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AROUND THE GLOBE

Meet Hiro Inaba

HSLDAChairman of the Board Mike Farris meets with Hiro Inaba during a visit to the United States this past spring.

Hiro Inaba is president of the Church and Home Education Association of Japan (CHEA Japan). A graduate of Waseda Law School, Japan's most prestigious law school, Inaba-san became a journalist at the NHK, the Japanese equivalent of the BBC. After a successful career of video production, however, Mr. Inaba felt called to serve the Kingdom of God full-time. He left journalism to attend Fuller Theological Seminary in California.

In California, Hiro and his wife Wendy discovered home education. They were convinced that parents should train their children to love God with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength by teaching them diligently in the home. Today, Wendy homeschools all three of their children.

After seminary, Hiro's unique combination of Japanese heritage, journalistic skill, and homeschool enthusiasm led him in an unusual direction. Instead of pursuing a pastorate in a local church, he became president of CHEA Japan, where he uses his camera and Bible with equal skill to help Japanese parents fulfill God's command to raise up their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Despite the difficulty and discouragement homeschooling parents face in Japan, Hiro's homeschool documentaries paint pictures worth ten thousand words. In one gripping sequence, first shown at this year's Tokyo conference, a Japanese teenager told her story of rebellion and repentance. The audience was deeply moved as this story of God's grace unfolded onscreen.

Homeschooling may face significant challenges in Japan, but Japanese homeschoolers have great advantages as well. Hiro Inaba's unique combination of experience and talent are just what the Japanese homeschooling movement needs.

Encouraging homeschool moms

Marcia Somerville (left) pauses while her message of encouragement to moms is translated into Japanese.

While Japanese families appreciated HSLDA Attorney Scott Somerville's speeches, they seemed especially glad to hear from his wife, Marcia, who shared from her 21 years of experience teaching six children at home.

Marcia offered tips on teaching a houseful, compiled from her years of educating older children with toddlers around her knees. Although Japanese families tend to be small, a number of conference attendees did have large families. Marcia's experience was just what they were looking for.