Less than two months. It was a short amount of time but enough for a bunch of strangers from fourteen countries to come together. During that time we learned, we played, we had fun, we got frustrated, we overcame, we laughed, and we cried together. And as a group, we successfully completed the World Campus International summer program. Yay!! Congratulations!!

There were great times where everything was peachy and fun. From hiking Mt. Taro, to the walking tours of Tokyo, to attending the Peace Ceremony in Hiroshima. Everything was not always super happy though. There were also demanding times where we met challenges. From our first “Thank-you Event” rehearsal, to our struggles in “getting over the rope”, to our final goodbyes at the airport. Those were difficult times but we always somehow prevailed as a group.

It is hard to imagine the amazing experiences we would share when everyone first stepped off the bus at the Music Village in Ueda City. Everyone seemed so different and I did not know how the group would mesh together or how long it would take. Living together at the Music Village for the first few days obviously allowed us to connect sooner but I would like to commend everyone for being so open and personable to those that would join later. This program can only succeed if everyone works together, plus it is also a lot more fun when everybody gets along. Thus, it was a pleasant surprise for me to see such harmony in so little time.

Although WCI is not an academic program, it is undeniable to state that we all learned much during the tour. Staying with host families offered us the best opportunity to experience Japanese life and culture. What we have learned was not just relegated to Japanese culture either. Because we were such a diverse group, we were able to learn a little bit about the other countries too. We were all put in an uncomfortable situation in a country foreign to many of us with so many different personalities. Such as life, sometimes the personalities conflicted, yet we all learned about ourselves and how to handle such uneasy situations.

It might be cliché to say, but our little community was much like a family. Every one of us went through tremendous highs and deflating lows but we were always there for each other. Although we are parted now, our shared experiences will never be forgotten. Thank you all for the wonderful memories. It is very difficult not to get overly nostalgic when reflecting back on the tour but it was truly a super happy sunshine funtime.

(Guang Yeung, USA)

On August 6^th, 2008, World Campus — Japan members along with people from all over the world and local community members participated in the Hiroshima Lantern Festival. The ritual was held on the evening of the anniversary of the world’s first atomic bombing. During this festival, blue, green, red, pink, and white cube-shaped lanterns float down the Motoyasugawa River in the twilight. Japanese Buddhists believe that every year the souls of the dead visit their descendants. When the dead return, the lanterns on the river light the path, guiding the spirits of the A-Bomb victims back to heaven.

Despite the large crowds of people, the memory of the solemn event that occurred 63 years ago was still so beautiful and serene.

With strong hopes for world peace, thousands of visitors sent messages to the dead. A few World Campus — Japan members, including me, David, Guang and Ilkka had the special opportunity to partake in the emotional ceremony. Each one of us thoughtfully wrote messages on the colorful pieces of rice paper wishing for world peace, love in the world, and for the spirits to rest in peace. Afterwards, we placed our messages on a wooden lantern frame, lit a candle inside the lantern and set it free downstream to aid the spirits in finding their way home. It was such a wonderful and touching experience to be surrounded by different people from all over the world, all with love and the desire for world peace in their hearts.

(Janice Tsang, USA)

On the surface Hiroshima city is a good example of a well-developed and very industrialized Japanese city. Tall buildings, heavy traffic, and very crowded trains filled with busy Japanese commuters on their way to and from work. You can experience the Japanese lifestyle in Hiroshima, no doubt about that.

But the name of the city hides a more terrible side, a side which most people around the world are more aware of. Most of the world is more familiar with the fact that Hiroshima was the place where the first Atomic Bomb in world history was dropped on a city. In the morning of August 6, 2008, we participated in the annual peace memorial ceremony. The ceremony lasted for one hour with a silent prayer and peace bell at 8.15 (the exact time of the A-bomb drop) as its emotional highlight.

The mood was very melancholy and heartfelt during the day. Almost half a million people from Japan and abroad gathered at the ceremony in honour of the 80,000 people that past away on August 6, 1945, the approximately 60,000 people who died in the very first year directly caused of the radiation around Hiroshima and the Hibakusha, the people who survived the bomb with a life of sickness and emotional scars. Everyone of course recognized the all-important theme of the ceremony – Peace.

Prominent persons such as the Prime Minister of Japan, a representative of the United Nations, as well as the mayor of Hiroshima spoke at the ceremony. Among the things they talked about was how important it is not to forget what happened in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, in order to avoid the usage of nuclear weapons in the future. To achieve this universal goal it is necessary for countries to be empathic towards each other, even when it is hard to understand different customs and opinions sometimes.

We can not change the past, but by respecting other countries and cultures, we minimize the risk for future wars.

With the hope nuclear weapons never will be used again,

(Christian Damgaard, Denmark)

At first sight, Matsubara-san seemed no different from any other mid-aged or elderly woman. Perhaps one distinguishing factor was a sense of strong will power that seeped out through her rather heavy make-up and vigorous eyes with an uncanny sense of determination about them.

They say human beings have hundreds of facial muscles, but the facial expressions she showed during the forty-five minute speech seemed almost overly intense and vivid. She later mentioned that she was one among numerous A-bomb survivors that underwent a multitude of surgeries to hide away the scars. Whether that was one cause of those eerie expressions, I will never know.

The English that came out of her mouth did not amaze me (though it is quite unusual for Japanese women of her age) as much as the will power that produced it. Her graphic, eidetic drawings also clearly indicated her determination to share and pass on the utter horrors of the atomic bomb. In my eyes, this embodied the essence of art: a direct outlet for her emotions and a tool for communicating events and emotions that cannot be expressed in words.

We were very fortunate to be able to hear the experience of an A-bomb survivor in person, and I greatly appreciate Matsubara-san’s willingness to share an uneasy story to tell. At the same tie, Matsubara-san herself expressed a deep sense of gratitude toward one American woman in particular for her compassionate generosity in post-war Japan, when even the Japanese would step away from “contaminated” individuals like herself. In my understanding, such acts of kindness was what enabled Matsubara-san to gradually learn to accept and forgive what had been done to her life, and to devote herself to passing on the giving spirit to us.

Only later did I notice the remarkable connection of the lesson I learnt from studying the effects of the A-bomb in Hiroshima to our World Campus International Arigato Evento song. Yes indeed, it starts with “one to one”, and “everyone can touch someone”. Thanks to that kind American lady, I gained a valuable life-lesson from Matsubara-san. But this could go on infinitely… who shall I thank, that motivated the American lady’s act of kindness?

(Yuki Yoshida, Japan)

In Denmark we do not use nuclear energy at all and are generally highly against the use of nuclear energy, but I thought it sounded exciting to visit Japan’s oldest nuclear power plant in Mito city and learn more about the use of nuclear energy. Apparently about 30% of Japan’s energy resources come from nuclear energy and there are 55 nuclear power plants spread out all over Japan.

The day before we actually visited the Nuclear power plant, we were divided into two large groups, and here we discussed what we actually knew or thought we knew about the use of nuclear energy. We had a wrap up at the end, and the two groups presented what they had discussed. This gave a good insight to the topic and we had some good discussions.

The following day we visited Japan’s first nuclear power plant, which was built in 1966. First we were driven by bus to a museum-like building where we had a very interesting lecture by Dr. Keizo Takahashi. He told us how the nuclear power plant works and how the energy is produced and distributed (See the illustration above). He also told us his perspective on the pros and cons of nuclear power, although it was obvious that he supported the use of nuclear power. One of the pros is that it does not produce CO2 and therefore does not contribute to global warming, which is a big global concern at the moment. The main problem with the use of nuclear power is the waste disposal, because Uranium continues to stay radioactive for many decades. It is hard to dispose of the nuclear waste in an environmentally friendly way. Apparently Sweden has found a way to dispose of their nuclear waste, but the system is very hard to copy for other nations due to their natural resources.

Another problem is the rare, but catastrophic nuclear accidents, like Chernobyl in 1986. It literally affected millions of people for several generations, so the safety precautions must be at its highest! Uranium, which is the dangerous and radioactive element, is not artificially made, but it is a natural resource, and Canada is by far has the greatest exporter of Uranium in the world.

After lunch we discussed the use of atomic bombs, which countries possessed it and general questions regarding this topic. It was very exciting to learn more about this, but at the same time shocking to hear how little impact the inspections have and how relatively small the fines are for offending countries.

Later on, we were given a tour of the nuclear facility, which was exciting. We also saw a proton accelerator, which was still under construction.

The world’s energy resources is running out, for example will the worlds coal reserves be emptied in 150 years if we continue like we do now. Is nuclear power an alternative? I must admit, that I have a hard time deciding…

(Anders Schaumann, Denmark)

For me the stay in Toride city is always an interesting one. And that is because of the way that they are taking a community problem and trying to resolve it. Toride is one of the many bedroom cities of the greater Tokyo area that were once thriving and are now suffering with weaning populations and declining activities. What I find most interesting about Toride is the way in which they are reinventing themselves. A creative young teacher from the local branch of a Tokyo art school decided that he wanted to give back to the community by revitalizing it in part with art.

His projects often serve multiple purposes such as giving his artists and himself a showcase for their projects, introduce art to children, or cut down on litter during local summer festivals. Now as an aspiring artist myself, when I came to the city last year I loved what I saw and thought that it was a great idea.

The leader of the Toride art project, Mr. Sobajima and I made a connection and built a friendship. So during my stay in Toride this year, he invited me to come to his office to take part and help him with a project. I jumped at the chance.

We designed trash boxes (in whatever way that we chose) for a large summer festival, to help with a major litter problem, but in the past two years since Mr.Sobajima began helping them, it has been drastically cut down. So I came to his office and got right to work. A fellow artist and friend of his joined us which led to the idea of the three of us all to draw on one trash box as a collaborative effort. It was a lot of fun, and definitely had a striking appearance when finished.

Sadly I had to leave the city before the festival began, so I was unable to see our project in action, but I hope that our box was used well, helpful and inspiring. Toride really is moving along in a great way and I hope are painting a bright future ahead of them.

(Cody Permenter, USA)

Tama exposed under a lovely spiritual awakening with university students

Our second city of the tour in Tama offered us front row tickets to experience modern suburban life of Japan. Tama is located just southwest of central Tokyo and is known for its green and safe environment. Although it is only a thirty minute train ride into Tokyo, Tama is completely different from the busy metropolis. We could easily sense a nice relaxed vibe from the entire community. Many of our host parents actually commute to Tokyo for work but this quaint suburb is their home.

On our first day in Tama, we got a chance to learn about the city’s history and culture. After a lecture, we split into two groups and went on a city tour. Local Japanese university students guided us and shared their knowledge about the city. My group went to a tranquil temple area near the center of the city. There were about five temples, each of them has a unique architecture and most of them were surrounded by a wonderful park with calm and peaceful atmosphere and beautiful flowers. An elderly woman was there painting a wonderful picture of the enlightened one by using soft colors to make an ideal work of art influenced by romanticism.

After the spiritual excursion, the students took us to their university to have lunch. The four-storied building caught us completely by surprise. The structure, you see, was full of restaurants only serving the student body! There was even a vending with a great variety of ice-creams and popsicles. And since we are in Japan the machine can even pick a random one for you if the choice seems impossible or you just like surprises! A great variety of food and a hip atmosphere spoke volumes about the lively university life. The university is a huge part of city. Although a large portion of the citizens are over fifty, the university students also make up a healthy part of the population.

The walking tour gave us a great opportunity to learn about two different communities of Tama. The visit to the temples was representative of the calm nature of the society as a whole but especially the elder population. The lunch at the university offered a quick glance at the younger segment of Tama.

(Ilkka Peltola, Finland)

Although we participated in many community events and visited various landmarks, a major focus of the first two weeks in Japan was orientation. Orientation and training does not sound like much fun but it is essential for success in such a multinational setting. For the first session we have participants and road staff representing Brazil, Canada, China, Denmark, Finland, Indonesia, Japan, Kenya, Mexico, Norway, South Korea, USA and Uzbekistan!

Aside from the standard presentation on guidelines and regulations, the staff also eased us into everyday operations. Every morning we start off with a “You Know You’re In Japan When…” moment presented by each of the participants; however, I don’t think this short moment was enough to cover the numerous times each day when I found myself surrounded by strange mouth-watering meals, heated toilet seats, and men with perfectly-tweezed eyebrows. Of course, the day is not complete without a “watashi no story”, literally translated as “my story”. This gives an opportunity to a randomly selected World Campus – Japan member to tell his or her life story in about ten minutes. In such a way, we are able to know each other a little better and build some camaraderie even if it is by learning about someone’s most embarrassing moment.

During the first week or so we had an hour of Japanese class each day. Hiromi, our wonderful teacher, would patiently teach us basic survival Japanese. It was difficult but fun and useful at the same time. Incidentally enough, all Japanese people are astounded if we, as foreigners even mutter a word of Japanese.

During our stay in Japan, we are staying with host families. They not only provide us with food and shelter but we are also welcomed as part of the family. To show our appreciation we perform a thank you event, “Arigato Evento” complete with song and dance for the families and local community. The event consists of several parts including a cultural presentation segment where participants sing, dance, or just entertain the audience with cultural specific pieces. By watching the various cultural performances being rehearsed over and over, we really got to bond and learn about each other’s cultures. In addition to that, we also sing two English songs and a short series of famous Japanese songs.

Of course, when we were first presented with the overview of the event, we were a little overwhelmed. But with practice over the first two weeks, we were able to pull off the first event in Ueda City with glowing reviews from the grateful audience. My host-sister, Kazue, told me that the funniest thing she saw was our own version of SMAP, a Japanese boy-band. Lily Ha, a participant and friend from Denmark commented, “Being with everyone and presenting for the community was a lot of fun…” Ilkka Peltola, a fellow member from Finland commented, “It was pretty good – for amateurs”. I’m pretty sure everyone would agree.

Orientation is always difficult and can be tiring but it is worth it.

(Jackie Alfano, USA)

July 1^st was quite a scrumptious day for both mind and body. In the morning, a local farmer, equipped with samples of fresh tomatoes, cucumbers, and cherries, lectured the class on the farmer’s market of Ueda City. The delicious assortment of organic produce complemented the informative speech perfectly. The taste of the vegetables and fruits turns out to be rather dependent on the type of soil.

Even though his entire speech was in Japanese, it was fairly easy to recognize the passion the man had for his work. His life mission is to make organic, all natural crops a viable option for both the farmer and the consumer. The benefits of foodstuffs without the taint of chemicals such as pesticides cannot be denied but often times the price is much higher than the non-organic variety. To offset some of the cost, a farmer’s market was established in Ueda. A group of over 200 local farmers are able to sell their fresh goods there each day. With the large amount of possible sellers, the price goes down accordingly. Although, the competition is fierce in the farmer’s market, farming organically becomes feasible due to the huge numbers of consumers.

The visit to the actual market provided our taste buds with even more delights. After donning some colorful aprons and head bands, the World Campus — Japan participants were taught how to make oyaki, a traditional dumpling of the area. There were two types of dumplings, one filled with a sweet bean paste and the other with some type of pickled vegetable and both were mouth-watering good. The dumplings are cooked each day and packaged to sell right in the kitchen of the farmer’s market. As such, the store does not only sell organic produce but also fresh baked goods, such as breads, cookies, and dumplings.

A society cannot exist without a reliable food supply but in recent years, reliable foods are just not good enough. There is a conscious move towards healthier and more organic foods. In Ueda City, we learned that the high demand for natural foods is being met by the local farmer’s market.

(Guang Yeung, USA)

As you know, in every city on the World Campus — Japan tour, we have a city theme. The theme for Abiko city was the environment. This is an issue that I feel very strong about but the topic is also quite broad.

When thinking about the environment you can talk about nature itself, but also the animals in nature on a more local level. But the environment can also be discussed on a more global level too; which today more or less means the discussion about global warming and the future that lies ahead of us. A discussion involving the life we want to leave for future generations and the ethics and morals around it.

With all these levels in this theme in mind, Abiko City and World Campus — Japan chose to focus on a few of them.

It all started in Uda City, with the group watching the movie “An Inconvenient Truth”. A film portraying the problems of global warming and why global warming is an important issue. The creator of the film, Al Gore, discusses his personal story connected to the environment and global warming and why he became interested. The movie also shows important facts about global warming and proves that it is an important issue that should be dealt with. The movie has been criticised for better and for worse all over the world and there are some facts that are not scientifically proven. But the message is agreed upon in the scientific world and a discussion has started on higher levels, around the world.

Our stay in Abiko contained visiting a bird and water museum but we also explored nature around Teganuma lake. We even had a speaker at the community music event talk about global warming and the responsibilities of the richer countries in the world to take actions. An interesting point he made is the definition of a developed country. Is a developed country definition only based on economy or can the environment have a bigger say here? If we take the environment in consideration then very few countries are really developed.

By visiting the bird and water museum we had the opportunity to visit the nature around us and how human activity affects the environment we share and love.

Also in the water museum we learned how they cleaned the water from pollution as this lake that was the dirtiest in Japan for 27 years. Though they suddenly changed their mindset and began a cleaning process making the lake cleaner and more beautiful.

I also had the opportunity to present my passion to the group as a follow up on the movie we saw the week before. As a continuation on “An Inconvenient Truth” which portrays the problems more than the solutions, I therefore decided to make a PowerPoint on what you can actually do and the difference it makes.

I tried to focus on the solutions giving the most impact. Of course recycling, less waste and less consuming and energy use was at the top. But also things like eating less meat and changing your way of transportation makes a bigger impact using little tools.

The most important thing in my opinion is to see the connections for example that what you do has an influence on your surrounding. Chemicals as an example will never be reduced if we do not start to use less of them and reducing their quantity in the environment. But also informing others and creating awareness about the problem is 50 % of the job since alone we are limited but together we can change, as cliché it may sound it is still true.

But if you want to make changes then make changes you are comfortable with in order to make a long-time commitment and change.

A great week with many sources of information and activities, it was a wonderful conclusion on our amazing stay in Japan with a great foundation in becoming World Citizens.

(Jonathan Cygnaeus, Sweden)