Category Archives: City Theme Activities

City Life, City Theme Activities, Guest Speakers, Toyota City

Spring 2009 Toyota Company Visit

asking questions at Toyota visit


a Toyota hybrid car

A stay in Toyota city would not be complete without a visit to the mega car manufacturer that the city is named after. After a tour of one of the highly efficient automobile plants, World Campus – Japan members had a rare opportunity learn about the international corporation through a question and answer session at the headquarters of Toyota.

We learned a little bit about the company philosophy of Toyota that makes it one of most successful businesses in the world. Quality checks occur throughout the production process insuring that defects do not spread beyond one machine. This practice of jidoka is really effective as some defects can be hard to detect once the machine is completed. Toyota also uses the “just-in-time” production strategy. This allows the company to limit the production parts to what is require at the moment. In addition to reducing storage cost, this strategy also allows Toyota to quickly implement any changes to the actual part without having to clear out inventory first.

It was very interesting to hear about all the social projects Toyota is involved in. Even though it is not purely altruistic, it is still remarkable to see such a large company practice “corporate social responsibility” on a global level. Toyota gives back to society by heading up or supporting programs in education, environment, and arts and culture in countries that they have a large presence in.

Abiko City, City Life, City Theme Activities, Our participants

Graceful Reflection of Abiko

Grace Dance Video

kappa dance

Japan is awesome! Last week we were in Abiko, a friendly city just outside of Tokyo. Abiko is a great city composed of green parks, open spaces, and friendly people. Everyone was very welcoming and eager to share their culture as we shared ours. Kudos to Tanaka San (a.k.a. Boss) for organizing super-fun activities! A warm thank you to the volunteers and families who made our stay in Abiko most memorable. And a shout out to the Suzuki family, my host family!

Everyday in Abiko was so much fun! We played soccer with local teams, explored nature with caring citizens, and danced with traditional performers. The latter is one of my favorite Abiko memories. I got to wear a really cool mask and costume just like the three other performers. The rhythmic beat of the drum and soulful sound of the flute guided my steps; the melodic fusion energized my body to dance. As corny as it sounds, I felt ‘one with the music.’ It was so much fun!

Another treasured memory was dancing Abiko’s traditional dance (Kappa) with everyone after a successful Arigato Evento! Among us were different generations, different stories … yet the same hands, the same smiles. In a circle we were one as we danced our last dance, the dance of generations past.

Grace Cornejo (Canada)

Abiko City, City Life, City Theme Activities, Our participants

Chopsticks

self made Chopsticks


self made Chopsticks

Chopsticks. It is the essential eating utensil for Japanese people. They use it to eat everything including salad, pasta, and even jello! There would be complete chaos if the two slender pieces of wood are missing.

It was then a very special treat for World Campus – Japan participants when we had the opportunity to make our own bamboo chopsticks! Smoothing the edges of two matching pieces of bamboo was actually much more difficult than it sounds. The actual process of sanding had to be fairly precise in order to craft a matching pair. As with anything handmade, imperfections are great as they show a more personal touch!

These handcrafted chopsticks are a great memento, even for those of us who are still learning to use them 😉

Abiko City, City Life, City Theme Activities

“Sakura & o-hanami”

Sakura & o-hanami


Sakura & o-hanami

Abiko – This is our third city in the World Campus – Japan spring tour 2009 for those who have been traveling starting from the first session, but for the new participants, this is their first city. Some of us are still struggling with culture shock, with our new host families, and with our new community. But I believe we are all enjoying this moment deeply in our hearts.

March 28th was our host family day in Abiko! Host family day is when we spend a lot of time with our host families, starting from when we wake up until we go to bed. Yay!! It is such a nice day for everyone.

In Abiko, a few of the host families planned to have a picnic together. Kaho, Atsushi, Philip, Naoko, Nicolina, Guang, Daniel, Amanda, Jaime, Mustafa, Selly, and I had a wonderful picnic outside of a small kindergarten! Our host families called it an o-hanami party which means enjoying and cherishing cherry blossoms and of course bunches of oishii (delicious) food.

Honesty, that day was so awesome, a sunny day with tremendous love! It started with a lot of fun games. We played many traditional Japanese kids games, such as Jankenpong (rock, paper, scissor), hide and seek, dodge ball, and many others. After some of the energetic games, our host families already prepared tons of delicious food for us, it was super oishii! And for sure, we are falling in love with Japanese food!

Although the cherry blossoms weren’t in full bloom yet, and a couple of host families including mine and Kaho’s couldn’t join us, we enjoyed our time together. It was such a wonderful moment in my life. Their laughs, smiles, love, and caring will always be in my heart, and I believe all of us feel the same way!

(Amanda Soeprobo, Indonesia)

Abiko City, City Life, City Theme Activities

Preserving Nature in an Urban Setting

Preserving nature in an urban setting


Preserving nature in an urban setting

Abiko is one of the many satellite cities of the mega metropolis that is Tokyo. Although it is much smaller and more relaxed than its gigantic neighbor, Abiko is still very much an urban setting with its own share of environmental issues.

Like many other cities throughout the world, Abiko is struggling to preserve some semblance of nature in the face of urban development. Choosing to preserve nature is never easy and often times makes little economic sense. A mall, golf course, or apartment complex will most definitely generate more revenue than an undeveloped piece of natural scenery. It is then quite remarkable that a few concern citizens of Abiko chose to stand up and protect the little nature that is left in the city. In the past few years, even a planned kindergarten was blocked from being built in the “yatsu”, the wild area of city. Not to worry though, the kindergarten was built on a different site!

The effort to preserve nature in an urban setting is admirable. During our walk in the “yatsu”, we saw many different plants and a variety of animals including frogs, insects, and birds. Although the “yatsu” does not compare with a more traditional countryside setting such as Uda city in terms of nature or even aesthetic beauty, it is still amazing considering its status as a bedroom community of Tokyo.