Category Archives: City Theme Activities

Arao City, City Life, City Theme Activities

Shorinji Kempo Dojo experience

Interaction with the children and local community at the Shorinji Kempo dojo.

Interaction with the children and local community at the Shorinji Kempo dojo.

Interaction with the children and local community at the Shorinji Kempo dojo.

Day of activity: June 14th 2014

Today, we went to Shorinji Kempo Dojo. It was a very nice experience. I have been trainig Aikido for couple of months and in general I am quite interested in Martial Arts. I like to experience new things and learn different techniques. I was positively surprised when I saw that Shorinji Kempo uses similar techniques as in Aikido. But of course there are many other movements which are complitely different but used in a similar situation. The principle is the same as in Aikido and many other Martial Arts. That is to use Shorinji Kempos techniques in self defence only, and try to avoid fighting in every possible way. We trained today with Japanese children who train in the Dojo. They were really excited to meet us and eagerly showed us the movements. Other members of the Dojo were kind and welcoming. A mother of one of the kids even made a lunch, cake and Japanese tea for us. It was really delicious. Also, My Host Father is training in the Dojo and I went with him few times to watch the training. I am really grateful because I got a chance to experience Shorinji Kempo and learn more about it. We had a great time with the kids and took a lot of photos. They made my day and those memories I will cherish forever.

Bojana Bogdanovic (Serbia)

Arao City, City Life, City Theme Activities

Kyodo – jyo

Fun at the Kyodo - jyo dojo

Fun at the Kyodo - jyo dojo

Day of activity: June 13th 2014

The Kyodo – jyo experience was a moment that I will never forget. Wathing movies like The Hunger Games, set my mind to experience archery one day. I expected to only expreience the thrill of hitting a target, but Kyodo – jyo had so much more to offer. I found the history of Kyodo – jyo quite interesting, but the best part for me was the proper forms involved before hitting the target. Not only did it look cool, though difficult, it cleared my mind. I even managed to hit my target which made me cry. This feat was followed by a medal by the students at the Kyodo – jyo which made me very happy. I really enjoyed myself and would love to try the Kyodo – jyo experience again.

Sauche Eiland (USA)

City Life, City Theme Activities, Toyota City

Interaction with local people in Toyota




Day of activity: 2013 August 12th

Today, after eating our breakfast and rolling up our futons, we all got on the back of a little pickup truck and headed to our destination to interact with the locals.

We arrived early so most of the people weren’t there so we chatted with those who were already there. When everyone got together we split up in groups and did some games to break the ice. After getting to know each other we went into the fields to harvest vegetables. The sun was scorching that day but it was a lot picking up the vegetables (and the tomatoes were especially delicious!).

After harvesting a bunch of vegetables we got back to the facility and started cooking the curry and Naan bread (a type of Indian bread). One thing for sure was that a lot of people cried, since we had a lot of onions to slice. After cooking everything we sat down and ate together, it was so delicious! Curry really goes well with Naan bread!

After lunch we played a scavenger hunt with our group. We had to take a picture of a very specific plant that only grew in that area, a funny picture with one of the locals, and capture three types of insects. Needless to say, I wasn’t very keen on catching bugs but it was actually a fun experience! After that we got to play a game where you have to smash a watermelon in half whilst blindfolded, it was a lot of fun and the watermelon was really refreshing after all the fun we had! After that we said goodbye and went to refresh ourselves in the river and then we went to the onsen to get nice and clean.

That night the innkeeper had made us a feast and we had a very good time together chatting and listening to music. Today was a very nice day, I wish we had more time to enjoy the mountains, but we have left to the city now for a new adventure so I’m excited and looking forward to meet the host families!

Álvaro Martín Mazorra (Spain)

Abiko City, City Life, City Theme Activities

Leaving Abiko

Day of activity: 2013 August 11th

Too hard to say goodbye.

Today is our last day in Abiko. It is so hard to describe it as last but in fact it is. Maybe the farewell always makes people very sad and be cast down no matter how unwilling you are.

Standing in front of the house of my host family, the sight casts my mind back to the days when we passed it together. From strange to familiar, from stranger to dear ones, we have experienced so many events and left deep impressions on each other.

Due to the diplomatic relation between Japan and my country not being very good at the moment, I was a bit worried when I arrived at Abiko. I considered that maybe Japanese people would not be very friendly to me because of the conflict we have with each other. I even prepared for confronting with many incisive questions asked by Japanese people.

But in fact, I was wrong. They were free from prejudice against Chinese people and they showed their enthusiasm for taking care of me, an ordinary Chinese person, as if I was their son or relative. Their behavior touched me to the depths of my soul, so deeply that I could not help clapping for the Japanese people when we had the arigato event.

I suggest that through friendly behavior from both countries, China and Japan will return to a normal relation in the end. And that is why I chose this hard time to come to Japan in order to communicate with Japanese people.

Now I would like to share you with a prayer of Saint Francis of Assisi as an end of this article and make a wish to the people like me who are willing to resume the relation between our two countries:

Where there is discord may we bring harmony,
Where there is error may we bring truth,
Where there is doubt may we bring faith,
Where there is despair may we bring hope.

It is too hard to say goodbye but a new tour begins. Abiko, I miss you so much!

William Zhou (China)

Abiko City, City Life, City Theme Activities

Arigatou Event Abiko 2013


Day of activity: 2013 August 10th

Today was my first “Arigato Event” with World Campus Japan, it was quite the experience. Lunch consisted of various dishes from everyone’s home country; it was truly an international smorgasbord. While very embarrassing, the dances were fun because I could tell my host family really enjoyed watching the performances. The crowd really did love our surprise opening to Michael Jackson’s “Beat It”. I was happy I decided to read aloud my thank you letter; I received many compliments on my Japanese from my host family as well as others.

It is a strange feeling to get to know a family so well over the course of a short week. While this week has been a lot of fun and I will miss my host family in Abiko, I am excited for what adventures await me in Nagoya!

Alexander Piper (USA)