On Saturday morning I had the distinct honour of welcoming Makoto Takahashi and his family to our home! Makoto (Mac) is a leader in death education in Japan. He is very active in the Association of Death Education and Counselling (ADEC) in Japan.

Before he retired Mac taught at a very old prestigious private school that has educated many leaders. Mac taught students between 15 and 18 years old. He taught at least 800 students a year! Classes were one hour long, twice a week, and went for ten weeks. Approximately 20 hours of study. Students often came back to him in the years following the course when they experienced a death in their lives. Apparently there were 10-15 deaths of parents each year in this very large school. For those who would like more information on the curriculum, please feel free to email me and I can connect you with Mac.

As I listened to Mac talk, I thought that perhaps the owl who visited us the night before was simply a foreshadowing of the wisdom that Mac would bring the next morning!

Thanks Mac!