Category Archives: Omura City

City Life, Omura City, Our participants

Never thought I’d do this

The first day after meeting my host family in Omura even before the program week began I got a rare opportunity from my host family. My host mother, who is a elementary school teacher, decided to introduce me to Japanese elementary school life. It sounded nice so of course I took this chance but little did I know I would end up going into the rice fields and planting rice! Something I had never expected doing in my life. Also the way they plant the rice was different from what I imagined or seen. I thought they would just randomly plant the rice siblings on places that looked well for planting. But no, they span a line across the rice field and plant the rice siblings just in front of it, then the line moves and every one moves with it. It’s a very interesting and effective strategy. Seems like I learn something new every day!

planting rice


This was also a good opportunity to meet new people, older and younger. During the planting of the rice I talked to the kids, teachers and other people of whom I have no idea what they were doing there. I taught them about my country and they taught me about Japan. They learned that we don’t have any rice paddies at all and that instead of rice we mainly plant potatoes in The Netherlands. At one point a frog hopped on the girl and she was so frighten she fell into the mud, so they then taught me the Japanese word for frog (while laughing at the girl) which is: ‘kaeru” and I taught them it in Dutch: “kikker”. Everyone seemed to be enjoying the activity that day. I know I did. Except the mothers on the other hand, maybe because they probably have to wash the clothes afterwards…muwhahaha! All and all is was a great day and fun experience and I hope to be able to do it again while in Japan.

planting rice


(Juir from The Netherlands)

City Life, City Theme Activities, Guest Speakers, Omura City

A Peaceful man with not such a peaceful past

The more I come to Japan, the more I understand the importance Japanese people give to PEACE. After going through events as hard and powerful as the Hiroshima and Nagasaki Atomic bomb, I think any country would take the word “Peace” very seriously.

This time we had the opportunity to listen the story of a Nagasaki A-Bomb Survivor. As a 15 year old at the time of the bombing, his point of view of the event was surely very innocent but very realistic. With 81 years old today, he feels very lucky to have lived through this unfortunate event in 1945 and is now one of the many people committed to spreading the word of peace.

Rianne and Iris with the survivor


After he retired from his job as a teacher in 1998, he decided to start sharing his experience as a survivor from the A-Bomb and have been doing it for 13 years. With more than 70 speeches every year, he believes, this is his way of informing people about the facts of the bombing but most important, this is the way he is teaching everyone who meets him that hate is not the answer.

He shared his experience with all of us in World Campus Japan for about an hour. The final words of his speech were very calm and simple but the positive energy he was giving to all of us was more powerful than any words… “Since I retired my job as a teacher, my job has been to spread the word of peace and I will continue to do it until the day I die”

World Campus Japan members with the Survivor


I was seating there, as I did last year, and again I was reminded of the importance of the work we do in World Campus Japan, learning about other cultures, knowing the whys of every person and every country, to be able to respect each other.

After finishing his speech he gave us time for pictures with him and questions, he hugged all of us and said I love you to many of us. What a great feeling to have met someone that has gone through so much and has such a great outlook in life.

Celi and Brandon with the Survivor


I believe this is the beginning of a new moment for the world and for young people that take the risk to step out of their comfort zone, putting themselves in other people’s shoes to truly understand each other. It is everyone’s personal effort what will make this world a better place. It is not easy but we have to start now to have the peace we all want for ourselves and for our communities around the world.

(Celiana Dolovitz – Education Manager in the Summer ‘11 Road Team)

City Life, City Theme Activities, Omura City

Making Origami Cranes…with a purpose

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Making origami cranes with host families in honor of the Nagasaki victims


Last week we had the chance to learn from our host families the tradition of Japanese origami. Because we were visiting Nagasaki to meet a survivor for the WWII bombing our goal was to collectively make 1,000 cranes in his name. This tradition symbolizes a hope for peace through a lady named Sadako Sasaki and her unforgettable story of perseverance. She was diagnosed with leukemia after being exposed to the radiation after the bombing of Hiroshima she then became determined to fold 1,000 cranes in hopes of recovering to good health, happiness, and a world of peace. Although she completed 644 cranes before she died, her classmates folded the remaining 356 to honor her. There is a statue in honor of her at the Hiroshima Peace Park.

World Campus Japan Members in front of Cranes


For a lot of us this was our first time making cranes and after making the first one the thought of making 999 more did not sit so well in our heads. Luckily we had great host families and little siblings to help us along and be patient for when we made a mistake, I now know I will never forget how to make paper cranes. It is also a tradition to make cranes when someone is suffering from illness, as a prayer for their recovery, as a wish for happiness, and as an expression of sympathy and peace. You are supposed to focus on why you are making them while folding. All and all it was a great connection to make them with our host families and talk about the rich history of this story and be making them for someone that was about to share his story.

FUN FACT: The word Origami in Japanese means (ori- to fold) and (kami – paper)

Group of school kids placing cranes at site the atom bomb was dropped


(Brandon Serna – External Relations Manager for Summer ‘11 Road Team)

City Life, City Theme Activities, Omura City

Metting Omura Mayor Matsumoto

Metting Omura Mayor Matsumoto

Meeting Mayor Matsumoto in Omura was such a great chance to learn about the inside view of what is going on in Omura and what are some of the future plans for the city.

We had a great conversation with Mr. Matsumoto and talked about how much we were enjoying Omura and letting him know he is the Mayor of a great city! He said they are currently working on partnering with sister cities around the world and because we represent 8 different countries we had some great ideas to help make that happen in our home towns.

We thank Mr. Matsumoto very much for spending the morning with us and we hope the best for Omura!

(Brandon Serna – External Relations Manager for Summer ‘11 Road Team)

City Life, City Theme Activities, Omura City

Kicking and Screaming in Omura, Nagasaki

This week we had the opportunity to visit the Shorinji Kempo dojo here in Omura and learn the world practiced martial art Shorinji Kempo. We first had the chance to learn the history, culture, and reason for the martial art. The Sensei’s (teacher) that was speaking is now a 8th degree black belt in Shorinji Kempo. It was great to hear the story of why Shorinji Kempo was created because it’s a great way to feel more connected to why we were learning the moves. Shorinji Kempo is a young Japanese martial art compared to some of the others. In 1947 Doshin So founded Shorinji Kempo in the town of Tadotsu, Kagawa prefecture.

Members of World Campus Japan partnering with the Shorinji Kempo kids


Doshin’s motivation for creating Shorinji Kempo was to bring the spirit of Japan back up after World War II. During that time in Japan the rules of society, the economy, and people’s hearts were in turmoil. Doshin So’s then awakened to the knowledge that “all things depend on the quality of the people who stand in the positions of influence.” He considered that to build a peaceful world “there is no other way than to cultivate, in as many people as possible, deeply rooted compassion, great courage, and a strong sense of justice.” This is just a small portion of Doshin So’s Philosophy to the martial art and Shorinji Kempo is now taught in over 34 countries worldwide and is growing fast.

Frank Florris on the ground after a toss


So after the verbal briefing now was the time to learn first hand some Shorinji Kempo technics (all are self defense based). At first seeing the groups of kids anywhere from 6 to 13 years olds that we’ll be sparing with I thought this shouldn’t hurt too much, about 10 seconds later I was on the group quite in pain and might have lost my confidence. Luckily I looked around and almost all of us from World Campus Japan were in the same position. It was great to learn the technic from the kids because of their great spirits and patience with teaching us. Not to mention getting thrown around by a boy half my size was very enlightening. It was a day filled with fun, learning, and much soreness afterwards.

Brandon Serna learning from _____


(Brandon Serna – External Relations Manager for Summer ‘11 Road Team)