By Monika M.S.
First published on PlanetDAO Substack on June 6, 2025.
This is the continuation of the Spring Gathering story for the PlanetDAO001 property in Wakayama. If you haven’t read the first part, we encourage you to do so via the following link: “We Arrived as Investors. Left as a Part of The Community.” (Part One)
The Monks Who Made Us Cry (From Laughter)
At Zenjorinji Temple, we met the two enthusiastic and inspirational monks. this amazing couple in their late 80s whose hearing has been fading but whose joy is absolutely infectious.
They told us about their “laughing stone” and honestly, it was the moment we will all remember for a lifetime.
The stone near the temple is engraved with wara fū (“laughing wind” or “breathe out with laughter”). The monks explained how a woman had once come to stay, completely withdrawn and unable to smile. Every day, they’d walk with her to this simple stone, take deep breaths, and let out the most wholehearted laughs you can imagine.
“Try it,” they insisted, grinning at our group of PlanetDAO co-owners standing around looking slightly self-conscious. So we did. We took deep breaths and started laughing, and something magical happened. The laughter became real. Some of us laughed until we cried, not just from joy, but from this unexpected sense of relief and connection, realizing how special that moment was.
That evening, back at our accommodation, we found ourselves talking about urban living, mental health, community support, and how isolated modern life can make us feel. The monks had shown us something simple but profound, how healing happens in community, through shared vulnerability and joy.
Getting Our Hands Dirty (And Our Hearts Full)
Some of the best bonding happened when we were doing things together. Chizuru-san taught us aizome indigo dyeing, and watching our group of PlanetDAO co-owners help each other tie knots and dip fabric was pure joy.
We created these beautiful pieces using techniques that haven’t changed in centuries, but more importantly, we created memories together.
The calligraphy experience taught by the family of co-owners was a special moment where we got to set intentions for the rest of our year and for the future of the temple.
Our co-owners were so thoughtful about the characters they chose, and the local community members who we presented to seemed genuinely moved by the effort we put into learning their traditions.
Walking through the tanada (terraced rice paddies) with Ohigashi-san and Ohkubo-san felt like being trusted with sacred knowledge. These stepped fields carved into mountainsides are living heritage, with each level built with stone walls that require constant maintenance and incredible care. When Ohigashi-san talked about the pride and responsibility involved in keeping them going, you could see our whole group taking it in, understanding that we were witnessing something precious.
Zen breakfast at Ryogonji Temple became this perfect quiet moment that brought us all together at the start of our final day. The temple was dark until we opened the sliding doors, and suddenly this beautiful light filled the space.
It was meditative and contemplative, but also intimate, all of us sharing this experience together, PlanetDAO co-owners and local community members side by side.
What We’re Taking Home
The monks at Zenjorinji shared something that’s been stuck in all our heads: “The only way to live is in the village.” They weren’t being romantic about rural life, these are people who lived through the Kobe earthquake and 2011 tsunami. They know what they’re talking about.
Cities depend on systems that can fail catastrophically. Most of us don’t know where our water comes from and what it contains, or how to grow food. But villages like Irokawa operate on local knowledge and mutual support. Water comes from rivers everyone helps maintain. Food grows in gardens neighbors share. When disasters hit, people gather, cook together, and take care of each other.
As PlanetDAO co-owners, we’ve been talking about how to bring that village mindset into our own community. How do we support each other beyond our shared investment? What skills do we have that others could benefit from? How do we create the kind of bonds that last beyond transactions?
We discovered some amazing things about each other during those three days. People with language skills who could help bridge cultural gaps in future visits. Co-owners with expertise in sustainable agriculture, traditional crafts, technology, design. But more than skills, we found genuine care for each other and for the communities we’re connecting with.
The local Irokawa residents taught us that resilience isn’t about being prepared for disaster. It’s the connection to people who’ll show up for you when things get tough. We left Wakayama feeling like we’d started building that same foundation within our own PlanetDAO community.
What Comes Next
Some members of our group are already talking about visiting this place again and bringing specific foods or skills to share with the Irokawa community. Others are exploring ways to support local initiatives.
The connections we’ve made go both ways. We discovered that many local community members speak excellent English, who could become incredible bridges between our communities. There’s talk of future collaborations, skill-sharing sessions, maybe even co-owners spending extended time learning traditional crafts or farming techniques.
What started as strangers investing together has become something much richer: a community of people who genuinely care about each other and the places we’re connected to. The Irokawa residents showed us what that looks like when it’s been cultivated over decades. Now we’re excited to see what we can build together.
The Spring Gathering proved something important: when you bring together people who are open to genuine connection and place them in a community that values relationship over transaction, magic happens. Real relationships form. Understanding deepens. And suddenly, what seemed like a financial investment reveals itself as something much more meaningful: a chance to be part of something larger than ourselves.
As we hugged goodbye at the train station (yes, we’d become huggers in just three days), someone said what we were all feeling: “This doesn’t feel like ending. It feels like the beginning.”
And honestly? That’s exactly what it was.
The bonds we formed in Wakayama between PlanetDAO co-owners, with the local community, and with the place itself have become the foundation for something we’re all eager to nurture. We came as strangers connected by shared ownership. We’re leaving as friends committed to a shared mission.
That transformation, from investment to relationship, from transaction to community, might just be the most valuable thing we discovered in those mountains of rural Japan.
