Looking forward to 2010......

.....against the odds.

On 3rd December I received an e-mail which threatened to blow a hole right through my life in Ojiya, and my plans for 2010 and beyond.  The e-mail was from Yoshi Takada, CEO of NABA Corporation, my employer in Japan since October 2008 and advised that due to financial difficulties the company could no longer continue to employ me and would terminate my contract at the end of December 2009.  The bigger implication of this was that my 3 year working visa which had taken so much effort to obtain just 15 months before would also be terminated at the end of December 2009, as opposed to October 2011 as it was originally issued for.

Having spent 2 years building up a life in Ojiya to have it all come crashing down with just a couple of weeks notice before I was due to leave for the UK for Christmas and New Year was somewhat of a shock however, having invested so much time and effort into both the Yamakoshi Year blog and this site I was determined to find a way to continue what I've started.

My initial despair was soon lessened as word started to spread around about my situation.  On hearing the news that I may have to leave Japan many breeders expressed shock and disappointment as they valued my work, one stating 'you work is so important to all of Niigata's breeders'.  Likewise others working within the Niigata Nishikigoi industry expressed offers of support to finding a long term solution to enable me to carry on my work here.

Due to that support I'm pleased to say that I am indeed returning to Ojiya and will be back there on the 7th January.

So, what can you expect from Niigata-Nishikigoi.com for 2010?

• My blog will continue to bring regular reports and updates about what is going on
• I'll be working with more breeders than ever to provide updates
• The breeders guide will be developed to include more information about the listed breeders
• The Niigata guide will be further developed to provide essential information for visitors to the area
• Niigata Nishikigoi Digest, which potentially came to a halt with my impending return to the UK, will be relaunched in early 2010

If you've enjoyed Niigata-Nishikigoi.com throughout the year, and The Yamakoshi Year blog before it, then please consider making a donation, however small, to support the site.

You can make a donation of any size through PayPal using the button below.