Category Archives: Community Partners

Announcements, City Life, Community Partners, Toride City

Welcome to Toride City in World Campus – Japan 2015!!!

Welcome to Toride

都内まで40分ですが、日本を代表する河川の１つである利根川が流れ、自然環境に恵まれた地域です。また、芸大がありアートの街でもあります。
WCI取手での活動のイチ押しは、夏の凧揚げ大会です。ホストファミリーの皆様と一緒に４０連凧を作り、利根川土手で凧揚げをします。涼しい川風に吹かれての凧揚げは最高です！！
他にも、地域の方々と日本文化体験も予定しています。是非、取手へ！！待ってま~すヽ(^o^)丿”

Even though it takes only 40 minutes to get to the center of Tokyo, there is rich nature in Toride city such as the Tone River, one of the largest rivers in Japan! And there is an art college in this city, so Toride is known as a city of art as well!

We have several activities for the World Campus – Japan program 2015, and “Flying kites” activity would be the most exciting part of your stay in Toride! We are going to make 40 kites with the host families and let them fly in the sky by the Tone River!

Also we’re planning to have some more experiences of Japanese traditional cultures! Welcome to Toride! We all look forward to meeting you!

Arao City, City Life, City Theme Activities, Community Partners

Mayor visit in Arao

Day of Activity June 20th

Today was the most eventful day so far. From early in the morning we were dressed in our best outfits to meet the mayor of Arao city, Mr. Maebata. He gave us a general introduction to the geography and history of the area. We learned that Arao was once a prosperous coal mining town whose main mine, the Manda coal mine, had ceased its ore extraction operations in 1951. The amusement park “greenland”, whose ferris wheel towers over the city, made its obligatory cameo, and with the city pushing for the Manda coal mine’s acceptance as a UNESCO world heritage site, and Arao’s numerous natural tourist attractions, like the Arao tideland and wetlands, the Mayor revealed ambitions of a booming tourism industry in the area.

After Mr. Maebata finished his address, he opened for a Q&A session, and we were allowed to ask him about both business and leisure. This was a unique opportunity to gain an impression of Japanese politics at the city level. Unless you know enough Japanese to read a newspaper or follow the news on television, foreigners are usually only exposed to politics at the national level, so this was a valuable opportunity.

2014 Mayor visit in Arao

A few days later our visit was featured in the Ariake Shinpo, the local newspaper for the Omuta and Arao area.

10250664_740938652618828_1372895975_n-1

Espen

City Life, Community Partners, Omuta City, Our Partners

Introducing Our Community Partners for World Campus – Japan Program 2013 *** Omuta

Omuta LOC


We are one of the World Campus – Japan Local Organizing Committees in Japan and located in the city of Omuta (South of Fukuoka). This is going to be the third year for us to welcome participants from all over the world to Omuta. Each local committee has there own theme: series of topics, and Omuta will provide a time to face “Japanese Education”. Visiting different grades of schools such as elementary, junior, and high school will show participants differences of school system from their own countries’. Participants can also have a various experiences with Japan’s unique subjects like calligraphy, music, PE-class, and etc.　This program is not only for those participated foreign participants, but for all committee members, host-families, and kids & teachers at each school. We are pretty sure that we all can have amazing experiences and time together, and we cannot wait to meet all the participants every year.

私達はワールドキャンパス　大牟田です。　日本に強烈に興味を持ち、将来の夢に突き進んでいる世界中からの学生らを迎え入れるのも今年で3年目となりました。　さまざまなセッションで日本各地をまわり、違ったテーマをもとにその学生らが日本の文化、コミュニティーやライフスタイルに接するわけですが、ここ大牟田では、日本の教育に触れることが出来ます。　小、中、高校で違ったスクールシステムを見て、体験して実際にクラスで学んでいきます。　日本特有の課目でもある、習字や音楽、体育では特に楽しい体験が出来、歴史や地図などではWCI参加者ばかりでなく、滞在先学校の子供達も参加者の出身地やその文化に触れることが出来ます。　　WCI滞在中は、われわれコミッティーメンバーも楽しみ、訪問先学校の子供達や先生、ホストファミリーも直接海外の文化や生活に触れあっという間の時間を過ごしています。　笑い、驚き、そして最後にわかれの悲しみそして、又翌年が待ち遠しくなります。　今年も充実したセッションが送れるよう、頑張りたいと思います。　

City Life, Community Partners, Our Partners, Tama City

Introducing Our Community Partners for World Campus – Japan Program 2013 *** Tama

Tama LOC


We are “World Campus Tama,” the Local Organizing Committee in Tama, Tokyo. We have been receiving World Campus – Japan program since 2007. And our city is scheduled as the final city of the Session 5. So since it is toward the end of the summer vacation and many people will already be back in Tokyo, we expect to have many families wanting to be host families. We plan an interaction with seniors through Japanese arts, crafts, music and dances at the Tama International Center, Tokyo Metropolitan Tour with Japanese university students, and an interaction event with local children. In addition, we would like to include company visits to promote Tama City to the world. We have been enjoying and look forward to making connections between the citizens of Tama and the people of the world through World Campus – Japan program.
We look forward to having you in Tama.

ワールドキャンパス多摩です。私たちは、2007年からずっとWCIの若者たちとの交流
を続けています。
今年は、初めての最終セッションの第2都市での受入となりました。
多摩市は、多摩ニュータウンをかかえ、夏休みは、帰省される方が多いなど、いつも
ホストファミリーの確保に苦心していましたが、今年は、夏休み終盤ということで、
かえってホストファミリー確保がやりやすくなるかも、と期待しています。
交流内容としては、すっかり定着した多摩市国際交流センターの「世界の若者と東京
のおじさま・おばさま」、大学生とのメトロポリタンツアーまたは同世代交流、去年
から引き続き2年目の児童館、コミュニティセンターとの子どもイベント、また、新
しい試みとして、多摩市の企業訪問（世界に向けた多摩のPR)を検討しています。
WCIとのかかわりにより、各地域の皆さんとの繋がりがより密接になっていくのが楽
しいです。
今後もどうぞよろしくお願いします。

City Life, Community Partners, Our Partners, Toride City

Introducing Our Community Partners for World Campus – Japan Program 2013 *** Toride

Toride LOC


Session 5: Toride City, Ibaraki (August 19 ~August 27)

Toride City is one of the bed-town communities of Tokyo, since it is 40 minutes from downtown. We are proud to have the Tone River, the largest river in the Kanto/Tokyo area. Along the riverside, the citizens enjoy bird watching, park activities, golf, flying kites and fireworks, etc.. Since Toride was a key traffic station between Tokyo and the Northern Japan during the Edo period, there are many historical heritages, including the local corporations which have been in operation for more than 100 years. Toride is working together with the Tokyo University of the Arts, to make the city surrounded by “Art” by holding many cultural and art events. Toride also has world famous companies including Canon, Nisshin Foods which makes “Cup-O-Noodle,” Kirin Beer.
As one of the activities for the World Campus Japan visit in Toride, we scheduled to hold a Japanese kite making session with a professional kite maker and fly them by the Tone River. It will be amazing to see all the participants’ kites being connected together to fly in Kanto’s blue sky.

取手市は都心から40分、東京のベッドタウンです。なんといっても最大の魅力は、雄大な利根川の流れ。四季を通じて野鳥の観察ができ、河川敷を利用した公園やゴルフ場、お正月には凧揚げ大会、夏は花火大会などあり、市民の憩いの場となっています。江戸時代には水運、陸運の要所であったので、歴史にまつわる史跡なども多く残っており、創業から100年以上も続く老舗もたくさんあります。また、東京芸術大学の取手キャンパスがあり文化的なイベントも多く開催していて、アートの町づくりを目指しています。世界に名高いキヤノンやカップヌードルでも知られている日清フーズ、キリンビールなどの大手企業の工場などもあり、新旧混合の「水と歴史溢れるアートの町」です。
ＷＣＩ取手での活動の目玉は、芸大卒の先生と凧の会の方々のご指導による「真夏の凧揚げ大会」です。真夏の夕涼みに利根川河川敷でアートな手作り４０連凧が大空に舞い上がります。