A crossing between progress and its consequences.

Why we exist

Decisions about technology and the environment are usually taken in separate rooms, by people who answer to different pressures. The consequences, however, land on the same people: employees whose work is reorganised by an algorithm, communities affected by how an industry treats the land, citizens asked to trust systems they cannot inspect.

Omiwatari exists to hold those questions together. We convene experts across disciplines to explore complex issues, develop considered perspectives, and encourage responsible action across business, government, and civil society.

We are deliberately small and deliberately independent. Membership is by invitation, granted on merit and expertise. Members contribute their own time and judgement, and speak for themselves. Most discussions remain private for practical reasons; key conclusions may be shared publicly upon unanimous agreement among members.

The meaning of Omiwatari

Each winter, when Lake Suwa in Nagano, Japan freezes deeply enough, a ridge of ice buckles upward and forms a path across the surface. Local tradition calls it omiwatari, “the crossing of the gods.” It appears only when conditions are right, and its arrival has been recorded by the Suwa shrine for centuries — one of the longest continuous environmental records in existence.

The image holds two things we care about at once: a crossing made possible by pressure and patience, and a long record of a changing climate kept by people who paid attention. In recent decades the crossing has formed far less often.