This woodblock print is called Nagagawa Guchi (mouth of the Nakagawa River) by Hiroshige, part of his "One Hundred Famous Views of Edo" series done in the 1800s. Edo is the old name for Tokyo.

Next to the print is a photo of the same scene I took from my veranda.

I can see the exact same view from my window on the eleventh floor, and I have this print framed and hanging near the window. Hiroshige had to draw from this high viewpoint from imagination since there was just a field here in those days.

Today the Nakagawa is smaller than it was in Hiroshige's time, and this intersection of two rivers has become a T shape.

I came to Japan in 1987 as a Protestant lay missionary.

My sending agency was comprised of evangelical-minded Episcopalians, although the organization was not officially connected to the Episcopal Church.

I spent my first two years at a Japanese language school and on the weekends performed puppet shows with a Bible message at various church outreach events.

My full-time missionary career ended after only a few years, and my sending agency disbanded.

I stayed in Japan and worked as a graphic artist and teacher while continuing my missionary activity independently.

My wife and I have traveled all over Japan, performing evangelistic puppet shows in churches.

The puppets (and voices) also appear in the Praise World videos Joy and Challenge.

We have also trained puppet teams for various churches in Japan.

I made all the puppets using my own patterns, and gradually we were flooded with requests to make puppets for others. We tried to make and sell puppets, but it was tedious work and kept us very busy.

So in 1989 we published a book in Japanese on making and using puppets and puppet stages, mainly for Sunday school and Christian outreach. It's called Ningyo Dai Katsuyaku.

The book has gone into its second printing, and has been translated into Korean to help train Christian puppeteers in Korea. I have never actually seen the Korean edition but I know it's out there.

I have also been using my puppets in the classroom since 1991.

Here is a photo of me when I taught at a girls' school called Joshi Sei Gakuin in Tokyo in the 1990's.

And below is a photo of me at Keihoku Junior and Senior High School in Tokyo where I taught from 2003 to 2020.

Here is a YouTube video of me using my puppets to demonstrate a simple English dialogue in the classroom.

When I reached the school's retirement age at 65 I found a part time teaching job at a kindergarten in Tokyo.

This turned out to be my best job yet, and the next year I found myself teaching at two kindergartens in Tokyo.

Fortunately, when I had made my current set of puppets several years before this, I made two identical sets, so I now can use the same puppet characters at both kindergartens.

I had always wondered if the best audience for my puppets might be very young children and as it turns out I was right.

My current students who range in age from three to six years are always very excited about the puppets, far more than the junior and senior high school students I had previously taught for all those years.

I quickly discovered how much I love working with these kids; I get more hugs in a week than most people get in a lifetime. And they teach me how to be a human.

So puppetry has served me well through the years.

• It has been a great tool in evangelization
• It has opened doors of opportunity
  (puppet book, published music, and TV appearances)
• It found me a wife
  (she was an interpreter for a puppet show)
• It helps me to earn an income.

I have written a few songs over the years, and have had one song published. It's called Zenchiyo, and is based on Psalm 100 in Japanese.

It can be found on the CD and video called Challenge, which is part of the Word of Life Press' Praise World series.

The videos in this series also featured our puppets.

See the sheet music and listen to the sound file (MP3 2.2 MB).

Here are audio files of two more songs which were often used in worship services. If you have any inclination to use any of these songs in your worship service, please feel free to do so.

In the past I mainly played an electric bass or guitar in church bands.

I also played an acoustic guitar in the classroom for junior and senior high school lessons.

These days I play and sing in front of small children a few times a week.

It is very gratifying to play a rocking tune and see the kids jump to their feet and dance with joy.

I learned to play bass mainly from books and tapes by the legendary bassist Carol Kaye. I even had the privilege of taking a bass lesson from her at her home in California. Here are some photos from that visit.

In my devotions at home, I especially enjoy singing the Psalms.

On August 14, 2011, I joined the Catholic Church. I had previously been a member of the Episcopal (Anglican) Church and was a non-denominational evangelical Protestant before that.

Why did I do such a crazy thing? I wrote an explanation for those who are curious.

After I joined the Catholic Church in Japan, I discovered that my interest in Japanese history, culture, art and Christianity all came together when I read about the Japanese Kirishitans. Here is an article I wrote which focuses on the Kirishitans in Tokyo.

I was trained at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh in the 1970s, and worked for many years as a professional graphic artist in America. In Japan I even left my teaching career for several years and resumed a full time graphic art career before I returned to teaching.

I've also illustrated several books and magazine articles here in Tokyo as a freelance illustrator.

It is very gratifying to create this kind of art, but as I mentioned, my day job is no longer in this field and freelance illustration jobs are few and far between these days.

My most well-known illustration is the 221B Baker Street illustration.

I first drew this in pen and ink in 1995, and now exists in its third version finished in 2022. It has appeared on many other other web sites in various languages as well as in books, magazines, exhibitions, and even video games around the world. There are several Sherlock Holmes books on my shelf in languages I can't read which contain this illustration.

Ever since I was in high school in the early '70s and saw a television series on the life of Leonardo Da Vinci, I have had a passion for sketching. (I now own a set of the videos of that series).

Now that I have lived in Japan for a while I have added a new name to my list of art heroes; Katsushika Hokusai. Like Leonardo he was crazy about drawing. Hokusai's main tool for sketching was brush and ink, and many of the places he sketched can still be seen in Tokyo.

If you visit Tokyo and would like to see a few Hokusai landmarks, be sure to check out my Hokusai Landmarks page first.

Finally, for no particular reason I have cut up and re-assembled one of Hokusai's most famous works, turning it into 3D art. I have uploaded it here for the fun of it.

I used to sketch almost exclusively with ink and watercolor, but have recently focused on pencil and watercolor. A few sketches of these can be seen in my online sketchbook.

I started a forum in 2005 called the Sketching Forum where sketchers could get to know other sketchers from around the world and also share their work. In 2018 the forum moved to a new location and was managed by Matthew Mattingly until it ended in 2023. It was a great 18 years in total.

Ever since I was a child, I have always been fascinated with pen and ink, both for drawing and also for writing.

I love dip pens and fountain pens, especially ones with wonderfully flexible nibs. They are great for sketching, writing letters, or journaling.

One of the nice things about living in Tokyo is having the opportunity to visit various pen clinics sponsored by Japanese fountain pen makers. I wrote articles about several of these events which can be found on the Fountain Pens in Japan page.

I come from a long line of Stutlers who apparently came from Switzerland and moved to America in the 1700s, possibly after spending time in Germany.

My great grandfather was one of 12 brothers, the sons of Isaac Stutler (almost sounds like a Bible story).

The Stutler family now has at least one branch in Japan. If you would like to see my family tree you can find it here.

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