How many people did YOU shoot today?

by Nathan Waggoner

There are an estimated 35 million people in the Tokyo area, so shooting video can be a little tricky as we found today.  Getting equipment from point A to point B is the first challenge, but thankfully we are shooting with digital SLR's so we can travel pretty light.  The one necessary piece of equipment that is proving to be difficult to use is the tripod.  Finding a place where we can set one up without being in the way of everyone is a challenge.  Most people ignore the fact that we are shooting pictures and video, but they aren't happy if we are set up in the flow of traffic.  There are thousands of people in the streets and on the sidewalks, so we have learned to time our shots to the stoplights which give us short segments of clear walkways to set and shoot.

This morning we worked a little more on the planning aspect of our video work.  We think we have four video topics nailed down and we are developing a shot list to help us make sure we get the visuals we need to tell the stories.  We have been particularly drawn to the needs of the youth in Japan, so we are planning to focus a lot of our attention on getting footage of youth.  Today we were privileged to spend some time in Bible study with four students from Rokyo University which is within walking distance of our home base at the WGM center.  We met in a small room on the 5th floor of the student activities building on campus.  It was nice to get to meet a few college students and hear brief testimonies from them.  One of the young men in the study is a new freshmen this semester at the university who accepted Christ while being hosted by a Christian family in a study abroad program in rural PA.  How cool is that!  He recently returned to Tokyo after two years in the USA, and was glad to find a Christian fellowship he could join at the University.  I am so glad that our missionaries Holly and Kevin are here to help continue to disciple him and the other Christians in the group.  You can hear Trent's thoughts about the Bible study in the video clip below. We will be spending some more time at the University tomorrow to get some stock footage of random students in their beautiful courtyard.

After the Bible study, we traveled to the headquarters of Immanuel Gospel Church where we met several church leaders and set up times to interview them over the next two weeks.  While Kevin and Holly were representing WGM in some meetings, the three of us walked around the surrounding blocks getting more footage and enjoying the sights and sounds of Tokyo.

We are traveling by train and foot mostly here in Japan.  Both offer exercise since there is often no place to sit on the trains.

Trent and Kevin on our walk back to the WGM house after a full day.

We walked several miles today, so I think we should sleep well tonight.  We have have a full day of shooting tomorrow that includes the University, a Buddhist temple, and one of the busy shopping districts.  Thanks for your prayers!  We feel them even though we are 13 hours ahead of most of you!

 :-)