A day in Nagasaki City

Foto with atomic bomb survivor in the Atomic Bomb Museum in Nagasaki City

Today, we went to Nagasaki. We had heard earlier last week from Omura – san, a representative from the local community, about his troubles finding a survivor of the atomic bomb in the town that we are staying in, Omura.

No one of the people that he asked wanted to speak about the experience, due to their fear of discrimination, and, for some of them, the hate towards foreigners. Yesterday, I heard from my host – grandfather that he was a survivor of the atomic bomb that was dropped on Nagasaki. He shoved me a notebook containing his information from when the bombs were dropped.

In the notebook I could see that he was 3 years old when the atomic bombs were dropped. I assumed that the notebook was some kind of way for the Japanese governement to keep track of survivors and reunite their families. My host – grandfather diden’t tell me a lot about his experience, probably because of the strong feelings that he is still harburing in connection with the experience.

I knew that when we whent to Nagasaki City we would go to the atomic bomb and listen to a survivor telling us about her experience.

Both the museum and the survivors speech were emidiadly educational.

While I had learned about the atomic bombs in school back in Sweden, it was a whole different experience seeing the destruction in the museum and hearing about the effects directly from a survivor. Listening to the survivor and seeing the remains of both people and rabble in the museum changed my impression of the bombing experience.

I knew what happend was horrible but i believed that no one, exept the survivors, would actually be able to know exactly how horrible the atomic bombings actually were.

Thinging back upon what I have learned, heard and experienced today, I have decided to start i new project. I will create a video to show to the world, accompanied by music, using the materials that i gathered today.

This is for myself to show my appretiation to the people making this possible, and to sharewhat I have learned and experienced today with other people in the world.

Joel (Sweden)

First Day in Omura

Evening party for welcoming participants

Day of activity: June 10th 2014

Due to some long flight delays with Air France, resulting in being re-routed to Tokyo followed by Nagasaki I finally arrived in Omura city at 7 P.M. My host family as well as Hiro Nishimura (the person in charge of WCI) met me at the airport and greeted me kindly. I was then driven straight to a warm welcoming party where delicious food was served by lots of smiling people. It was at this point that I realised I had made the right decision to visit Japan with the World Campus International company.

Ellis Jones (U.K.)

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)

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)

Meet Amalie Holst Nielsen in World Campus – Japan Program 2014!

Amalie Holst NielsenMy name is Amalie Holst Nielsen I am 23 years old and from Denmark.

Currently, I am studying International development studies and Business Studies at Roskilde University, where the main way to study is by working in groups. Through my experience in group work, it has taught me the importance of cooperation, compromise and what can be achieved by working together.

Cultural studies and voluntary work have always interested me and have a big influence over the choices that I make in life. For these reasons I travelled with the development organization Mellemfolkeligt Samvirke to Kenya in 2009 and Israel and Palestine in 2012. Through these travels I gained a lot of experience in international group work, and discovered the importance of cultural exchange, which are some of my main interests.

After hearing Hiro-san giving a lecture at my university on World Campus International, I joined the program last summer, where we were able to see a more authentic side of Japan, than you would be given as a tourist, by being invited into people’s home and through local interaction, which proved to be an incredible experience and very learning.

After this trip I was convinced that WCI is an organization that I was very interested to be involved in, in order to be able to give others the same unique experience of Japan that I had been given last summer.

Looking forward to see you in Japan!

Best regards

Amalie Holst Nielsen (Denmark)

Unique Access to Japan!

close

Enjoy this blog? Please spread the word :)

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • YouTube
  • Twitter
  • RSS
  • Follow by Email