Category Archives: City Life

City Life, City Theme Activities, Hiroshima City

A-bomb illustration of “One to One”

[inspic=519,,gal,0]

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)

City Life, City Theme Activities, Mito City

Visiting the Mito Nuclear Power Plant

[inspic=527,,gal,0]
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)

City Life, City Theme Activities, Toride City

Toride City Theme – Community Revitalization

[inspic=524,,gal,0]
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)

City Life, Our participants, Toride City

Our English class

2 Comments

[inspic=516,,gal,0]
As Jackie mentioned in her entry, our program curriculum includes Japanese classes. I as a Japanese, receive English classes from Cody-sensei during this time. The truth is that my English, is not enough for me to smoothly follow the program. My greatest ambition in joining it, therefore, is to be able to speak English, and these English classes have been a great support.

Classes were carried out almost on a daily basis in Ueda city, but to my dismay, beyond Tama, the frequency dropped to once in every city since Tama. The diminution of such an enjoyable time is sad for me, but I’ve instead been enjoying the classes as much as I can.

Cody-sensei speaks slowly and teaches considerately. Mingled with a joke here and there, the English passes seem to fly by. Since he also corrects what I have written, this is my one opportunity to review my own English. I am assigned a lot of homework everyday, but since the program is only a little more than a month, I have committed myself to the daily battle.

Despite the drop in number of classes, I have many allies who assist me in comprehending the English and taking part in the program: the Japanese staff members, LOC members, and fellow participants. Among them, Jackie (mentioned above) always supported me with slow English that was easier for me to understand.

I’d also like to take this opportunity to send out a big Thank you very much!!

I am still very dependent on you despite the program being half over, but I hope to continue to put in my best efforts and live up to your expectations.

(Rie Hayase, Japan)

City Life, Toride City

The Canon Company Visit

2 Comments

[inspic=515,,gal,0]
Visiting the Canon factory was one of the highest points of our Toride city visit. Canon Inc. is a Japanese multinational corporation that specializes in imaging and optical products. This includes cameras, photocopiers and computer printers. This company’s products are located in over 200 countries, with about 115 thousand employees worldwide. The Canon factory in Toride works using the philosophy of “Kyosei”, which means living and working together for the common good. It believes in promoting measures to reduce environmental concerns that are present worldwide. They make these creative mottos to produce a more productive working environment. Not one second is wasted, but instead calculated accordingly for better productivity.

The general manager of the Toride plant gave us a brief introduction of the factory. He told us Canon takes an active role in a wide range of environmental friendly activities including development and production operations, emphasizing the separation, and processing of waste materials and recycling.

The concept of the “Meister system” was introduced to our tour group. A “Meister” is a highly trained worker that knows all the ins and outs of a certain machine. One step above the “Meister” is the “Super Meister”, who can assemble a copy machine, containing over 600 pieces, by himself, in about ten hours. This system is a complimentary program, which gives employees an incentive to work harder, to achieve such a level. This type of rewarding system allows the employees to feel innovative and gives them the desire to work more efficiently.

With over 6500 employees, Toride’s Canon factory shows responsibility and sustainability, in a healthy environment. It has been told to us that most of the employees work in their company until the retirement age. The company is not only interested in the satisfaction of customers, but also the well being of their employees. They are continuously cooperating for the development of the city and the community.

(David Leipnitz, Brazil)