Japanese May 19-23,2008: GOF national conference
	I made a trip to Tokyo to join national conference of GOF (Group Of Friends) This year as usual. The meeting was held at Jiyu Gakuen campus founded by Yoshikazu & Motoko Hani. The building was originally built in 1920 by famous American architect Frank Lloyd Wright. The building is now designated as a national important cultural asset.
The New Dawn rose was first born in USA in 1930. The flower beautifully decorated the fence today.
	Just in front of Tomorrow House in the campus was GOF building of Daiichi Tokyo branch. The building was completed in this spring.
The building was neat and clean. It will be opened to the guests today in the afternoon. The GOF members were preparing busily for it.
	I had a chance to take a look at the inside of the building. The interior paint was still half-dried. This is the cooking room. A huge mirror is set up so as students can see the detail well in the cooking course.
The kitchen table lid covers the sink and gas table.
	Many tableware is beautifully set up in the cupboard.
May 20: The first day of the national conference was held at Jiyu Gakuen in Hibarigaoka. Jiyu Gakuen will have the 80th anniversary in two years. Today's theme was "Inherit the will of the founders and realize it in the new society through the love." The female students sincerely prepared such wonderful lunch for us.
	We had a storm last night but it was cleared up before the noon. The flower bed was shining in the morning sunlight.
Female class dinning room was cleaned up completely by the students.
	Female class gymnasium and huge lawn square. The green of the lawn was really beautiful.
In the female class gymnasium, we looked on the exhibition of "Food study." In Jiyu Gakuen, the lunch for the students has been prepared by student themselves from the beginning of the foundation days. It means that in the center of life is food. This is the idea of what Jiyu Gakuen education ought to be. Through the meal, the basic concept of "Life is education itself" and "Working is autonomy." In every dinning room was a phrase "Christ is the Head..."
	the tableware being used in the campus. From front,for children life group, left for college class, up for male class, and right for male class.
In the night, we had a general leader meeting of Kyushu block in the hotel in Ikebukuro. I took quick dinner in the hotel.
	May 21. Morning skyscrapers in Ikebukuro.
I looked down and found a beautiful trimming of azalea on the roof of the hotel.
	The second day of the conference was held at the main hall of Japan Youth Building. Some 1,200 members joined the conference. On the stage was a beautiful lily pod. My seat was the front row. I was wrapped with the fragrance of the lily.
On the front wall of the stage was a flag that reads "We are the friends" on the map of Japan. There are 180 domestic branches and 9 overseas branches.
In the vicinity of Japan Youth Hall are many sporting facilities such as National Ground and Tokyo Metropolitan gymnasium. The semifinal game of volleyball was held in the gymnasium for coming Beijing Olympic.
	Goods market attracted many foreign athletes. They were tall and handsome.
I returned to Ikebukuro national GOF house. A tea ceremony was held there in commemoration of the completion of the new house. The GOF members have been preparing so many beautiful cookies for this day.
	We had a pleasant time over the cookies and tea by chatting many friends from all around Japan.
I walked out to enjoy the cool evening breeze.
	After the tea time, we looked through the house. I visited the exhibition hall of the old data. I was very glad to find a report on Oita branch on the old news paper issued in 1936, just several years later of the foundation of GOF. It reads that the total number of the branch was only 17 or so.
I took the picture of the report of Kyushu branches. It was very good.
	There was a panoramic display of three groups founded by the founder Motoko Hani, namely "Female Friend Publisher","Jiyu Gakuen" and "Group Of Friends." The display covered some 100-year history.
Old sawing machine used in Fujio village settlement in Miyagi prefecture.
	Next, we visited next door "Female Friend Publisher." They open the building for the participants every year. We could see many precious items in the display.
The regular round-table talk is held in this room and reported in the Females' Friend magazine.
	On the third floor was actual exhibition of cooking and clothes taken from the latest coverage.
my 22. The third day of the national conference was held at Tomorrow Hall of Jiyu Gakuen. The member was selected from local general leaders and central committees which was called "The big family."
	In the afternoon, we had a lecture by Mr. Shougo Ohmura. The theme was "The roll of meal in home." He analyzed the present status of meal in home and its effect on the formation of character of the kids. He stressed that the healthy character of kids was based on the meals in home. He is deeply concerned in the learning of food activity of Jiyu Gakuin. He set us many tasks to be solved.
Three-day conference was over at last. After the tea time We looked through other places of the house. This was the archive of GOF. Successive status reports of local general leaders was neatly arranged on the shelves. The archive contains the history of GOF.
	The founders' commemoration room. There were pictures of the founders and their principle phrase tablet "Thinking, Living and Praying."
The set of new tableware was prepared in commemoration of the remodeling of National GOF house. The dish was of the design of violet grape bunch. On the back of the dish was a character "Friend" in the Founder Motoko Hani's own handwriting copy. The character was taken from the title of Group of Friends newspaper, they say.
	The original lunch was really good. It was so beautiful and tasty. We were really moved. I was unexpectedly asked to make a short prey before the lunch. The national conference targeting the 80th anniversary was over like this. I made up my mind to make significant local activities from now on.