can watch streaming video of sample conversations as well as hear individual words and phrases that you will need to know including hello and goodbye. Campers should focus on learning the formal phrases presented here to avoid offending our hosts with informal phrases. http://langmedia.fivecolleges.edu/collection/lm_japan/jaIndex.html

Kids Web Japan
While this might be a site directed to a younger audience there is a load of good information about food, culture and language. This site even includes simple Japanese recipes. http://web-japan.org/kidsweb/index.html

Kabuki for Everyone
Get a better understanding of Kabuki by reading about the sounds, make-up and history. You can also see photos of online theatre and read a script. http://www.fix.co.jp/kabuki/kabuki.html

The Virtual Museum of Japanese Arts
See everything from examples of Metal Art and Virtual Gardens to video footage of Judo.
http://web-jpn.org/museum/menu.html

The Sadako Story
Read about the history of paper cranes and the story of Sadako Sasaki. http://www.sadako.org/sadakostory.htm

Tochigi Prefecture
This is the official site of the Tochigi area. You can get a general overview of the area and find specific information and links to destinations and resources. http://www.pref.tochigi.jp/kokusai/english/index.html

Stanford Japan Guide
This is the homepage for the Stanford University’s Japan Guide for living in Japan. It includes information and links for foreign tourists and residents. http://jguide.stanford.edu/site/travel_daily_living_126.html

Lonely Planet
Lonely Planet is always a great place to start reading and planning. You can search information about Japan or specifically in Tokyo. It is written for travelers and contains lots of helpful info information. http://www.lonelyplanet.com/destinations

CIA – The World Factbook - JAPAN
This is a good site to get facts on geography, population statistics and political set-up. http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/ja.html

Tochigi YMCA
Founded in 1977, the Tochigi YMCA’s headquarters is located in the city of Utsunomiya. BCCYMCA has partnered with this YMCA since 2003. http://www.ymcajapan.org/tochigi/eng/index.shtml

Asian Rural Institute
The Asian Rural Institute is an institution that promotes and trains students from Asia and Africa in sustainable agriculture. The Tochigi YMCA has had an ongoing relationship with this organization and our group will be doing service work on their working farm for several days. http://www.ari-edu.org/

Welcome to Edo
This is a fun site that will take you on an interactive tour of Tokyo. You will be able to enter different locations in Tokyo and learn about Edo-era history. http://www.us-japan.org/edomatsu/

Prime Minister
This is the official site of the Prime Minister of Japan. You can see photos and read current political news. http://www.kantei.go.jp/foreign/index-e.html

Yasuko-san’s Home Cooking
Site of Japanese mom’s home cooking where you can read a menu guide for a typical Japanese home-style meal (breakfast, lunch or dinner). This is a great site to get an idea of what you will be eating for a month. You can also find recipe’s to try out on your families. http://www.nsknet.or.jp/~tomi-yasu/index_e.html