Palette: Painting a Brighter Future by Michie Takeuchi

‘Creating a community’—That’s our goal. In fact doesn’t that go for any continent, any country and any region around the world? The name of such a community in Tenrikyo is called the Joyous life.

But to think big, we must start small. To think globally, we must first start at home.

We hope that in the future, the name of such a community in Europe will be ‘Palette’.

In my opinion, the mission in Europe is always faced with one main barrier—language. I couldn’t tell you exactly how many languages are spoken in Europe, but in the EU there are 23 official languages recognised. Currently, Tenrikyo has followers in The UK, France, Holland, Germany, Italy, Spain, Poland and Belgium. That’s already 7 major languages in just 8 countries. You can probably see why this could be a problem.

However I believe that Europe’s weakness is also its strength. Being made up of such a variety of countries means Europe is a patchwork of different cultures, walks of life, outlooks on life, and most importantly different ideas. It is the mixing of such ingredients that can lead to innovation.

But first, you need a platform for it to all take place.

Enter …‘Palette’!!